authenticated marriage cert.

Sometimes complying on standard procedures can be a pain in the neck. Take for instance the process of an authenticated marriage contract. We were married on October 1st and San Agustin Church forwarded the document to the Manila City Hall on the 10th. I think it still depends on the church but the norm is within 2 weeks from the wedding date.

When Irvin inquired at the City Hall, he was told that it usually takes 2 months before they will submit it to the NSO. But mind you… you can actually request for a certified true copy for a fee (about P80 I think) and they will automatically give a copy to the NSO as well. Luckily enough, they have already forwarded the contract on the 17th … few days before our request.

Now, the NSO said it’ll take 3-6 months for the authentication. Again, you can request for an expedite process, of course, for a fee but without guarantee. We didn’t want to take all these troubles and uncertainties so we asked some friends who might know someone working for the NSO. We actually found two... 1) Irvin’s neighbor and 2) my friend Maridel’s contact. No. 1 said she can’t promise anything but she’ll try. No. 2, on the other hand, said we can have it in 2-3 weeks. I won’t anymore tell the story on how frustrating our dealing with no. 2 has become. In short, no. 1 who didn’t promise anything gave us what we needed in 5 days. Yey! With that, we have decided to inform no. 2 that we already have a copy. We’ll just give her something for all the troubles we have caused her.

And so with that, Irvin can now apply for the US Visa anytime. We are really hoping that there wouldn’t be any problems on his application…