Registration of Marriage at NY Consulate/Previous Divorce

[julianthecat 11]

My wife and I find ourselves in one of those bureaucratic quagmires that seem to be all too common when dealing with the Philippine government.  Here are the basics:

 

- My wife was previously married (and divorced) a Canadian.  She has never lived in the Philippines, and they never registered their marriage with the Philippines.

- We were married in the US in 2019, and she received a CR1 US visa in 2021.   She got a CENOMAR from the PSA at the time even though she was already married twice.  

- We now need to register our marriage so that she can reacquire Philippine citizenship once she's naturalized as a US citizen (she can apply in early 2024). 

- Based on info from the consulate we would need to hire a lawyer and go to court in the Philippines (any Regional Trial Court, apparently) and the Manila City Civil Register Office to get her Canadian divorce decree registered before we can register our marriage.  

- Then we need to get the US Dept of State and the State of Maine (and maybe British Columbia) to apostille our documents before we send them off to the consulate.  

 

However, if she is currently legally single in the eyes of the Philippine govt, do we really need to bring the first marriage into it at all?  On the registration of marriage, there's a box for civil status of the husband and wife before marriage.  Could we just put "single" instead of "divorced" there?  The only documentation that contradicts this is that our US marriage certificate shows this is her second marriage.  

 

If anyone on here has experience with any of this, we'd love your advice.

[confusedshoes 193]

My initial read on the facts presented is that around 2019-2021, it seems your wife received a CENOMAR from PSA. Was it used for the CR1 process? Anyway, since in the eyes of PSA, she was certified to have had no marriage (literally what CENOMAR means), and now you're going to register the 2019 USA marriage, I would say you're in the clear. I would proceed with filing the Report of Marriage at your nearest Philippine consulate and not mention the other marriages that they don't have record of anyway.

 

I just got a little confused with the fact that you say your wife has never lived in the Philippines. Is she a Filipino citizen during 2019 to now? Does she have other citizenships?

 

[confusedshoes 193]

Sorry.. I just read your post again and saw you said:

7 hours ago, julianthecat said:

The only documentation that contradicts this is that our US marriage certificate shows this is her second marriage.  

 

I guess there is no way around the Judicial Recognition of Foreign Divorce  You have to submit your Marriage Certificate for the Report of Marriage (ROM) and your marriage certificate mentions her previous marriage. This might be have more insight as to the process: 8 steps to a successful judicial recognition of divorce in the Philippines

 

And I wanted to see what a PSA document with a foreign divorce decree looked like and found this:

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by confusedshoes
typo

[julianthecat 11]

2 hours ago, confusedshoes said:

I just got a little confused with the fact that you say your wife has never lived in the Philippines. Is she a Filipino citizen during 2019 to now? Does she have other citizenships?

Her parents are OFWs, in a Middle Eastern country that doesn't have birthright citizenship, so she's been a Filipino her whole life. 

 

That is a bummer, but kind of what we expected re: the foreign divorce. It sounds like we're going to have to consult with a family law practitioner in the Philippines - but we're always thankful for VisaJourney as a much faster (and cheaper!) alternative.

 

[Chancy 6,241]

20 hours ago, julianthecat said:

- We now need to register our marriage so that she can reacquire Philippine citizenship once she's naturalized as a US citizen (she can apply in early 2024). 

 

Before you go through all this effort, double-check first that your wife actually needs to do this to reacquire her Philippine citizenship in the future.  DFA apostille for your marriage certificate may be required, but ROM seems to be one of those documents that PH consulates have slightly differing preferences.  For example, the consulate in SF does not require ROM -- https://pcgsanfrancisco.org/dual-citizenship/

 

"If married in the U.S. or in other countries – Marriage Certificate/s duly issued by the City/County where the marriage was celebrated or Country (if married outside the US) and Divorce Decree if divorced, Marriage and Death Certificate of Spouse if widow/widower."

 

Your wife may find that she does not need ROM to reacquire her PH citizenship.  If she is asked for ROM, maybe the consulate staff will be understanding of her situation, being previously divorced and not having lived in the PH.

 

So I recommend dealing with this, if necessary, only after your wife completes her US naturalization.  While I wholeheartedly support your wife's plans to reacquire her PH citizenship (I intend to do so as well), there is no rush.  Although you may feel the need to be proactive about this, it might turn out to be a lot of money, time, effort, and stress for nothing.

 

Or just register your marriage without going through recognition of foreign divorce for her previous marriage.  I seriously doubt PSA will nitpick about her previous marriage not being registered.

 

[Chancy 6,241]

13 hours ago, julianthecat said:

It sounds like we're going to have to consult with a family law practitioner in the Philippines

 

I suspect the family law practitioner will recommend the works -- ROM for previous marriage, Recognition of Foreign Divorce, ROM for current marriage -- as that will bring in more legal fees.

 

If you are set on doing ROM before N-400, I recommend just sending in the ROM documents without going through Recognition of Foreign Divorce for the previous marriage, like I said above.  There is no penalty even if the ROM is rejected.

 

[RO_AH 1,659]

On 4/24/2023 at 6:29 AM, julianthecat said:

She has never lived in the Philippines, and they never registered their marriage with the Philippines.

Can you answer these? Your wife is Filipina and never lived in the Philippines? Did she have Philippine citizenship at any time in her life? Is she claiming citizenship through birth right?

[top_secret 2,417]

As far as I know the only issue is the name that would appear on the citizenship certificate. It is identical to the rules for changing the name on a Philippine Passport.  A woman must file a ROM if they want to use their husband's surname on their Philippine passport OR on a Philippine citizenship certificate. Otherwise it stays in the maiden name.

[confusedshoes 193]

2 hours ago, RO_AH said:

Can you answer these? Your wife is Filipina and never lived in the Philippines? Did she have Philippine citizenship at any time in her life? Is she claiming citizenship through birth right?

 

19 hours ago, julianthecat said:

Her parents are OFWs, in a Middle Eastern country that doesn't have birthright citizenship, so she's been a Filipino her whole life. 

 

Totally makes sense, I have Filipino friends in Dubai that have kids (children born in Dubai) who have never lived in the Philippines, have only lived in Dubai although they are 100% Filipino in ethnicity and citizenship.

[RO_AH 1,659]

20 hours ago, julianthecat said:

, so she's been a Filipino her whole life. 

So she has Filipino citizenship and you are just trying to file a ROM? If that's the case, I agree with @Chancy. Getting a lawyer involved would be my last choice.

[Nayda62 3]

On 4/25/2023 at 11:50 AM, top_secret said:

As far as I know the only issue is the name that would appear on the citizenship certificate. It is identical to the rules for changing the name on a Philippine Passport.  A woman must file a ROM if they want to use their husband's surname on their Philippine passport OR on a Philippine citizenship certificate. Otherwise it stays in the maiden name.

This is correct. I applied for philippine citizenship after naturalazation. On the ceritficate it says my birth name along with an AKA my married name. I never did a rom. I was married and divorced in the us befor my currant marrage. Was not an issue. only thing is if I ever get another Philippine passport it has to be in my maiden name. My Blue passport gets the job done.