Excited to be a wife meines Liebling! (to my Sweetie)

Yeah I am already married and of course I am already a wife of my husband. LOLOL But the distance between us is too depressing. We got married last 13th March and he left for Germany on 23rd March. So we were "physically" together as husband and wife only for 11 days. Phewwww...Despite our everyday communications via emails, text messaging, phone calls and ym chats, being "physically" together is a great need for me to be able to take care of him and to let him know that he is my life now. We are 4 months married last Wednesday. One of the greatest gift from God which we have received last week is my German Spouse visa. German Embassy phoned me on that day to inform me that the approval of my visa has arrived. When I was on the phone talking to the lady from the German Embassy, my body started to chill and my hands again were trembling due to nervousness. I think my mind was over-reacting to it, that it sent signals to my organs to function abnormally or above the normal level. LOLOL I was so happy even until today as I write this.

God has never failed me. He never fails! God listens to our prayers and He answers....in His own time!..I believe that what God has given to me and meinem Liebling has always been the best.

A little more time...33 days more to go and we will be in each other's arms again!

Our experiences -- documents preparation before our wedding

Ok. First we needed to look for the instructions/steps/procedures at the German Embassy (GE) website with regards to the preparation of our documents for our wedding. I am a Filipina and my husband is a German national.

On the website of the GE, here is the link for the information regarding marriage between German and Philippine nationals. In that page, you will find four links. Three of them are in German language and one is in English. The fourth link pertains to Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage (or my husband and I call it CLCCM). It is stated that...

The German partner will need a certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage independent whether the marriage shall take place in the Philippines, Germany or a third country. This certificate is only issued by the civil registry of the (last) place of residence and information has to be obtained by the German partner directly there regarding which documents have to be submitted. In general the following documents are required from the Philippine partner:

BIRTH CERTIFICATE, issued by the National Statistics Office (NSO) in Quezon City, Metro Manila, on Security Paper (SECPA)

COMMUNITY TAX CERTIFICATE (original) as proof of residence

PARENTAL CONSENT to the marriage if at least one of the partners is between the age of 18 and 21 (unless he or she had been married before), duly authenticated by the competent Philippine authorities (see further under 'Affidavits/Sworn Statements').

PARENTAL ADVISE for the marriage if at least one of the partners is between the age of 21 and 25 (unless he or she had been married before), duly authenticated by the competent Philippine authorities (see further under 'Affidavits/Sworn Statements').

AFFIDAVIT of your parents (if deceased, of close relatives), stating your present civil status. The authentication by a public notary has to be in turn authenticated by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs. For any information contact directly the Department of Foreign Affairs.

PROOF OF PRESENT CIVIL STATUS:
■ SINGLE:
Certificate (original), issued by the National Statistics Office (NSO) in Quezon City, Metro Manila, on Security Paper stating the non-appearance of your name in the ’NATIONAL INDICES OF MARRIAGE’, not older than six (6) months from the date of issuance.
■ WIDOW/WIDOWER:
Marriage Contract and Death Certificate, duly issued/authenticated by the National Statistics Office (NSO) in Quezon City, Metro Manila, see information on the rear of this page.
■ DISSOLVED MARRIAGE:
Marriage Contract with amendment that the marriage is dissolved, Court Order/Decree
and Certificate of Finality, duly issued/authenticated by the competent Philippine authorities.

However, my husband contacted Standesamt (or Civil Registry Office) and he was given a list of documents/requirements which I have to submit to them.

• Two (2) passport-size pictures
• One (1) whole body picture (13x18cm)
• original Baptismal Certificate
• original Elementary School records (Elementary School Form 137)
• Marriage certificate of the parents issued by NSO
  
• Two (2) passport-size pictures of the parents
• Birth Certificate(s) of the sibling(s) (if there are any siblings); in this case the birth certificates issued by the local civil registry office are sufficient.
• Birth Certificate issued by NSO
• Community Tax Certificate
• Affidavit of my parents. (After it has been notarized, I brought it to the Department of Foreign Affairs Authentication Division to have it authenticated or also known as "red ribbon").
• Proof of present civil status, CENOMAR issued by NSO
• Photocopy of every pages of my travel passport, with a stamp of Certified True Copy on every pages.
  
• Any document which has my complete address. I had my Sworn Statements of Assets, Liabilities, And Net worth Annual Declaration form. I also had the two photocopies stamped with Certified True Copy.
• Consent form
• Payment of 80 euros to Standesamt in Germany.
  Paid by my husband.
  

All these (except the passport-size pictures and my whole body picture) must be submitted with two photocopies and translated from English to German language. We hired Orange Translations Inc. to translate my documents. For more info on the list of translators accredited by the GE, please click here.

