Getting US Divorce Recognized in Philippines

[David & Diana R 1,005]

I finally got a response form an attorney in Manila.  They are quoting me the following:

"Our fee  starts at  150k pesos , at 5 payments of 30k upon signing of a contract then monthly until the150k is fully paid, plus appearance fees of 8k pesos per appearance, plus expenses ( filing fees, court fees,). Only 30k would be needed to start the process.  Let us know if there are other concerns, or if you are ready at this time to review a contract for the handling of the case." 

This seems rather expensive for Philippines???  

Does anyone have any suggestions for other attorneys?  The one year timeline they give is that realistic, or is it likely to take longer?

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Mahalo, David O

[Hank_ 9,174]

That's not out of line from what I have read from others.   Still a chunk of change just to have a foreign divorce decree recognized so it can be filed at PSA.

 

Would you believe up until a few years ago all that was necessary to get a foreign divorce recognized was to take the document to DFA for authentication (red ribbon), from there it could be taken to PSA for recording.   I would say being most of the politicians are lawyers at their core that when their buddies said something on this that the politicians decided it was better that a court process be required and hiring of an attorney .. of course ... after all it is The Philippines, and nothing should be simple.

 

Welcome to the Philippines.

 

 

[Skyman 327]

A friend of mine paid more than that to have it denied.  The judge ruled that Philippine Family Law was for Filipinos only so since he was a foreigner he couldn't apply.  He ended up starting over with his X applying from the US.

[LexieJ 44]

That sounds reasonable, annulment could cost up to 500k php and take years to process, the Philippine laws are based from Christian/Catholic faith and of course with that in mind the law seems to discourage married couple from parting ways that I think is the reason why it' set up that way. Of course only the rich could afford all that, that is why majority of the people there do not even go through the process. Good luck and I hope this works out for you.

[Kby175 115]

44 minutes ago, Skyman said:

A friend of mine paid more than that to have it denied.  The judge ruled that Philippine Family Law was for Filipinos only so since he was a foreigner he couldn't apply.  He ended up starting over with his X applying from the US.

Sounds like the judge was being a jerk the supreme court of the Philippines already ruled this applied to a foreign spouse as well, but it's the Philippines one place says one thing then another place says the exact opposite.  

[Skyman 327]

1 hour ago, Kby175 said:

Sounds like the judge was being a jerk the supreme court of the Philippines already ruled this applied to a foreign spouse as well, but it's the Philippines one place says one thing then another place says the exact opposite.  

I'm not totally sure on the wording but I would suspect it is that if a Filipino marries a foreigner and there is a divorce, the Filipino can apply and it would be recognised for both. If the foreigner applies it may or may not be accepted.  

[Vermyndax 33]

I was divorced in the USA before starting paperwork in Philippines to marry my spouse. We did not have to do anything to have my divorce recognized in Philippines beforehand. They simply granted the license to us after confirming (via the regular US Embassy process) that I was able to marry.

 

When I visited the US Embassy to get the paperwork confirming my eligibility to marry, I showed them my divorce paperwork from here in the states and all was fine. 

Edited July 26, 2021 by Vermyndax

[David & Diana R 1,005]

3 minutes ago, Vermyndax said:

I was divorced in the USA before starting paperwork in Philippines to marry my spouse. We did not have to do anything to have my divorce recognized in Philippines beforehand. They simply granted the license to us after confirming (via the regular US Embassy process) that I was able to marry. 

Yes, but were you married in the Philippines and then divorced in the USA as I was?  The first time I married a Filipina in the Philippines I had been married and divorced in the USA.  That time there was no problem but I am worried that since I was married in the Philippines in 2012 (spouse #2) and they will not have a record of me being divorced in the Philippines...might this be a problem?

Aloha, Dave O

[Vermyndax 33]

Ah, ok, that might be a different circumstance. Now I follow. 

[Skyman 327]

30 minutes ago, Vermyndax said:

Ah, ok, that might be a different circumstance. Now I follow. 

Yes, the problem is getting a divorce in another country from a marriage that was recognized in the Philippines which doesn't have divorce.

[John & Rose 7,239]

My understanding is the Recognition of Foreign Divorce is still a year to 18 months with multiple court appearances, then a wait for the final decision.  I know my wife's annulment was 350k pesos and took over a year.  So 150k is reasonable in that light.  Did the lawyer say how long it will take?  Did he mention "gifts"?  I think they were cracking down on that.

[Murph4865 597]

23 hours ago, Kby175 said:

Sounds like the judge was being a jerk the supreme court of the Philippines already ruled this applied to a foreign spouse as well, but it's the Philippines one place says one thing then another place says the exact opposite.  

Sounds like our government entities 

[David & Diana R 1,005]

16 hours ago, John & Rose said:

My understanding is the Recognition of Foreign Divorce is still a year to 18 months with multiple court appearances, then a wait for the final decision.  I know my wife's annulment was 350k pesos and took over a year.  So 150k is reasonable in that light.  Did the lawyer say how long it will take?  Did he mention "gifts"?  I think they were cracking down on that.

Yeah the problem I have is if I begin the recognition of divorce in the Philippine courts and then marry my fiance via Zoom Utah wedding prior to the recognition by the archaic Philippine government. I will be digging my own grave. Whereas if I just go ahead and get to the Philippines, marry her on line in Utah and proceed with the process might I be better off?   

[RO_AH 1,662]

3 hours ago, David & Diana R said:

Yeah the problem I have is if I begin the recognition of divorce in the Philippine courts and then marry my fiance via Zoom Utah wedding prior to the recognition by the archaic Philippine government. I will be digging my own grave. Whereas if I just go ahead and get to the Philippines, marry her on line in Utah and proceed with the process might I be better off?   

Your divorce date is still your divorce date no matter how long the recognition takes. I don't see how the marriage before the recognition is a problem. But that's me.

 

Think about this. The Philippines could not be archaic. They could be fully modernized like the rest of the modern world. They could be like in America and all of the woman there would be modernized and and just like Americans. Would you still be looking for a Pinay to marry at that point?

[David & Diana R 1,005]

8 hours ago, RO_AH said:

Your divorce date is still your divorce date no matter how long the recognition takes. I don't see how the marriage before the recognition is a problem. But that's me.

 

Think about this. The Philippines could not be archaic. They could be fully modernized like the rest of the modern world. They could be like in America and all of the woman there would be modernized and and just like Americans. Would you still be looking for a Pinay to marry at that point?

Excellent point!!!