Renewing Philippines passport in London

I was hoping its now 10 yrs grrr

You would have thought so. I was well angry! The attitude of the guy behind the counter didn't help either, and I was even more annoyed when we phoned and were told that the UK marriage certificate and report of marriage would normally be accepted.

We followed exactly what is on the application form - marriage in the UK required marriage certificate and report of marriage. I was very disappointed with the attitude of the guy there either.

Interestingly, the family in the queue in front of us had something refused and were annoyed too - saying to him that they were following exactky what they had been told when phoning. It may just be that there's a right little jobsworth and the Philippines embassy who likes to refuse things, but best to get this just incase.

I pointed out what is on the application form and said it was downloaded from their own website, but he just replied "It's out of date!" They even had the same application form in their lobby, because I looked.

Have you done the report of marriage Timmers? You need to do that first. Once that is done you then can get an NSO marriage certificate.

After that, you can then apply for this god forsaken certificate - filed alongside the equally pointless CENOMAR on the ecensus website.

So you need to go to https://www.ecensus.com.ph/Default.aspx and select "Click Here to Request Now" and follow the instructions - selecting "Marriage Certificate" at the appropriate time.

Price is 20 USD. Another little earner for them.

It takes 8-10 weeks apparently. This actually means we can no longer go to Germany in March because once we get this we then have to reapply for the passport which means about 20 weeks in all, and we can't wait until after we've been to Germany because you need 6 months remaining on your passport to go there. So thanks for that Philippines Embassy.

Also, as part of the process you need to provide by email the following:

DFA Reference Number
Dispatch Number
Dispatch Date
Transmittal Date.

I had no idea what these are either so I just phoned the embassy again. They said they will email them to me.

The fact that you were told by a member of the embassy staff that their website is not up to date is extremely annoying as it is their duty to inform people of any changes to requirements etc.

I'm pretty sure we didn't submit a NSO certified marriage certificate but I will double check with the wife later, I'm sure that I would have posted on the forum if it was a requirement.

We did the notification of marriage and the passport renewal at the same time.

I would be extremely angry if I was in your position, just think if you didn't live within commuting distance from London you would have also wasted money on hotels and the like.

Before submitting the wife's application, I emailed the Philipinnes Consulate in Dubai to confirm the documents required. They replied very quickly and clearly mentioned that the NSO certified copy of the marriage certificate was required. I understand that this is the only copy of the marriage certificate recognized by the Philipinnes. It is the one with the red ribbon attached.

Yeah, the notification of marriage can be part of the renewal process. It says that on the application form. I was seriously ratty. I did a stompy-stompy out the door and sat on a wall in Trafalger Square with a face like thunder for ages.

London is easy for us, but we still both wasted a day off work. She didn't mind though. She got to look at some shops in Oxford Street.

Did you get married in the UK, David?

We married in Seychelles. Our marriage certificate was couriered to Phil Embassy in Kenya for notification and it was they who issued the NSO copy of the marriage. Seychelles comes under the jurisdiction of Kenya for consular affairs. All very straightforward but we did have to wait about 4 months for it to be couriered to us in Dubai.

why am i not surprised.............

I don't know why but the words courier and 4 months wait don't go together too well

3 months 27 days for the embassy to process the NSO certificate, 3 days courier service to Dubai

What are you not surprised at Bigmac?

3 months 27 days is just so crazy.

Yes it does seem a long time, but we were advised beforehand that it would take that long, so we planned accordingly.

anything to do with the philippines--its manana land.

Just to confirm we only submitted marriage certificate from the Registry Office.

It seems they've changed their mind and not bothered to tell anyone.

It's bloody stupid. The marriage certificate is the one you get when and where you get married. Why on Earth would we have a Filipino marriage certificate when we got married in the Royal County of bleedin' Berkshire?

That country and its ridiculous documentation! It makes you want to tear your hair out!!

The Philippine government wants to make money of course.

I remember I was stopped in the airport for not having renewed my PH passport. Why should I need to when I'm heading to the UK with a British passport? Plus I was born a dual national.

I know you're all on tenterhooks here, so I'm happy to inform you that the marriage certificate arrived today. It's just a copy of our report of marriage on "official" NSO paper.

I rang the Ph embassy a few days ago and inquired about documents needed for passport renewal. The lady I spoke with confirmed that requirements in the website are up-to-date.

Then I asked how come I know of applicants who were obliged to submit NSO authenticated marriage certificate even when they were married in the UK. She said they require an NSO copy when the applicant has been married a few years already. Otherwise, UK report of marriage would suffice. Senseless, ridiculous and inconsistent, isn't it? I would have challenged her reply, but I think I'm best articulating it with the right person when I go to the embassy myself in the future.

So what we are saying is, if you report the UK marriage within 3 months as you are supposed to then it will be fine to just submit the British Marriage Certificate, that's my take on it.

Good information