Marriage in Philippines

[GaryKO 49]

Thank you but fiancee did goto NSO and I am in system as registered under a previous marriage

outside Philippines. They will not issue a CENOMAR.

We asked NSO they said maybe goto Manila City Hall and ask what to do.

I am not kidding...

Seems NSO do not even know how to deal with there own documents.

You know what I ment NSO not NFO, I just did this year, what your doing, so I speak of from experience.

You have a Marriage Cert on record, "Cenmar", that shows you were married to a Filipino citizen, I have 2 of them on record. Divorce papers show you are divorced. What you need to get a marriage license in the Philippines is not a cenomar, its a Affidavit in Lieu of a Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry from US Embassy.

Edited November 25, 2012 by Mimi and Gary

[calibob 73]

Don't be disheartened. You should travel on to the Philippines and see what you can get done in person. If you are not able to get married this trip it won't be the end of the world. If you get there and are able to get the NSO to set things straight fast enough you may be able to return to the US and go back a month or so later for the wedding. It will be more expensive that way, but no one ever claimed marrying someone overseas would be light on the wallet (outside the wedding itself which is SOOO much cheaper than in the US).

Unfortuneatly I only get two weeks vacation in a year, no carryovers. his year was used visiting her. Ti do as you say would mean to wait another year before we could see each other or attempt marriage. Travel time alone is 4 days for Philippines combined both ways, so I cannot break it down into two trips and as per LCR I need a month to just meet marriage requirements, not counting

NSO issue.

If you can get the marriage license it should be enough to get started. Our first attempt to get a civil marriage was thwarted by a judge who made a mistake on the paperwork and I had to fly back 4 months later because I couldn't stay any longer in Manila. The license is good for 6 months so it isn't impossible. Best wishes and remember, love will prevail.

Bob

[Artisan 138]

If you can get the marriage license it should be enough to get started. Our first attempt to get a civil marriage was thwarted by a judge who made a mistake on the paperwork and I had to fly back 4 months later because I couldn't stay any longer in Manila. The license is good for 6 months so it isn't impossible. Best wishes and remember, love will prevail.

Bob

Wow! They didn't discover the problem for four months? I am glad that we followed up on our paperwork the next day after we filed it at the local office and they told us there had been a mistake on our paperwork as well. We had to go locate our ninong and ninang that afternoon to get them to witness our new marriage certificate.

[Artisan 138]

What you need to get a marriage license in the Philippines is not a cenomar, its a Affidavit in Lieu of a Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry from US Embassy.

This is not true. Many local registrars are outright refusing to accept the Affidavit. They will only accept a CENOMAR or a CEMAR accompanied by a judicially recognized divorce decree.

If the local registrar refuses to accept the affidavit, there is nothing that the U.S. Embassy in Manila can do. It is the applicant’s responsibility to verify directly with the local registrar their requirements.

In late 2011, the U.S. Embassy learned that the following local registrars had refused to accept the Affidavit In Lieu of Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry as a viable alternative to the Philippine document: Makati City, Quezon City, Davao City.

http://manila.usembassy.gov/marriage.html

The number of local registrars refusing to accept the affidavit has been growing in the news. You can only acquire a marriage license where you reside. The OP has made it clear his fiance's family won't let her move for the purposes of finding a more cooperative registrar. They won't approve of a K-1 visa either. Personally if I was the OP I would leave my job and enjoy the sun and fun of the Philippines for a few months while I got the marriage sorted out, but I never worry about finding work or being unemployed for months at a time.

[calibob 73]

Wow! They didn't discover the problem for four months? I am glad that we followed up on our paperwork the next day after we filed it at the local office and they told us there had been a mistake on our paperwork as well. We had to go locate our ninong and ninang that afternoon to get them to witness our new marriage certificate.

I could only stay 14 days that trip. 4 for paperwork, and 10 to wait for the posting time. We were to marry the last day I was in the Philippines but things happen for a reason. We had a proper wedding and honeymoon on the wedding day 4 months after the license had been granted. The judge said the license was wrong from the courthouse........turns out it wasn't.

