Online Marriges in Utah

The best path is to file your report of marriage with the PSA. It takes about 6 months to receive a true PSA copy of your marriage certificate but, in my case time may vary, in a few weeks, you will receive a completed request that has all the PSA stamps on it and works as a report of Marriage.

This works great to come to the Philippines. MOving the other direction there are more hoops to jump through such as proof of relationship ect.

I have done the online marriage and now reside in Dumaguete.
The only way I am here is because I filed the Report of Marriage in order to apply for 9a visa.
It takes 3 months for the PSA marriage certificate to be ready. Once I have that in my hand we are all set.
Then we start the very long process of getting her back to the USA to visit my family, or move there in the future if we decide.
The marriage is done online but not called "online marriage" and rather a "virtual ceremony" where both parties and witnesses all attend virtually. It is hosted by Utah County in Provo, Utah and so it is considered a marriage officiated there also.
Because it is a legal marriage within the US the Philippines must honor it whether they agree with it or not. Now that doesn't mean you won't get the occasional power tripping Immigration Officer on your way in but they have to let you in when you show your visa, Marriage Certificate/Apostille, etc.
There have been hundreds, if not thousands, now that have successfully made it.

RGStewart wrote:

I have done the online marriage and now reside in Dumaguete.
The only way I am here is because I filed the Report of Marriage in order to apply for 9a visa.
It takes 3 months for the PSA marriage certificate to be ready. Once I have that in my hand we are all set.
Then we start the very long process of getting her back to the USA to visit my family, or move there in the future if we decide.
The marriage is done online but not called "online marriage" and rather a "virtual ceremony" where both parties and witnesses all attend virtually. It is hosted by Utah County in Provo, Utah and so it is considered a marriage officiated there also.
Because it is a legal marriage within the US the Philippines must honor it whether they agree with it or not. Now that doesn't mean you won't get the occasional power tripping Immigration Officer on your way in but they have to let you in when you show your visa, Marriage Certificate/Apostille, etc.
There have been hundreds, if not thousands, now that have successfully made it.

Glad I am not the only one on here to do this.

Hi looks like a few more states made virtual marriages legal! Ca and i think New York, check it out, will make Utah seem like less of a marriage mill.  So can anyone help me with the steps. 
1. Have a Filipina fiancé.
2. Register and have the ceremony, get the certificate.
3. New wife applies for a visa for you.
4. You get to the Philippines.
5. What kind of Visa can you then apply for? 
6. Apply for US visa for wife.
Thanks JIM

lcdrski wrote:

1. Have a Filipina fiancé.

Easy to find interested. 
Alternative A.  There are datingsites with many Filipinas frustrated at most men dont look for serious relations.  Except the Filipinas who are scammers   

Alternative B.  Tell some Filipinos you arent married and want to find a Filipina to marry. Then tsismis =gossip    will spread and give you a long queue of interested   

Many Filipinas think they have become to old to get a husband, when they pass 30!   Specialy if being single mother.

Then is left to find out who is good suiting   

coach53 wrote:

Alternative A.  There are dating sites with many Filipinas frustrated at most men don't look for serious relations.  Except the Filipinas who are scammers.

These that are scammers consider expats as commodities, not as potential mates. Commodities: a fool waiting to give away his money and his heart. Recently I read an article about mail order brides and the majority were Filipinas.

These commodities were lacking in social skills so they turned to "mail order brides". In most cases (from the article) the marriage never worked, the bride was unhappy from day one and the groom was expecting a subservient woman. Two negatives didn't make for a positive.

Enzyte Bob wrote:

coach53 wrote:

Alternative A.  There are dating sites with many Filipinas frustrated at most men don't look for serious relations.  Except the Filipinas who are scammers.

These that are scammers consider expats as commodities, not as potential mates. Commodities: a fool waiting to give away his money and his heart. Recently I read an article about mail order brides and the majority were Filipinas.

