Confused !!!!,
"Much more if the cost of building the survival bunker is factored in". Whats a survival bunker,

You need to allow a minimum of at least 3 months from starting the marriage application process until the time you receive the "Authorisation To Marry" letter from the MoI.

Once you receive the letter, you then submit to the Sangkat who issue you the official Marriage Certificate. You can then hold the actual marriage celebration any time you want after receiving the marriage certificate.

kerberus wrote: ↑Tue Jun 04, 2019 2:41 am Thank you for your replies. I meet all requirements including the 2500 USD (but earning this means not i have it all for free disposal).

It's not so illogical. I am under 30 and have to work a lot but next year i can go abroad (with paid holiday) for 60 days. As i read i have to stay 21 days in Cambodia BEFORE i can show up at MOFAIC... So this time would be perfect to gather the allowance itself.

The marriage will cost around 10.000 USD. Not more, not less. I dont want to make a smaller party (cause i also have not to pay something like a dowry etc) and it would be disrespectful to make a too small wedding.

My bride mentioned we will get maybe 50-70% of the costs back. But i don't want to rely on such a "maybe".

So my plan was to get the allowance...wait one year more including gather the money and organize everything.

If this allowance would be valid long enough (my big question of this topic)... Perfect .. cause then we could marry and do the papers after it.

It sounds for me a bit unromantic to make the papers first? Or how would see this Cambodian people?

She must be cute and playful. She makes you feel alive and enhances your Cambodian experience. Sex is good and you see yourself having a family with her. You see yourself grow old with her. I'm sure you've already talked about moving to a western country to raise your kids... All that sounds good on paper, especially after a hot, steamy sexy time when the chemicals in your brain are still running wild.

Now hold up. You're under 30 and you make over $1500 a month in Cambodia. You need time to think about the decision you're about to make. Why would it be disrespectful to have a smaller wedding? Did you talk about your finances with her? If yes, why in the hell did you do that? One more thing: did she ask you about your finances or did you decide to play Mac Daddy in front of her just for your ego?

How do you know the wedding will cost around $10k? did you get a quote? If you need a wedding allowance from the RGC, maybe you should wait a bit.

When it comes down to marrying someone in a country like Cambodia, romance is secondary. Finances come first. People all over the world (developed and developing countries) sometimes get married for reasons other than love. Be extra careful (since you seem to have fallen head over heels for that chick).

I might be wrong though, but I just don't want a young buck like yourself to be a victim of the Kardashian curse.
My personal advice would be to take it slow and maybe postpone your wedding until you two really get to know one another.

epidemiks wrote: ↑Mon Jun 03, 2019 7:23 pm
Edit for clarity:

The letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is taken to the Ministry of Interior's trafficking office. You should do this straight away. Once that is done, the Ministry of Interior issues the letter for the Sangkat.

The final letter of permission to marry (the one issued by the Ministry of Interior) is taken to your fiancée's sangkat, and the wedding certificate is issued. From the date of issue of your marriage certificate, you're married. That's it.

The party you have later is a cultural event, not a legal one, and you can have that at any time after.

This is 100% accurate.

newkidontheblock wrote: ↑Tue Jun 04, 2019 7:37 am .

Spent about 17K on the wedding, got back 7K. Much more if the cost of building the survival bunker is factored in. Bunker construction took about a year. Family had been planning her wedding for years. She was viewed as the most successful in her family. All of it was to give her and her family a good face, of course.

Just read PSD-Kiwi’s excellent posting on the subject.

Nobody cares, stopping bragging.

As far as PSD Kiwi's guide, you hired someone NKOTB. You didn't try to follow it. it is severely out dated, by years. It is helpful to get an idea of the process and the names of places. The fine details are wrong now: some locations , some prices. Everytime I asked him for updated info he was not once in country for could answer. Everytime I tried to give him updated info so he could update his guide he thanked me and said he'd check it out himself then update the guide. That's not been done, meaning I believe he does not spend time here anymore..
My point is this: Just don't believe that guide is 100% accurate. It makes it seem very easy, it is anything but.

Thank you all for your answers.

She told you this right? ".....it would be disrespectful to make a too small wedding."

Haha no she didnt told me that. But yes it sounds like the usual "gold digger stuff". I had already one of these special girls, but only for 3 months so i know these games already and learned it the very hard and expensive way. But in this case i think this is right for all girls around the world, cause they just want to have a great wedding.

She must be cute and playful. She makes you feel alive and enhances your Cambodian experience. Sex is good and you see yourself having a family with her. You see yourself grow old with her. I'm sure you've already talked about moving to a western country to raise your kids... All that sounds good on paper, especially after a hot, steamy sexy time when the chemicals in your brain are still running wild.

Now hold up. You're under 30 and you make over $1500 a month in Cambodia. You need time to think about the decision you're about to make. Why would it be disrespectful to have a smaller wedding? Did you talk about your finances with her? If yes, why in the hell did you do that? One more thing: did she ask you about your finances or did you decide to play Mac Daddy in front of her just for your ego?

How do you know the wedding will cost around $10k? did you get a quote? If you need a wedding allowance from the RGC, maybe you should wait a bit.

When it comes down to marrying someone in a country like Cambodia, romance is secondary. Finances come first. People all over the world (developed and developing countries) sometimes get married for reasons other than love. Be extra careful (since you seem to have fallen head over heels for that chick).

