Testimony for Christian Singles Registry
>> Thursday, January 1, 2009
I was hoping to get married in my 20s, but that never happened for me. I am glad I didn't because I wouldn't have met my soulmate if I got married in my 20s. After I graduated from Sacramento State, I joined a penpal club where I met my wife. We corresponded through the mail for a while and then I went to the Philippines to meet her. After we first met, I knew she was the one for me. After I got back to America, we started talking on the phone quite a bit. I was still going to school, but I knew I wanted to get married when I graduated. I proposed to Demcy over the phone and surprisingly, she said yes. I flew over there during my school break and we got married on Christmas Eve. Getting married in the Philippines was quite an experience. The Mayor married us, but we had a paperwork issue. For a foreigner to marry a Filipino in the Philippines, they have to get a permit. I wasn't aware of this, and either was anybody else. The Mayor's office wasn't even sure where I would get the permit to get married, but they knew I needed it. We finally found out that we needed to get it from the American Embassy. We thought we had to go to Manila to get it which is quite far from where we were. We got married in Cagayan De Oro in Midanao and that isn't anywhere near Manila. That is like telling someone in California they need to go New York to get a permit to get married. Luckly we found a place in Cebu to get the permit. Cebu is only a days travel on ferry. We went to Cebu and got the permit and brought it back to Cagayan De Oro. I was getting ready to leave because in January I was suppose to go to a military school. I found out that the permit would only be valid if I stayed in the Philippines for 10 days after obtaining the permit. The problem is that nobody tells you all of this at once. I ended up leaving anyway because I wasn't able to stay there for 10 days more after obtaining the permit. I also found out that it is easier to get someone into America with a fiancee visa then a married visa. There are some legal issues when you are married that can cause more of a problem. A married visa can take up to a year to get the person into this country when a fiancee visa can take 6 months. I ended up getting my wife here on a fiancee visa and she arrived a few weeks after I graduated from Sacramento State. She actually arrived here just in time for my mothers funeral.