Thats the EXCEPT part.
The SCAMMERS dont become frustrated at missbehaving men, scammers just try to milk such men at money,

There is an old Latin phrase "Caveat emptor" basically meaning, let the buyer beware. Always a good idea.

I just hope all the guys who are considering an online marriage have met their future partner and their family in person first. There is simply no way to know someone, and discern their true intentions, from an online only relationship.

Hi does anyone know if the PI recognizes the virtual/online marriage certificates? Thanks

PI recognizes online marriages, but first after the marriage online, you must secure the Marriage Certificate in your State, then get an Apositllla in your state before you send it to the PH Embassy, once you get all this done then it is approved. I did my online marriage in Texas much easier than Utah, got my valid marriage certificate in Texas, got the Apostilla and then got my PH Visitor visa to come with my wife

lcdrski wrote:

Hi does anyone know if the PI recognizes the virtual/online marriage certificates? Thanks

Those from Utah are normal certificates and say nothing about the format of marriage, so they are accepted. Mine was filed with PSA and we have an official PSA copy now.

@wleroy1966 For a CR/IR visa to the US there still has to be proof of a bonafide relationship, so yes you would need to meet somewhere first before applying to enter the US I think. Just a marriage without proof of a physical meeting will raise many red flags,

@lcdrski Yes, the Philippines recently changed their marriage laws to recognize online marriages. They used to require all parties—the officiant, bride, and groom—to be present in the same physical location. That has now changed. 

@lcdrski If they are recognized in any State in the US, they are recognized in all of the US. If they are recognized in the US, they must be recognized in the Philippines. This even includes so called same sex marriage which is not possible in the Philippines where divorce is also not possible but where US divorces of Filipinos are recognized. Perhaps someday Filipinos will be able to obtain virtual US  divorces in a Zoom conference and I am sure that I am not the first or last person to think of that lol. There are always small municipalities who need funding from fees and some States like Florida have quickie no-fault divorces (ahem) as long as there are no property disputes.

@RGStewart hiii.. i know this is a bit late comment but can I ask what's the process of registering it to the PSA? My fiancé and I just got married online yesterday throug Utah, USA and I would like to registered our marriage license here in the Philippines.

@RGStewart hiii... i know this is a bit late comment but can you walk me through registering the marriage license you got online to PSA? My fiancé and I just got married yesterday through Utah and I also want to register it to PSA. How did you do it? What's the first step? Thank youuu

(sorry about this. Didn't realized my first comment went through)

You should contact the consulate in San Francisco, CA to file a report of marriage. You will need the original marriage certificate but the directions are on the consulate website.

@Enzyte Bob  interesting. Got married online through Co. In Utah. Have an apostille to marriage certificate. (Hague Convention). Why marry in PH? No rights as foreigner let alone divorce. US customs won't quibble with apostilled marriage certificate.

I am an aging Hillbilly from Missouri, the Show Me State.  I met my Filipina on the dating site LDS Pals.  She and I are both devout members of what used to be commonly referred to as the "Mormon Church," but our new church President, Russell M. Nelson, brought with him to the Presidency the determination that we become identified by the correct/real name, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; long, but descriptive, and most importantly, accurate.  I was born and raised in the Bible Belt, in the Ozarks of Missouri, among Evangelical Christians, but my parents didn't attend church, so I pretty much raised myself, religiously speaking.  My first wife, now deceased, was a member of the ("Mormon")  LDS faith; I became a convert after we married way back in 1959.  We raised 7 kids, all of whom are active in our church.  Ours is a Christian religion; as members we are very family/community/country oriented. 

