wedding in the philippines

[phopho06 0]

i have a friend who wants to go back to the Philippines w her fiance and she already have a 10 yr green card.

and they want to get married in the Philippines for the brides family to wittiness and be there for there special day..

are they gonna be legally married when they come back to the us?

do they need to apply for a marriage license?

hope you can answer this question!! thanks

[dale_trisha 3]

They will be considered married in the US and Philippines along with other countries.

They will need to apply for a Philippines marriage License which takes 10 days.

Later they can request the Marriage Certificate through NSO.

[Nick1980 11]

i have a friend who wants to go back to the Philippines w her fiance and she already have a 10 yr green card.

and they want to get married in the Philippines for the brides family to wittiness and be there for there special day..

are they gonna be legally married when they come back to the us?

do they need to apply for a marriage license?

hope you can answer this question!! thanks

Not sure about the Phillipines, but I got married in Serbia and it is recognized by the USA....

[bestofboston 36]

Your friend may not be able to petition their spouse until your friend becomes a US Citizen. That may be an issue.

If your friend has been in the USA with Green card for 5 years, then he or she should obtain citizenship as soon as possible and then apply for I-130.

Good luck.

Edited July 31, 2012 by bestofboston

[dale_trisha 3]

Your friend may not be able to petition their spouse until your friend becomes a US Citizen. That may be an issue.

If your friend has been in the USA with Green card for 5 years, then he or she should obtain citizenship as soon as possible and then apply for I-130.

Good luck.

all though not clear. It seems the fiance is a US Citizen - if that is not the case then yes then there woudl be an issue.

[phopho06 0]

the guys is a us citizen and my friend has a 10 yr green card witch she obtain when she was married before but shes divorce now..

[dale_trisha 3]

my assumption is correct.

BTW: my post is from personal experience. We got married in Sep 2008 in Manila.

[Tahoma 2,292]

Where did your friend get married?

Below are posts from VJ member Pinay Wife from this thread:

1) If marriage was solemnized abroad, foreign divorce will be recognized in the Philippines (even if initiated by the Filipino citizen) after Judicial Recognition of a Foreign Divorce Decree is granted.

2) If marriage was solemnized in the Philippines, foreign divorce will only be recognized if initiated by the foreign spouse, but will not be recognized if initiated by the Filipino citizen.

Our annulment laws are complicated, as you will see below:

1) If the Filipino citizen gets married in the U.S., and then gets divorced in the U.S., and it was the Filipino citizen who initiated the divorce, Philippines has no choice but to recognize the divorce. Philippine courts have NO JURISDICTION over the US marriage because Filipino citizen married under US laws. Only US courts can dissolve a US marriage. There is no basis for filing an annulment in the PI because the Philippines has no jurisdiction. No Philippine court will hear the case. In this regard, Filipino citizen can marry either in the PI or the US, as long as the US divorce is final. As far as the Philippines is concerned, if its citizen married in the US, then US laws apply. Since divorce is legal in the US, then the Philippines has to recognize US laws even if the party involved is a Filipino citizen.

2) If the Filipino citizen gets married in the Philippines, and then gets divorced in the US, and it was the Filipino citizen who initiated divorce, it will not be recognized in the PI. However, if the Filipino citizen has naturalized at time of filing/granting of divorce, then the divorce will be recognized in the PI. If petitioner, on the other hand, was Filipino citizen at time of filing, and then has become a US citizen by the time divorce was granted, divorce will not be recognized.

3) If Filipino citizen gets married in the Philippines, and then gets divorced in the US, and the US spouse initiated divorce, the Filipino spouse needs to file a Judicial Recognition of a Foreign Divorce Decree if she wants to marry in the PI again. Judicial Recognition not required if re-marrying in another country.

Here's a website which talks about Judicial Recognition of a Foreign Divorce and about annulment: My link.

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

**** Moving from CR-1 to Philippines forum as no visa will be involved ****

[Caryh 5,206]

Where did your friend get married?