I might be wrong though, but I just don't want a young buck like yourself to be a victim of the Kardashian curse.
My personal advice would be to take it slow and maybe postpone your wedding until you two really get to know one another.

Also i know that the thing with the western passport plays a role. But she want me to move to cambodia and life with her in her house. She has a good normal job where she earns enough for herself (I dont have to give her any extra money).

She told me the wedding will cost around 8.000 USD for 300 people including everything (rings, cloth, ceremony, music, party, food...), but i will need to pay the flight tickets for 2 other people of my family also (the other 2.000 USD).

And yes she would also be ok with a smaller wedding if i want that. But as i mentioned above...she really dont want money or have other bad intentions...so i should pay for a great wedding to see her smiling or not?

Once you receive the letter, you then submit to the Sangkat who issue you the official Marriage Certificate. You can then hold the actual marriage celebration any time you want after receiving the marriage certificate.

Yes, but i would like to get this letter next January and then wait 1 year more to make the official marriage certificate. Cause i would prefer to do the wedding first and after the wedding the final marriage certificate.

January-March 2020 - Get the allowance for marry
January 2021 - Marry and make the final marriage certificate

But i dont know if 1 year is a to big gap.

Ravensnest wrote: ↑Tue Jun 04, 2019 11:33 am

newkidontheblock wrote: ↑Tue Jun 04, 2019 7:37 am .

Spent about 17K on the wedding, got back 7K. Much more if the cost of building the survival bunker is factored in. Bunker construction took about a year. Family had been planning her wedding for years. She was viewed as the most successful in her family. All of it was to give her and her family a good face, of course.

Just read PSD-Kiwi’s excellent posting on the subject.

Nobody cares, stopping bragging.

As far as PSD Kiwi's guide, you hired someone NKOTB. You didn't try to follow it. it is severely out dated, by years. It is helpful to get an idea of the process and the names of places. The fine details are wrong now: some locations , some prices. Everytime I asked him for updated info he was not once in country for could answer. Everytime I tried to give him updated info so he could update his guide he thanked me and said he'd check it out himself then update the guide. That's not been done, meaning I believe he does not spend time here anymore..
My point is this: Just don't believe that guide is 100% accurate. It makes it seem very easy, it is anything but.

You are right, the guide does need updating of some of the finer details...why don't you do it? I've got much better things to do with my time.

Edit: it is still an extremely simple and inexpensive process, I recently walked a couple through it and thanks to me all of their documentation was accepted first time round, they paid zero tea money, and received their Authorisation To Marry from the MoI in less than 2 months since collecting the application pack from the MoFAIC.

If you're an unorganized mong who has no clue how to deal with Cambodian bureacracy, then it will take much longer and cost you tea money.

kerberus wrote: ↑Tue Jun 04, 2019 2:01 pm

Once you receive the letter, you then submit to the Sangkat who issue you the official Marriage Certificate. You can then hold the actual marriage celebration any time you want after receiving the marriage certificate.

Yes, but i would like to get this letter next January and then wait 1 year more to make the official marriage certificate. Cause i would prefer to do the wedding first and after the wedding the final marriage certificate.

January-March 2020 - Get the allowance for marry
January 2021 - Marry and make the final marriage certificate

But i dont know if 1 year is a to big gap.

You are not getting it are you

You NEED the official Marriage Certificate issued from the Sangkat before you are permitted to have the wedding ceremony.

The Authorisation To Marry letter is only valid for 3 months, so as soon as you receive it you need to apply for your official marriage certificate from the Sangkat. It is an administrative task, has nothing to do with the actual ceremony.

PSD-Kiwi wrote: ↑Tue Jun 04, 2019 2:40 pm

kerberus wrote: ↑Tue Jun 04, 2019 2:01 pm

Once you receive the letter, you then submit to the Sangkat who issue you the official Marriage Certificate. You can then hold the actual marriage celebration any time you want after receiving the marriage certificate.

Yes, but i would like to get this letter next January and then wait 1 year more to make the official marriage certificate. Cause i would prefer to do the wedding first and after the wedding the final marriage certificate.

January-March 2020 - Get the allowance for marry
January 2021 - Marry and make the final marriage certificate

But i dont know if 1 year is a to big gap.

You are not getting it are you

You NEED the official Marriage Certificate issued from the Sangkat before you are permitted to have the wedding ceremony.

The Authorisation To Marry letter is only valid for 3 months, so as soon as you receive it you need to apply for your official marriage certificate from the Sangkat. It is an administrative task, has nothing to do with the actual ceremony.

^this

Don't put any delays in the whole process, or you will fail. The process is pretty straightforward if you are well organized and your embassy will provide you with the documents demanded by the Cambodian government. If your embassy doesn't, the whole process will cost you about 1000 USD instead of the quoted 350 USD.

There's also some extra documents they will give you at the MoFA last minute (permission to get married for the Cambodian) to delay your application. Your main challenge won't be the process itself, but keeping your documents valid. You have to complete the whole process with MoFA and MoINT within three months of the issuing of your first document, because they will consider documents valid for three months only.

So arrange your documents at the same time, fly to Cambodia asap, and start the process. Once you have the permission to get married, organize the wedding certificate at the Sangkat as soon as possible, or you run the risk of your permission expiring. After that, you can wait a year, or marry her that night, whatever you want.