Republic of the Philippines
Department of Justice
BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION
Manila
NOTICE TO ALL APPLICANTS / PETITIONERS:
To avoid the inconvenience of a summary denial of your application / petition, please be
advised of the following:
1.
All sworn statement or affidavits must be properly notarized, indicating therein the proof
of identification of the patty being sworn by the notary public.
2.
All documents to be submitted must be properly authenticated. Documents executed
outside of the Philippines must be authenticated by officials of the Philippine Foreign Service at
its place of execution or neatest to it. The offices having official custody of the originals must
duly certify any document executed within the Philippines.
3.
All required documents required in nos. 7 & 2 must be submitted and must be in order,
otherwise your application or petition cannot be processed immediately.
CHANGE OF STATUS FROM TEMPORARY VISITOR TO
NON QUOTA IMMIGRANT BY MARRIAGE
Under Section 13(a) of the PIA of 1940, as amended
1.
[ ]
Letter of application
I was advised by an Atty. that this letter should be written by the Filipino Spouce! This does not need to be Notarised.
Our letter was a request by my Spouce for her Husbands ‘Change of Status from Temporary Visitor Non-quota Immigrant’
due to our legal marriage. We detailed our names and where we resided. Stated having been legally married through the
process of NIC, Marriage Application, Family Planning and Marriage Guidance Seminar attendance, and issuance of the
Marriage Licence here in Cebu. We stated where the marriage took place, and when, and the name of the Solomnizing
Officer. We stated having obtained, and provided, the required documents and the Affidavits with the application and
wished the application to be processed.
Apparently one does not need to include all this detail – good reason to speak to an Attorney (and one familiar with
Immigration requirements) first!
2.
[ ]
General application form duly accomplished and notarized
(BI Form No. RBR 98-01)
Follow the ‘Warnings and Directions’ on this Form. I would recommend using a B.I. Accredited Representative to
represent you as an applicant. Atty. Serafin ABELLON is Resident Ombudsman, Bureau of Immigration Cebu, and he
can be found upstairs in Special Investigations room of Cebu D.I., and helped me with my application submission.
3.
[ ]
2x2 ID pictures to be attached to the application form
NB: BID Cebu seem to insist this is full 2”x2” size picture, NOT standard Passport width. Same size head shot but plenty
of blank space to left and right!
4.
[ ]
Birth Certificate of applicant / Filipino spouse; in the absence of a BC, submit the
following:
a.
[ ]
Certification of the Local Civil Registrar or the National
Statistics. Office of its loss or non-availability
b.
[ ]
Any public document which will establish the Filipino
citizenship of the spouse
c.
[ ]
Affidavit of two (2) disinterested persons indicating
nationality of parents of Filipino spouse, and his/her birth
place and birth date of applicant
This must be an NSO authenticated copy of Birth Certificate. Can do this via phone (737-1111) or via the Internet
(http://www.e-census.com) – much easier than at NSO Cebu office (Sancianko St. - 3rd Floor opp Univ. of Cebu).
5.
[ ]
True copy of the Marriage Contract of alien and Filipino spouse
We only had the original copy of our ‘Certificate of Marriage’ and allowed the Atty. to take a copy of this.
6.
[ ]
Certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage issued by the Embassy of
Consulate of the alien spouse, or official family register with authentic
interpretation as certified by the Philippine Embassy of Consulate
They wanted the original NIC – BUT this was retained when the Marriage Application was submitted! Best bet is to get a
copy recorded as ‘True Copy’ by the Embassy or Consulate.
7.
[ ]
Joint affidavit of legal capacity to contract marriage, slating any previous
marriage(s) and the manner by which the marriage was dissolved.
Simply worded Affadivit (see example blank version) Notarised and signed.
8.
[ ]
If Alien spouse was previously married, a true copy of the divorce decree
dissolution of marriage or death certificate, as the case may be, duly
authenticated.
If one does not have an original Death Certificate, it must be an NSO authenticated copy of Birth Certificate. This can be
done via phone (737-1111) or via the Internet (http://www.e-census.com) – much easier than at NSO Cebu office
(Sancianko St. - 3rd Floor opp Univ. of Cebu).
9.
[ ]
True copy of Birth Certificate of minor unmarried children under 21 years, if any:
10.
[ ]
Joint affidavit of financial capacity and support executed by the applicant and the
alien spouse with supporting documents showing capacity to support
themselves.
