Do Marriage Certificates From Virtual Weddings Have To Be Registered With The PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority)?

[MyK1Journey 2]

Hello all, I am trying to find out the answer to a very specific question, so I wanted to ask it in the Philippines section, since it pertains to the Philippines... here are the details-

 

I am an American guy who has been living in the Philippines for the last 5 years

 

My girlfriend is a Filipina who has been living with me in the same house for the last 2 and a half years

 

We both want to go back to the USA to live together. We have decided that, due to the insane amount of backlogged K1 visas the Philippines is currently experiencing which is making the K1 route take WAY longer than usual, we will do the CR1 spousal route instead.

 

The thing is, though, the Philippines is the only country in the world that does not allow divorce. This means, if we DO end up getting married, AND, a decade or two later on, we end up getting a divorce, AND, my Filipina gf meets a Filipino guy that she wants to marry, then I want my Filipina gf to NOT have to experience the horrible legal battle that she would have to take part in to get a foreign recognition of divorce. We have both spoken about the possibility of divorce maturely and we BOTH want to make sure that this would be avoided in the case that we get divorced and then she wants to marry a Filipino.

 

So, this is my question - if we get married via a virtual marriage service that has the officiator based in the US (like a service such as WebWed or a Utah zoom marriage), would our marriage certificate need to be registered with the PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority) BEFORE the US embassy in Manila grants us a spousal visa? The answer to this question is critical, because if we DO NOT have to register our marriage certificate with the PSA, then that means the Philippine government would not have any "record" of the marriage happening for my girlfriend, and would therefore pose no problems if we got divorced and my gf wanted to marry a native Filipino (since it would look like she's never been married in the first place, in the eyes of the Philippine government). But, if we DO have to register our marriage certificate with the PSA, then the Philippine government WOULD have a record of the marriage (and would therefore cause a huge headache if we divorced and she wanted to marry a Filipino man).

 

Thanks so much all for any clarifications in this. If anyone has gone through this personally I would be super interested. Thanks

[milimelo 4,479]

So what do folks who married overseas normally do? If it’s registering their marriage then that’s what you’d do too. Normally you’d want to update your passport with a married name (if opting to do so) so green card is in married name as well - consular goes off of passport info for visa issuance. 

[Corgent 93]

According to the list of required civil documents:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/Philippines.html

 

"For marriages that occurred outside of the Philippines, the original marriage certificate from the issuing country should be provided, and translated into English, along with the Philippines recording of the marriage."

 

Below that you will also find another document listed - the CEMAR-“Advisory of Marriage(s)”. The PSA would only provide you with this if your marriage has been reported.

 

Additionally, CFO clearance is required in order to leave the country. This isn't a requirement to obtain the visa, but if you waited to report your marriage until after you obtained your visa, it could delay your departure and your visa may expire before you satisfy the requirements to obtain the certificate:

https://cfo.gov.ph/overseas-filipinos-cfo-online-registration-system-or-of-cors-2/

Requirements for application to the CFO-Guidance and Counseling Program (GCP)

[...]
4. Marriage certificate and/ or Report of Marriage (ROM) in Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) security paper. (if married).

 

If anyone says the PSA marriage certificate isn't necessary, they would need to explain why these requirements don't apply.

[Hank_ 9,174]

^^^  BINGO!  ^^^

[MyK1Journey 2]

4 hours ago, Corgent said:

According to the list of required civil documents:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/Philippines.html

 

"For marriages that occurred outside of the Philippines, the original marriage certificate from the issuing country should be provided, and translated into English, along with the Philippines recording of the marriage."

 

Below that you will also find another document listed - the CEMAR-“Advisory of Marriage(s)”. The PSA would only provide you with this if your marriage has been reported.

 

Additionally, CFO clearance is required in order to leave the country. This isn't a requirement to obtain the visa, but if you waited to report your marriage until after you obtained your visa, it could delay your departure and your visa may expire before you satisfy the requirements to obtain the certificate:

https://cfo.gov.ph/overseas-filipinos-cfo-online-registration-system-or-of-cors-2/

 

 

 

If anyone says the PSA marriage certificate isn't necessary, they would need to explain why these requirements don't apply.

hey, thanks so much for the response... so if I understand this all correctly, you are saying that there is essentially no way to get married in the philippines WITHOUT reporting our marriage to the PSA? meaning we must report it to the PSA in order for it to remain valid? is that correct? Thanks so much for the help

[Corgent 93]

28 minutes ago, MyK1Journey said:

hey, thanks so much for the response... so if I understand this all correctly, you are saying that there is essentially no way to get married in the philippines WITHOUT reporting our marriage to the PSA?

