Wedding Docs 101: Marriage License Application in Marikina

After our canonical interview, we decided to make the best of our day off from work by applying for our marriage license. We had a choice between Marikina (where I live) and Pasig (where Mox lives), but we decided to apply in Marikina instead because the Pasig municipality requires the certificate of attendance of the pre-cana seminar, and we haven't attended any seminars yet.

Aside from the personal appearance of both parties applying for the license, here are the other requirements for the marriage license application:

1. Birth certificate or baptismal certificate (for both parties)
2. Cedula (for both parties)
3. CENOMAR (for both parties)
4. One valid ID (for both parties)

You can submit photocopies of all these documents, so no need to order another copy of the CENOMAR and birth certificate from NSO. You can also submit a 2x2 picture in case you don't have any valid ID with you.

At the city hall, we proceeded to Window 19, where the person-in-charge handed us four forms to fill up. The left column is for the groom, while the right column is for the bride. The city hall has tables and chairs set up so we were very comfortable in filling up the forms. Plus, they also have free Wi-Fi and coffee! Parang nasa Starbucks lang kami. Relax na relax. Haha.

After filling up the forms, we got a number from the cashier and waited for our number to be called. When it was our turn, we proceeded to the cashier at Window 9 and paid P50 for the forms. Then we went back to Window 19 to submit the forms, the official receipt and another P100 for the processing of the documents. The person-in-charge gave us a slip of paper indicating the date of release of our marriage license, which is 10 business days after application.

We have to present our family planning seminar certificate before claiming our license though, so we went to the Marikina Health Office, which is the pink building near Savemore, to schedule our family planning seminar. The seminar is held every Monday and Tuesday only, from 8:00am-5:00pm.

At the health office, we first went to Window 9 to pay P150 for the seminar, then proceeded to the Population Management Office on the fifth floor, where we were each given a questionnaire that we must fill up. The questionnaire was in Filipino, and had really deep terms that were a bit difficult to understand. It was a good thing that we already had our canonical interview, because the questionnaire that we had to answer for the seminar was the same questionnaire that we answered for the interview, only in Filipino. Since we already knew our answers to the questions, it only took us a few minutes to fill up to forms.

After submitting the questionnaires, we were asked for our preferred schedule for the family planning seminar. We chose Monday, January 27, because Tuesday is my coding day, and luckily, the schedule was for half day only. We can still go to work afterwards if we want to. At least hindi masasayang leave namin diba?

Overall, the application process in Marikina was smooth, speedy and hassle-free! It took us an hour and a half to apply for our license, and only because we took some time filling up the application forms since we were enjoying the free Wi-Fi too much. Haha! Once we attend the family planning seminar on Monday, we can finally claim our license on February 3. Yey!