Standesamt required more than what was stated on the page of the GE website. Actually, most the documents in the list above are found here. This page concerns on the Examination of Philippine documents. But my documents were not exactly for the purpose stated on that page. They were for my husband's requirements for his CLCCM.

After acquiring the complete document requirements, I mailed them to my husband in Germany via FedEx. Within three working days, he got my documents and submitted them to Standesamt. Within a week, he got his CLCCM.

When he arrived in Manila, he brought with him the following necessary documents:

• Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage
• International Birth Certificate (in English language)
• Authenticated Birth Certificate
• Residence Confirmation Paper issued by Standesamt where my husband lives
• Registration card or Federal Identity Card

...and certified true copies of each of his documents. Then immediately on the next day, we went to GE to have his CLCCM translated in English. And after two days, we came back to pick it up. GE is open from 8am to 11am only for this type of Consular Service. So better phone GE first before going there.

And the day after, we went to the Municipal Hall in Marilao, Bulacan where I live. We submitted the following documents for our Marriage License application.

• My NSO Birth Certificate
• My NSO Cenomar
• His international Birth Certificate (in English language)
• CLCCM (in English language issued by GE)
• Photocopy of his travel passport
• Payment of Php 350.00

We attended the whole day Marriage counseling and we were given a certificate of attendance. Then we waited for 10 days until we went back and picked up our Marriage License. Then we gave our Marriage License to our officiating Pastor.

The following documents have certain validity period/dates:

• CENOMAR - 6 months
• CLCCM - 6 months
• Marriage License - 120 days or 4 months
• Community Tax Certificate - 1 year

Time Preparation needed for all these must be at least 6 months.

Attaining a Family Reunion Visa

This is my first experience in applying for a visa. I have never gone abroad nor obtained any visa in the past. After getting married, just having the thought of me in this kind of situation, made me think that whatever the result will be - that is the life that I get to live. For me, visa is a life. I am married to a German national. To have an approved visa application is one of my new goals since I got married. Obviously because my life now is my husband. We are no longer two separate persons, but one.

Here is a summary list of steps which we took towards our goal:
• Passport appointment - I had to renew my passport to update my status and change of surname...without using the "courtesy lane" for Government employees (I am a government employee.) I was able to make an appointment with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) within a week. It was fast and easy for me compared to what I have heard from others. Others had to wait 2 to 3 weeks to 1 month for a passport appointment.
• Documents/requirements accessibility - With the help of my colleague, Chichi, I was able to obtain my birth certificate and my CEMAR from the National Statistics Office (NSO)...within 2 weeks and without having to go there to apply personally for these documents.
• Visa appointment - On May 14 (Friday), I called the German Embassy thru their Call Center or Visa Appointment System via Call center. The Call center agent gave me the option to choose which date I would like my appointment schedule to be. I decided for May 18 at 10:45am. This is another fast move while others have to wait for about 2weeks to 1 month for it.
• Visa Appointment day - The lady officer in the German Embassy was friendly, calm and approachable. Despite that I had to wait for about more than 1 hour because there was a lot of applicants before me which had difficult cases or situations that required too much time with the Embassy officer.
• Examination of documents - I did not undergo such process anymore. Not only it has saved time for my visa processing, it has also saved us from spending...
Php 11,900 - for verification fee including postal charges
Php 2,500 to 5,000 - for the translation of my documents from English to Deutsch
Php 1,500 to 3,000 - for Fedex shipping cost from Manila to Germany
• Proof of basic German Language proficiency, issued by the Goethe Institut Manila - According to page 4 of this file ,

"No proof of basic knowledge of the German language is required if sufficient knowledge is evident (this means that the application in German language as well as the interview in German language must take place without the help of a third party)."

and Page 2 of this file,

"If during the personal interview in the embassy or consulate general it becomes evident beyond any doubt that you have the required knowledge of the German language, no separate proof is required."

and 3rd bullet which states,

Are there exceptions?
Yes. You do not have to prove any knowledge of German, as a
rule, if one of the following statements applies:
■You have a university degree and probably be able to
find work in Germany on the basis of your language skills
(recognisably minor integration requirement).

We thought I would be exempted from this requirement because I have two Bachelor Degrees - Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering and Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. OR at least I will be taking a German interview during my appointment on May 18. Stefan and I have been practicing a lot and studying the German language for this big day.

However, during the appointment at the German Embassy, the lady officer told me to enroll at the Goethe Institut in Makati and take and pass their A1 exam to be able to get this certificate. The lady could not give me the interview that I was asking for because according to her, she has no capability to do the interview. A German national officer is the right person to give interviews to applicants. Then again I would find it very hard and I might not pass the interview because it is very difficult to understand. And that most of the applicants prolonged their waiting time for their visa due to failing to provide this requirement.

I got scared and discouraged from taking the interview.

