Visiting Cebu City Philippines for the First Time

I was born and raised in the Philippines. I am 100% pure blooded Filipino. But believe me or not, I have never been to Cebu City all my life. There are so many places in my own country that I haven't been to. Even though I love travelling, I didn't have the money to spend for all the travelling costs. I'm thankful that my husband made most of my dreams possible including the chance of visiting places I never thought I would be able to visit. I would say I am one of those Filipinas who did experience a better life after marrying a foreigner but like everything else, nothing's perfect in this world. I will talk more about being married to my  American husband and the struggles we have to go through later in this blog. For now I want to share how our first trip to Cebu City went since it is both my husband and I first time to be in the City.

We took 2Go Travels on our way to Cebu City from Butuan City where we live. It is also my husband and I first time on a boat so we were both excited and nervous at the same time. Although we have read good reviews of 2Go Cruise Ships, I think its totally normal to still feel uneasy for first timers like us to travel at least 9 hours through the sea. Seeing the Ship for the first time was so overwhelming but we were like kids who couldn't wait to get in. The room we took was the Stateroom and I must say it was the cutest room we have ever stayed in! It was clean and has its own rest room and TV.  The room also face the ocean so we can see where the Ship is heading. It was a very smooth and relaxing travel. The food they served in the restaurant is good and the customer service is quite impressive. Before we even noticed, we already arrived in Cebu City safe and sound. 

Grabbing a taxi outside the pier station was a little bit tough because some drivers pick and choose their passengers. Some of them will pick you up only if your destination is the same as theirs or if it's too far or not. The farther your destination is, the more money they make of course. My husband and I got a little pissed (me especially because I was the one doing the talking) but finally after a couple of minutes a cab stopped by in front of us and drove us to our hotel. 

We stayed for 6 days at Rajah Park Hotel along Fuente Street. It's right next to Robinsons Mall and is sorrounded with different types of business establishments. We felt safe and relaxed during our stay. We've also seen a lot of foreigners checking in and out the hotel which can only mean one thing, they are satisfied with the hotel's service and location as well. The hotel is clean, well-kept, affordable, and peaceful. 

During our visit to Cebu, we have only visited couple of places because I could no longer manage to walk around too much since I was 6 months pregnant. However, we still had fun through out our trip! We were able to visit the historical Magellan's Cross where Catholic Cebu residents and tourists visit to pray. There were several ladies selling colorful candles and prays for those who bought their candles. They recite a long prayer while dancing and waving the candles in front of the Cross. I personally do not think those prayers will be answered because I believe a prayer must be personal and sincere - not because someone paid me to pray for her. But this has been a tradition to so many people in Cebu so I can't argue on that anymore. After all, Religion plays a big role in the history of Cebu City and one of the reasons why it is, what it is today. 

The next place we visited was the Old Historical Church located just right next to Magellan's Cross named Basilica del Santo Niño. There was a Catholic Mass at that time so a lot of people were there to listen and pray. It is the oldest Church in the Philippines known to have been through all types of natural phenomenon like earthquake. It has remained strong despite of its age and a lot of people still visit to pray. There were talks of robbers around the area but when we were there, we felt pretty secure because there were security guards at the entrance gate checking people's bags for safety. It is also near a Police Station so there is really nothing to be nervous about when visiting the place.

My husband and I also also visited a lot of restaurants. My most favorite are the restaurants located at Crossroad. We were able to try authentic Japanese and Mexican Food. We also visited Ayala Center which is by the way soooo HUGE! I don't think we were able to go around the whole area but the landscaping and the architectural designs of their buildings really amazed me. It almost looked as if we were still in the U.S. 

We wanted to visit the famous Taoist Temple but I no longer have the strength to take all the steps going up hill due to my pregnancy. Even though we only visited very few places, I have already made my first impression of Cebu. It is truly a well developed City with huge buildings, easy access on modes of transportation, and has high quality products and services. I wasn't surprised that a lot of foreigners visit and actually live within the City as it is quite modernized, far from the quite and simple province life. However, I have also learned that because of the developments, the cost of living is higher and will require more money in order to move around. Although the City still has areas that are unorganized and trashy, its something I hardly noticed when we were there.