Simply worded Affadivit detailing Bank Accounts, for which supporting documents confirming balance are available.
Apparently this is ‘Short Term’ financial assetts – they did not seem to want details of Life Insurance and Pension? (see
example blank version) Notarised and signed.
11.
[ ]
Medical Certificate from the Bureau of Quarantine that alien spouse and
unmarried children are not afflicted with any contagious , dangerous and
loathsome disease
Before applying to Bureau of Quarantine and International Health Sevices ( National Quarantine Office, Cebu, is located
next to City Health Dept on General Maxilom Ave – near DSWD), one must obtain the following from Medical Laboratory
obtained (used their recommended Clinic – Gillamac at 40 Don Gil. Garcia St, near Capitol Tourist Inn. Cost =
Php430):i)
Chest X-ray
ii)
Blood Sample (Serology VDRL report)
VD, not AIDS, test!
iii)
Stool Sample (Ova & Parasites report)
iv)
Urine Sample (Urinalysis report - Color, appearance, PH, SG, protein, RPC/HPF, WBC/HPF,
Epitheual Cells, Mucus threads, Bacteria ).
Once this has been completed, contact Dr. Bahande Tel: 232-2072 for appointment.
Cost of Medical Certificate = Php200 + Php6.5 (photocopy). Require Passport + 2 x Passport Photos
12.
[ ]
NBI clearance
Need Police Clearance first it had been suggested! According to the notice on the wall outside Cebu City NBI office
(located in N. Escario St – West end past Capital), this can now be processed in one day by following the 6 steps listed.
Step 1 was fill in Form B – they had run out however! (Telephone NBI Cebu – 2546444, to check on availability first!). The
process is fairly easy – get there EARLY, put your name on a LIST near the Entrance door and NOTE your NUMBER ON
THE LIST. You then wait until your number has been called, show some ID to prove it is you, and enter room taking a
seat where directed. People move foreward to the 2 x Cashiers windows to submit payment. There are no
announcements or directions as to which window one goes to. I went to the right (since this is the one with next available
3 deep queue slot), only to be told I had to go to the other (left hand) window? Once you have paid you get the Form to fill
in (Take a clipboard and fill in whilst queing for Fingerprints outside – it will save time). An officer takes the fingerprints as
required on the Form. Once done you can enter the building again and queue to have your digital ‘mugshot’ taken. Cebu
NBI has 2 x digital camera positions but only 1 working when I went there meaning the queues were longer than they
might otherwise be! At this point the submission is complete when handed in at the window to the right of the entrance
outside. I was told to come back at 1pm only to discover that in my case the release of NBI clearance would be 3 days
later (have to get clearance from Manila first).
NB: when you collect your NBI clearance, it pays to read (no one tells you this!) the warning advising Not Valid without
Thumprint and authentication embossed seal! Get this done before you leave!
13.
[ ]
Barangay clearance
This ‘Certification’ is obtained fom the Barangay Captain in the area you are residing in (Php20). One should also obtain
the Individual ‘Community Tax Certificate’ giving details of Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Height, Weight (Php7.84).
14.
[ ]
Police clearance
This is obtained from the City Police Station where you are residing. One needs the Barangay clearance first and a
photocopy of this, together with Residence Certificate (Community Tax Certificate). 2 x colored Passport type Photos are
required. (Php5).
15.
[ ]
BI Intelligence Clearance
This is submitted when all the other requirements have been obtained. Php510 (+Php500 Express Lane – optional).
16.
[ ]
Copy of passport of alien spouse and children showing date of arrivals and
validity of stay
Copy Passport i) details page, ii) last arrival in Philippines page, iii) latest Visa extension validity date.
One has to also pay ‘Filing Fee’ of Php1000+10 (+Php500 Expess Lane – optional). Then one just has to wait
until the 13a Visa Application is processed. NB: This could take more than 2 months since papers all have to go
to Manili for processing and checking – depends where one is in the que system. Using a B.I. Accredited
Representative to represent you as an applicant is supposed to speed things up here somewhat. The idea is
‘without their help you would end up paying for yet another extension’ – if you save you that expense, it pays for
their service? I will let you know if this proves to be true!
CERTIFICATION
This is to certify that the documents submitted in support of the application / petition for
_____________________________________________________________________________________
are complete and in order.
Name of reviewing / recommending / lawyer
or employee of the Bureau of Immigration
________________________________
(Sign over printed name)
Date _______________