After meeting on the dating site, my new Filipina girlfriend and I Skyped almost daily for 17 months, during which time we came to know we wanted to be married.  After the typical 30+ hours of airline/layover misery, my fiancee, a resident of Dumaguete, and I were married in June as we stood together in my Check Inn Hotel room in the City of Gentle People, with one of her daughters as witness; the other witness was one of my daughters, in Riverton, Utah, with all of us connected on Zoom.  The officiator was in the Utah County Clerk/Recorder's office in Provo, Utah.  The ceremony took about 20 minutes; the officiator was very congenial, kind, helpful and careful to explain everything as the ceremony moved along.  Immediately after the ceremony, both my new wife and myself received digital copies of our marriage license and our marriage certificate (both on the same sheet), plus  a digital notarization of the marriage.  A few days later we received from our officiator in Provo, what we needed to create an Apostille, which my wife delivered to the proper Php bureaucracy, so that our marriage can be officially recognized as legal.  I was only allowed 29 days as a tourist in Php, so I flew back to Utah at the end of June (which included a 20 hour layover in SFO, the memory of which is now indelibly recorded on the wall of my mind). 

She is still in Dumaguete; I'm back in Utah.  Since being married and far apart is (plug in your own description), we are now working on getting together, be it by her coming here to the US, or my returning to Dumaguete.  The rub is that I've so far not been able to get any concrete guidance as to which path to take, which path is easiest/hardest, or even available, and if I can return to Dumaguete, how long can I stay? 

I hope this posting won't be any kind of an infringement on Expat rules; I wanted to give a "one man's story" version for anyone who might be interested enough to navigate/tolerate my wordiness.  Thanks to all who made it to here.....    If you can offer any info, suggestions, advice, experience, etc.  I'm all ears and will be very grateful.   

Sounds like you should get a spousal visa... then you can stay an extended time (look that one up... 2 years maybe??)  Great story Tito... (:

I'm thinking someway you can have a Balikbayan Visa (married to a Filipina) which is good for one year when entering the Philippines. Then you can apply for a ACR-1 card, after 59 days a 13A.

Maybe someone on the forum who has experience entering on a Balikbayan Visa without their spouse can guide you.

If good information can't be found, maybe you and your wife can meet in a third country and then return to the Philippines together.

Could meet in Singapore or Hong Kong for your honeymoon and then on to the Philippines together.

You could follow the route I did and enter on a tourist visa(9A), I would double check if Visa on Arrivals are being used again. Once you are in the country you can extend the tourist visa for up to 6 months at a time and you will also get an ACR on the first extension. If you decide to stay here long term then you can apply for a 13a. If you decide to do that I posted a write-up on the process I just went through doing so after an online marriage in Utah. I would suggest doing that after 6 months just for ease of the background check.

I'm in Las Vegas and just a scant 21 days from moving permanently to Cebu. She's in Cebu and hasn't left the Philippines ever. Her passport expired last year, so we need to renew that. I was divorced over 20 yrs ago. I have no record of the divorce and today tried calling the court clerk to get records and can't get through.

So this Utah online marriage thing has me thinking. Do I really need the divorce record to show I'm legally allowed to marry? Can we just get married online while in the Philippines and get all the documents needed for spousal visa mailed to us? Or mailed to my US forwarding address.

@Larry Fisher You will need to file the report of marriage at the consulate in san Fransico for the marriage and it can all be done via mail. As cenomar, certificate of no marriage, we got that from the Philippines so it will not show a record of a US divorce anyways.

@Larry Fisher You will need to file the report of marriage at the consulate in san Fransico for the marriage and it can all be done via mail. As cenomar, certificate of no marriage, we got that from the Philippines so it will not show a record of a US divorce anyways.
-@PNodens

Pardon? As cenomar? no gotcha

It is one of the supporting documents for a report of marriage. Basically certificate of no marriage to prove you can be married as far as the Philippines sees it. It takes the place of the court records you mentioned.

Larry. . . I've been piecing together your threads/posts.

It seems you are worried about those past cannabis charges. It's ironic that cannabis is now legal in Las Vegas your home town.

For the uninformed, in Las Vegas you can actually buy marijuana using the drive through windows.