I wish to visit Cebu City next time with my husband and child and this time take a look at the nice beaches they were famous of as well. 

Getting a Notary at the Consular Agency Cebu City | U.S. Embassy in the Philippines

It was my husband and I first time in Cebu City. Our house back in the U.S finally got sold and one of the requirements of the Escrow Company is to have the Grant Deed Notarized by the U.S Consulate in the Philippines. If you are an American who is currently in the Philippines waiting for your house in the U.S to sell, you might want to continue reading this blog because you will be going through the same thing. I will give you an idea on how everything goes at the Consular Agency Cebu through writing down our personal experience for your reference.

First, if you are still looking for a hotel to stay, you might want to check out Rajah Park Hotel located at Fuente Street where Robinsons and other nearby malls are located. We stayed there for almost 6 days because of the reasonable price, great customer service, clean room, security, good wifi, and accessibility. Even though it didn’t matter to us, I think this hotel also became attractive to many foreigners because of the Casino located at the 2nd Floor of the building.

Going to the Consular Agency wasn’t difficult at all. My husband went alone as I was almost 7 months pregnant. I was afraid it’s going to take a long time until we finish. I couldn’t sit around for long period of time anymore plus going to the restroom consistently (normal for pregnant women) could be a little inconvenient. My husband took a cab/taxi from the hotel, told the driver to bring him to the Waterfront Hotel (the Consulate and Waterfront Hotel is within the same building), and after about 15 minutes without hectic traffic (it was around 10am) he arrived at his destination.

There was the usual security check when he got inside the office. He was given a priority number and was told to wait until his number is called. There were about 10 American Nationals waiting for their turn as well. When it was his turn, he was asked what the purpose of his visit was and asked to present his passport. He was told the overall fee for the Notary will be $50 or 2, 550.00 Philippine Peso. After the payment, the lady took the document and the passport and told my husband to proceed to the Consular Officer’s table. The Officer checked my husband’s document, ask a couple of questions, and had a short oath for my husband to repeat raising his right hand. The document was then signed, stamped, and that was pretty much it. Overall my husband has only been inside the office for about an hour.

Going back to the hotel was easy as well. There are already cabs waiting outside the building so as soon as he got out he was able to get a ride and come back to our hotel.

I hope this short article is able to help your visit to the Consular Agency in Cebu much easier and a lesser hassle. If you have any questions please leave a comment below and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Here's a photo of the recreational park just in front of Rajah Park Hotel where we stayed in. I took this photo around 9pm in the evening after we had our dinner at the Robinson's Mall just beside t

Filing a Non-Quota Immigrant Visa at the Bureau of Immigration, Cagayan De Oro City Office

I would like to share our experience in applying for my husband’s Permanent Resident Visa or Non-Quota Immigrant Visa at the Cagayan De Oro City Office. I know how hard it is to find reliable and updated information over the internet so I would like to help those who are currently lost and don’t know where to start as we were in the same page before. This will only be the first step. I will be updating this article once we finish the whole Visa process.

I will start by giving out the following important information:

1. We were told that it will take approximately 6 months for Cagayan De Oro City BI Office to process the Visa Application. It is much faster at the main office in Manila because it only takes 1 month of processing. As for the reason why it will take that long, we were not told and didn’t really bother to ask. My husband and I had no choice but to go to CDO since it’s closer to where we live and I am 7 months pregnant, I couldn’t travel long distances or by plane anymore.

2. Be sure to bring 2 pieces of folder fasteners and 2 peices of long folders with you. Trust me you don’t want to go back and forth just because you didn’t have one. It happened to us which was a little inconvenient since I was pregnant and couldn’t really walk around too long.

3. Have each of your original documents photocopied except the CGAF (Consolidated General Application Form) because you will be submitting two original filled up CGAF anyways. You will be submitting 2 folders: 1folder for the original documents and 1folder for the photocopied ones.