Bob

[GaryKO 49]

This is not true. Many local registrars are outright refusing to accept the Affidavit. They will only accept a CENOMAR or a CEMAR accompanied by a judicially recognized divorce decree.

http://manila.usembassy.gov/marriage.html

The number of local registrars refusing to accept the affidavit has been growing in the news. You can only acquire a marriage license where you reside. The OP has made it clear his fiance's family won't let her move for the purposes of finding a more cooperative registrar. They won't approve of a K-1 visa either. Personally if I was the OP I would leave my job and enjoy the sun and fun of the Philippines for a few months while I got the marriage sorted out, but I never worry about finding work or being unemployed for months at a time.

1. Although divorce by Filipinos is not recognized in the Philippines; divorce by the foreign spouse of a Filipino is recognized in the Philippines.

2. A person that is not a Filipino citizen cannot get a CENOMAR.

3. He was married and divorced in the USA he is subject to US laws and not the Family Code of the Philippines.

4. Ever since the landmark Supreme Court ruling on Republic vs. Orbecido (G.R. No. 154380, October 5, 2005), recognition of divorce in the Philippines has been defined more clearly.

Under Art. 26 of the Family Code, it is stated:

“Art. 26. All marriages solemnized outside the Philippines, in accordance with the laws in force in the country where they are solemnized, and valid there as such, shall also be valid in this country, except those prohibited under Articles 35(1),(4), (5), (6), 36, 37 and 38.

Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner is validly celebrated and a divorce is thereafter validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall have capacity to remarry under Philippine law."

It is this second paragraph of Art. 26 that enables a Filipino spouse to remarry once his/her foreigner spouse obtains a divorce.

Alicia V. Sempio-Dy, in her book Handbook on the Family Code of the Philippines, explained the background behind the second paragraph of Art. 26:

“Under the second paragraph of the above Article, where a Filipino is married to a foreigner and the latter thereafter obtains a valid divorce abroad capacitating him or her to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall likewise have the capacity to remarry under the Philippine law.

The provision was not originally approved by the Civil Code Revision Committee but it was presented and approved at a Cabinet meeting after Pres. (Corazon) Aquino had already signed the Family Code as Exec. Order No. 209. Hence, the President promulgated another Executive Order No. 227-amending Art. 26 of the Code by including this provision as a second paragraph therein.

The idea of the amendment is to avoid the absurd situation of a Filipino as being still married to his or her alien spouse, although the latter is no longer married to the Filipino spouse because he or she had obtained a divorce abroad which is recognized by his or her national law.

The amendment will also solve the problem of many Filipino women who, under the Philippines Civil Code, are still considered married to their alien husbands even after the latter have already validly divorced them under their (the husbands) national laws and perhaps have already married again."

I think the OP has already confused the local registrar where his wife resides by telling them that her fiance was married to a Filipina and divorced, and how to clean things up at the NSO. I can see they really know the law if they are telling him he needs a CENOMAR.

Lots of myths about marriage and divorce laws in the Philippines, just remember the Family Code of the Philippines is for citizens of the Philippines.

I had zero problem getting married in the Philippines, lucky I had a local registrar that knew the law and accepted my divorce papers.

[Artisan 138]

I had zero problem getting married in the Philippines, lucky I had a local registrar that knew the law and accepted my divorce papers.

I think what you are missing is that it has been reported to the US Embassy that there are multiple instances of local registrars absolutely refusing to take the affidavit. When you go to apply for the affidavit the consul goes through a long speech of telling you now that not all registrars will accept the affidavit and that there is absolutely nothing else the Embassy can do so you need to confirm ahead of time that they will indeed accept it. These local registrars are insisting on a CENOMAR for a non-Filipno citizen (which we know won't be acquired). If you have previously been married to a Filipino they will however accept a CEMAR and a judicial recognition of the divorce decree.

Just because you and I and a whole bunch of other people have managed to find responsible and helpful registrars when we got married does not nullify the fact that other registrars are either deliberately blocking or making it more difficult for foreigners from marrying in their jurisdictions by refusing to accept anything but NSO issued documents. In those case the applicants have very little legal recourse in a timely manner. In the OP's case his fiance's family refuses to allow her to change residency to another area that might be more inclined to accept the affidavit.