A Utah zoom marriage is a way to get married without reporting your marriage to the Philippine government. But if you intend to pursue a CR1 visa with it, then the aforementioned requirements will force you to report it.

 

meaning we must report it to the PSA in order for it to remain valid?

 

It is and will remain a valid marriage even if it has not been reported to the Philippine government. It's just not a marriage they know about yet.

[MyK1Journey 2]

1 hour ago, Corgent said:

A Utah zoom marriage is a way to get married without reporting your marriage to the Philippine government. But if you intend to pursue a CR1 visa with it, then the aforementioned requirements will force you to report it.

 

 

 

 

It is and will remain a valid marriage even if it has not been reported to the Philippine government. It's just not a marriage they know about yet.

ohh ok, I understand now... ok, so in that case, do you know, if we do a Utah zoom marriage and then stay married for two years, and then decide to pursue the IR1 visa (which is basically the same thing as the CR1 visa except it's for couples who have already been married for 2 years), do you know if THAT would require us to report her marriage to the PSA?

 

Thanks so much!!

Edited February 2, 2022 by MyK1Journey

[Chancy 6,241]

9 hours ago, MyK1Journey said:

would our marriage certificate need to be registered with the PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority) BEFORE the US embassy in Manila grants us a spousal visa?

 

Short answer: No -- even without ROM, USEM will issue a spouse visa to an applicant married abroad.  The problem is CFO -- it is unlikely that a visa holder will be issued a CFO certificate if they were married online but did not file for ROM.  No CFO certificate/sticker, no boarding a plane out of the Philippines with a US spouse visa.

 

I can confirm from first-hand experience that USEM does not require ROM, but note that I had a traditional (not online) wedding in the US.  I got my IR1 visa and moved to the US in Nov 2021.  At my visa interview, I even presented my CENOMAR, the document stating that there is no PSA record of me being married.  There were no questions at all from the document screener and the consul officer about ROM or my CENOMAR.

 

In contrast, during my CFO telecounseling session, I was grilled extensively about my lack of ROM.  I believe the CFO counselor only let me off because I had an in-person wedding and lots of evidence that I visited my husband in the US multiple times.  Based on what the counselor said, CFO seems to be more strict with the ROM requirement now, with the surge of Utah online weddings for Filipino emigrants.

 

[MyK1Journey 2]

21 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

Short answer: No -- even without ROM, USEM will issue a spouse visa to an applicant married abroad.  The problem is CFO -- it is unlikely that a visa holder will be issued a CFO certificate if they were married online but did not file for ROM.  No CFO certificate/sticker, no boarding a plane out of the Philippines with a US spouse visa.

 

I can confirm from first-hand experience that USEM does not require ROM, but note that I had a traditional (not online) wedding in the US.  I got my IR1 visa and moved to the US in Nov 2021.  At my visa interview, I even presented my CENOMAR, the document stating that there is no PSA record of me being married.  There were no questions at all from the document screener and the consul officer about ROM or my CENOMAR.

 

In contrast, during my CFO telecounseling session, I was grilled extensively about my lack of ROM.  I believe the CFO counselor only let me off because I had an in-person wedding and lots of evidence that I visited my husband in the US multiple times.  Based on what the counselor said, CFO seems to be more strict with the ROM requirement now, with the surge of Utah online weddings for Filipino emigrants.

 

Hi Chancy,

 

First of all, thank you SO much for your insight... you dont know how much me and my gf appreciate it!

 

Also, just to be sure, I am going to lay out what I think all the abbreviations you used stand for below... please correct me if Im wrong on anything:

 

USCIS - United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
USEM - United States Embassy (in the Philippines)
ROM - Report of Marriage
PSA - Philippine Statistics Authority
CFO - Commission of Filipinos Overseas
CENOMAR - Certificate of No Marriage Record

 

Also, I just want to make sure we are on the same page - the whole reason me and my gf are even CONSIDERING the possibility of doing the CR1 without reporting the marriage to the Philippines government is because we want to avoid the requirement of her needing to file a foreign recognition of divorce IF we end up divorcing years down the road... so I guess my question is, if we ARE able to do the entire CR1 process WITHOUT reporting our marriage to the PSA, and then, we DO divorce, would my gf have to file a foreign recognition of divorce, or, would that not be necessary since the marriage was never reported to PSA in the first place? Does that all make sense?

 

Thank you so much for all of your help!!