Registering your Australian marriage – Essentials for Filipinas
Did you marry your Filipina lady in Australia?
Do you know that you need to REGISTER YOUR MARRIAGE at the Philippines Embassy in Canberra?
This is fairly easy, but it's something you definitely need to do. Doing this means that the details of your marriage will be sent to Manila and will be entered in the registry at the National Statistics Office (NSO). Later you will be able to get a marriage certificate from the NSO of your Australian marriage!
Why do you need an NSO marriage certificate?
Sounds a bit odd, right? If you marry in the Philippines, you don't need to register this marriage back in Australia. There is no provision and no need for this. Australia recognises your overseas marriage as being perfectly valid. So why on earth would you need to register your Australian marriage in the Philippines?
Easy answer to that. The CFO. The Commission for Filipinos Overseas!
Down Under Visa partner visa clients are all aware that they need to attend the CFO pre-departure orientation seminar before they can travel to Australia after the visa is issued. And you are probably all aware that the CFO is a fairly autonomous organisation that doesn't appear answerable to anybody. And if you don't supply what they ask for, the Filipina applicant won't get her certificate and therefore won't get a sticker in her passport allowing her to travel to Australia after the visa is granted.
Well, the CFO doesn't recognise Australian marriage certificates issued by Births, Deaths and Marriages in your state! If you present your Aussie certificate, they won't accept it!
And arguing with them is not only pointless, it's really not a good idea. So get yourselves organised beforehand.
Other reasons to register?
Yes. If the visa holder wants to change or update their passport in their married name, you need to register your marriage too!
How do we register our Australian marriage with NSO?
Easy, as long as you do so in plenty of time. Don't try to do so after the CFO have sent you home. You need to do this back in Australia after you get your marriage certificate from Births, Deaths and Marriages (B.D. & M.). How long does it take? Honestly, no idea. However we've never known anyone to have a problem if they do so as soon as they can, then by the time you need your marriage certificate it won't take you any time at all.
Go to the Philippines Embassy in Canberra page by clicking HERE and follow the directions.
Who are Down Under Visa? Who is Jeff Harvie?
Jeff Harvie and the Down Under Visa team have been doing this for a lot of years! Down Under Visa have brought thousands of couples to Australia from South East Asia over the years. Mostly from the Philippines, but we help increasing numbers of couples where the visa applicant is from China, Thailand, Vietnam or Cambodia. And what this means is we see a lot of success....and we also see failures when people go it alone after talking to their mate, or their relative, or that minimal-care-no-responsibility Facebook group run by Steve and Maribeth based on their own visa application! One application, and they feel qualified to advise others! It's not even LEGAL to do that!
Want to bring your sweetheart to Australia from The Philippines, China, Thailand, Vietnam or Cambodia? Get a FREE VISA ASSESSMENT today! It will take you five minutes.