Below are posts from VJ member Pinay Wife from this thread:

1) If marriage was solemnized abroad, foreign divorce will be recognized in the Philippines (even if initiated by the Filipino citizen) after Judicial Recognition of a Foreign Divorce Decree is granted.

2) If marriage was solemnized in the Philippines, foreign divorce will only be recognized if initiated by the foreign spouse, but will not be recognized if initiated by the Filipino citizen.

Our annulment laws are complicated, as you will see below:

1) If the Filipino citizen gets married in the U.S., and then gets divorced in the U.S., and it was the Filipino citizen who initiated the divorce, Philippines has no choice but to recognize the divorce. Philippine courts have NO JURISDICTION over the US marriage because Filipino citizen married under US laws. Only US courts can dissolve a US marriage. There is no basis for filing an annulment in the PI because the Philippines has no jurisdiction. No Philippine court will hear the case. In this regard, Filipino citizen can marry either in the PI or the US, as long as the US divorce is final. As far as the Philippines is concerned, if its citizen married in the US, then US laws apply. Since divorce is legal in the US, then the Philippines has to recognize US laws even if the party involved is a Filipino citizen.

2) If the Filipino citizen gets married in the Philippines, and then gets divorced in the US, and it was the Filipino citizen who initiated divorce, it will not be recognized in the PI. However, if the Filipino citizen has naturalized at time of filing/granting of divorce, then the divorce will be recognized in the PI. If petitioner, on the other hand, was Filipino citizen at time of filing, and then has become a US citizen by the time divorce was granted, divorce will not be recognized.

3) If Filipino citizen gets married in the Philippines, and then gets divorced in the US, and the US spouse initiated divorce, the Filipino spouse needs to file a Judicial Recognition of a Foreign Divorce Decree if she wants to marry in the PI again. Judicial Recognition not required if re-marrying in another country.

Here's a website which talks about Judicial Recognition of a Foreign Divorce and about annulment: My link.

That's what I see as the big question. Will the marriage be legal in the Philippines all depends on if the marriage was reported to the Philippines and who filed for the divorce? An unreported marriage, shouldn't really affect her in the Philippines, because the NSO would still see her as single.

If she can legally marry in the Philippines, its legal in the USA.

[phopho06 0]

Thanks guys they are planning for another wedding her in the states for the grooms family aNd friends.. My question is what are the requirements to get a marriage lisence? She googled it and it says they still need to do counseling and it will take 10 days to process there only staying there for 2 weeks is there any way to get marriage license right away? Or can my friends mom Bettye wedding license for them? There getting married January of next yr

[dale_trisha 3]

It takes 10 days to get the license. There is counseling also that needs to happen and that happens during the process of getting the license.

You may run into fixers who say they can get the license faster but is it real. You hate to have to come back to the Philippines once you return to the US to correct something.

Also what is the age of the lady. If under 25 there are further requirements.

Then if its a church wedding there are requirements for that. If its civil you will need a judge. In our case it took 2 weeks to get scheduled after we got the license.

Just a thought. Can you get married in the US and do a renewal of the vows ceremony in Phil? That removes the issue of getting the license on a 2 week trip.

[Loolie 56]

It takes 10 days to get the license. There is counseling also that needs to happen and that happens during the process of getting the license.

You may run into fixers who say they can get the license faster but is it real. You hate to have to come back to the Philippines once you return to the US to correct something.

Also what is the age of the lady. If under 25 there are further requirements.

Then if its a church wedding there are requirements for that. If its civil you will need a judge. In our case it took 2 weeks to get scheduled after we got the license.

Just a thought. Can you get married in the US and do a renewal of the vows ceremony in Phil? That removes the issue of getting the license on a 2 week trip.

Counseling is only for woman under 25 years old.

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

Since she already has a GC, why not just do a wedding in the PI for family's sake, not officially, then fly to the US, get married for real, and avoid all the paperwork hassle in the PI?