We were very disappointed. We have prepared so much for this interview. And we were expecting a lot from it. To make this long story short, the German Embassy did not stick to what is written on their page. Thus, we decided that I must take the A1 exam at the Goethe Institut(GI) and continue to study more beforehand. The next possible exam date was on June 30. I had at least more than a month for further studying. I have also found out that GI offers a Placement Test for only Php 150.00. And I decided to take it. I got an evaluation report of having a basic knowledge of the German language between level A1.2 and A1.3. Yet, the lady at the GI advised that I buy their books to further study on some pointers which were my weaknesses during the exam. I bought only the Intensive Training book which costs Php 500.00. However, I lost it after 2 weeks of studying it. I don't remember how I lost it. But I was bringing it anywhere I go. I have been studying it even I was in the train or jeepney. So I guess, I did not notice that it fell from me or I have left it somewhere. No idea. Anyway, I registered for the exam at the Goethe Institut and sent the payment of Php 4,000 as the examination fee for outsiders (examinees who are not enrolled in their language course).

On the examination day, I was very nervous. I have never been that nervous ever since. My hands were shaking, I was a bit chilling too. Even during the essay or writing part of the exam, the table was shaking too because I could not control or stop my hand from shaking. LOL. I got worried that the examiner may not understand my handwriting. The hearing part of the exam was extremely difficult for me because the recorded conversations are too fast for a beginner. Out of the 15 questions under the hearing part, I was not sure of any of my answers. Not a single answer! My nervousness have been with me constantly until the releasing of the results the day after. GI releases the result only to the examinee. Two days after, I personally went to GI. Finally I prayed to God and had this comforting thought for myself to have a score of at least 60%, as it is the passing score. I gave my passport to the guy in white uniform and he came back with a white envelope. I gazed at the envelope and it seemed to be empty. He handed it over to me. I opened it and found a cut-out strip of bond paper with

(My Name stated here). 93

I asked the guy what it means. As I was expecting to receive a letter with a message like

Dear ..................,
Congratulations! You have passed the exam....
or
We are sorry you did not pass the exam....

The guy told me that it is my grade. And it is the highest. My tears fell down on my cheeks. It was tears of joy. I was shocked as I have never expected it. He began to ask me questions like "Have you been to Germany?, Where did you study? Did you study at the Sprache school?"...I said, "No, I haven't been to Germany and no I did not enroll at any school. I just had a self-study with the help of my husband." Then he said, "Come back on Monday to get your certificate and we will give you a gift for being the highest passer." I left and immediately phoned my mom, crying and telling her what happened. Then I phoned Stefan too and broke the good news to him. To God be the glory! It was one of the many miracles that God gave me. Many many thanks to my mom, my dearest Stefan, Mama and Papa and everybody who have prayed for me to pass this exam. I believe in God. And I believe that God listens to our prayers! In Matthew 21:22, and whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.

To conclude, we were able to save at least Php 18,000 from the enrollment fee at the Goethe Institut PLUS fares PLUS foods expenses.

Last July 5, I got my certificate. And immediately the following, day I mailed it to the German Embassy via LBC courier. Then last July 13, I got a phone call from the German Embassy informing me that the approval of my visa has arrived and requiring me to visit them with my passport and departure date.

Waiting for my Visa

I have just arrived from the German Embassy. I brought my passport with me and surrendered it to them together with the information of my expected date of departure for Germany. Now, I will just sit down and wait for my passport with the visa to arrive. All is going well now. All is done with regards to my visa application.

I am now on the next stage - preparation for my resignation from my job. I feel sad because I will be leaving my colleagues whom I have worked with for almost 7 years(on September). Adding up to my sadness is leaving my mom here. When I informed her yesterday that I got a call from the German Embassy with regards to the approval of my visa, she was already sad because I am finally leaving her. I tried to cheer her up and make her understand that even at our present situation - my mom in Zamboanga City and me staying with my brother in Bulacan is almost the same as me going to Germany and her remaining in Zamboanga City. I said that distance is not a problem. Money is. Money to buy fares to be able to go to Manila or Zamboanga or anywhere else. And we can still send messages to each other via text.

I believe this is one of the big changes or move in anybody's life - migrating abroad and leaving our parents/love ones behind. Yet, it is also one good challenge which we have to learn to accept. Having this kind of sadness is a natural feeling. I guess, giving them the assurance that they will always be remembered in thoughts and prayers would help. As my Uncle Wes told me, "Anyway I am going away for the good reason." This will be the beginning of my new life as married. On the bright side, finally the end of waiting period to be living together with my sweetest husband has finally arrived. This temporary separation since a week after our wedding has been very difficult. We have been communicating everyday via text messaging, emails, ym chat and phone calls. The past two farewells with him has now ended. And this time, nobody is saying goodbye. We will finally be settling down together. All this time, I believe that God has been leading the way...