[GaryKO 49]

I think what you are missing is that it has been reported to the US Embassy that there are multiple instances of local registrars absolutely refusing to take the affidavit. When you go to apply for the affidavit the consul goes through a long speech of telling you now that not all registrars will accept the affidavit and that there is absolutely nothing else the Embassy can do so you need to confirm ahead of time that they will indeed accept it. These local registrars are insisting on a CENOMAR for a non-Filipno citizen (which we know won't be acquired). If you have previously been married to a Filipino they will however accept a CEMAR and a judicial recognition of the divorce decree.

Just because you and I and a whole bunch of other people have managed to find responsible and helpful registrars when we got married does not nullify the fact that other registrars are either deliberately blocking or making it more difficult for foreigners from marrying in their jurisdictions by refusing to accept anything but NSO issued documents. In those case the applicants have very little legal recourse in a timely manner. In the OP's case his fiance's family refuses to allow her to change residency to another area that might be more inclined to accept the affidavit.

Yeah this is kind of what a Filipino citizen would do if divorced from a foreign spouse. File a recognized divorce decree from the Phills court with NSO and get a updated CENOMAR showing the former marriage then the divorce/annulment of marriage. If that is what they are telling the OP to do, then they maybe they think he is a former Philippine citizen.

I know what the rules say about filing for a marriage application, but this is the way it works in the Philippines. If you have a relative that lives in another municipality then you can use their address for the application. What matters is the address match the district. The Filipina just says she is living with her Aunt, Cousin, Brother, Friend... ect if asked. After you get the marriage license then you can be married anywhere in the Phills. This happens a lot, Filipinas meet their soon to be husband in Manila and they start the process of getting a marriage license there. Funny you mention Quezon City as one place that quit accepting the embassy affidavits, this was the number one place in the Philippines to apply for a marriage license because you could download the application online and fill it out ahead of time, and they were easy to deal with. They would even let only one person file the application if the other party lived far away, like the USA..... Just don't confuse the local registrar with the facts, that you have a previous marriage to a Filipino.

[Joshuaching 11]

I think what you are missing is that it has been reported to the US Embassy that there are multiple instances of local registrars absolutely refusing to take the affidavit. When you go to apply for the affidavit the consul goes through a long speech of telling you now that not all registrars will accept the affidavit and that there is absolutely nothing else the Embassy can do so you need to confirm ahead of time that they will indeed accept it. These local registrars are insisting on a CENOMAR for a non-Filipno citizen (which we know won't be acquired). If you have previously been married to a Filipino they will however accept a CEMAR and a judicial recognition of the divorce decree.

Just because you and I and a whole bunch of other people have managed to find responsible and helpful registrars when we got married does not nullify the fact that other registrars are either deliberately blocking or making it more difficult for foreigners from marrying in their jurisdictions by refusing to accept anything but NSO issued documents. In those case the applicants have very little legal recourse in a timely manner. In the OP's case his fiance's family refuses to allow her to change residency to another area that might be more inclined to accept the affidavit.

I was one of those who applied at the Quezon City civil registrar's office and my "affidavit" from the US Embassy was refused. The office explained to me that they are only accepting a "Certification" from the US Embassy that I am in fact eligible to get married. The US Embassy refuses to issue "Certifications" because they are unable to do the administrative work load of checking each applicant's civil status background from their respective States. So, it's really a "####### for Tat" between most of Metro-Manila's civil registrars and the US Embassy. Marikina City, which is a member borough of Metro-Manila still allowed the affidavits, however, so I was able to obtain our marriage license there, and get married there. More and more cities and municipalities are joining those who do not accept the US Embassy affidavits and you should be aware of this.

What other cities and municipalities are requiring from foreigners is to obtain a CENOMAR from the NSO office to prove that they have not married to any Filipinas in the Philippines. Believe me that if you had been married before, your record of marriage would show there, and they won't issue you a CENOMAR until you petition the court to recognize your divorce there in the Philippines (about a six month process).

So what to do? The only recourse is for you to file a K-1 Visa for your wife-to-be and get mnarried in the States. Or find a municipality who would accept your "affidavit" from the US Embassy, and get a marriage license there. You can get married anywhere after obtaining this license. Or go through the long CENOMAR process (this is the least you want to happen).