4. My husband’s entry Visa was a Balikbayan Visa (valid for 1year) so there is a slight difference if you came in the Philippines through a Tourist Visa. What I mean is that be sure to keep the receipts of Tourist Visa extensions you paid at the Immigration during the first few months of your stay since they will be asking you for a proof of your valid authorized stay when you apply for the Permanent Visa.

Now that you’re aware of the above information, I will proceed to enumerating the required documents for the Visa Application. Although they are already listed at the Checklist of Documentary Requirements I will just write them down base on how we prepared them. Make sure to have the following original documents ready and arranged in order:

1. Checklist of Documentary Requirements. You can get this and have it printed from this link:http://www.immigration.gov.ph/visa-requirements/immigrant-visa/non-quota-visa/conversion-to-non-quota-immigrant-visa-by-marriage. [Be sure to follow the General Instructions. On the listed requirements, you need only to provide the documents from numbers 1 to 7. The number 7 however is provided by the BI Office so don’t worry about it.]

2. Joint Letter Request addressed to the Commissioner from the applicant and the petitioning spouse. [I was a little confused with this one because I thought we had to have this notarized but the lady in charge told us we didn’t have to. We found this out when we were already at the office. We were also told we had to re-write our letter according to their own format. I will give a sample of the letter later for your reference. This was a little inconvenient for us too because we had to find the nearest Internet Cafe to encode and have another letter printed.]

3. Duly Accomplished CGAF (BI Form CGAF-001-Rev 2). You can get this and have it printed from this link:http://immigration.gov.ph/downloads/application-forms.  [Like I previously said, you will be submitting 2 signed forms so make sure to print and fill up 2 forms.

4. Original NSO Issued Marriage Certificate

5. Original NSO Issued Birth Certificate of the Filipino Spouse

6. Applicant’s Photocopy of Passport’s bio-page and latest admission with valid authorized stay. [As I have stated above, if you came here and extended your stay through a Tourist Visa, be sure to keep your receipts with you as they are proof of your valid authorized stay. Although it will be stamped on your passport, I have heard foreigners being asked to provide the receipts as well.]

7. Original National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Clearance if the applicant has stayed in the Philippines for 6 months or more. [I will be writing another article about how we were able to get my husband’s Clearance at NBI Butuan City Office]

These are the documents we prepared and submitted for the Non Quota Immigrant Visa Application. For your reference here is the format for the Joint Letter Request addressed to the BI Commissioner:

We arrived at the BI Office around 10am in the morning and was entertained right away. We submitted our papers, had to run to an internet cafe for photocopying and to re-print our letter request, bought paper fasteners, and pretty much finished by 12pm. We didn’t pay anything yet because we were told our papers still needs to be checked by the Alien Control Officer which could take months. Once the papers are checked, we will be contacted to come back to pay for the fees and for an interview. These will all take 6 months so if you have a Balikbayan Visa, and you plan to apply in CDO, it's best to submit your papers 6 months before the expiration of your Visa. If you have Tourist Visa, you will have to file another Visa extension good for a couple of months.

I promise to have this article updated once we get the call/text from the BI office. For now, I hope the information above will help you decide where to file your Residential Visa and help you prepare the necessary documents for your application.

If you live near CDO and didn’t want to spent too much money for airplane and hotel stay in Manila, it is best to apply in CDO. My husband and I stayed at the Bed and Breakfast by Budgetel Hotel located at Corrales Extension. This hotel is just a couple of blocks away from Gaisano and Centrio Mall. Their rooms are clean and well kept. The area is secure and the customer service is great. We took the Matrimonial Room during our stay costing 1,180 pesos per night. I think the price we paid was worth it but just a heads up, this place is surrounded with bars and restaurants so it could be a little loud at night. If you’re willing to ignore the noise and have some beer or wine at night, this is a place to be.

This is it for now. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to comment below and I will answer them as fast as I can. ;)