Hi, I first married a Filipina in the Philippines back in 2001. Unfortunately she turned out to be a user and had to pretty much divorce her as soon as i could here in the UK. No problems relating to that as it all went smooth. I have since remarried here in UK but sadly divorced her now in UK also. My question really relates to my first marriage. Im thinking about emigrating to Philippines and want to marry in Philippines. Would I have any problems relating to my first divorce to the filipina i married in Philippines?? ie would I need to prove that I am divorced from her as well as my second wife? Hope not as i have no papers now relating to that first divorce as you give it up when you get new marriage certificate!! Hope somebody can help me in this. i know phils laws can be complicated but i do know that they have made changes in 2005 regarding this matter but its not clear!! Colin
Purely on guesswork, I would say yes you would need an annulment in the Philippines. This would be costly to you and time consuming also. I know a few others on here might know more, they should pop by soon. PS...
I don't believe an anulment is necessary, if a filippina is divorced by a foreigner in an overseas jurisdiction it then allows the filippina to re-marry in RP.... however she must have a copy of the decree and have it recognised by the judiciary in RP before she can re-marry, the worst case scenario may be that you have to have the foreign divorce officially recognised by a philippine court before re-marrying... I'm not sure about that.
Yes, but this is if the Filipina has her ex husband divorce her! From my understanding the person who initiates the divorce is in a much different position as the person who really has little say in the matter.
You may be right, but surely if the Filippina can re-marry then so can her foreign spouse as the foreign divorce has already been acknowledged by the filippino court, the filippina cannot be free to re-marry if the filippino court does not recognise that the divorce has ended the marriage.
If the divorce has been recognised in the Filipino court? That might be where the annulment might have to come in... Complicated this one, isn't it..
I found this and it seems to confirm what I have said.....perhaps somebody else can shed a little light.. www.philippineconsulatela.org/FAQs/FAQS-legal.htm Are there foreign divorces that are recognized under Philippine law? Answer: As a rule, divorce is not recognized in the Philippines as a mode of dissolving marriage. In cases however where a Filipino citizen contracts a marriage with a foreigner, a divorce validly obtained thereafter in a foreign court by the foreigner spouse, i.e. the foreigner spouse initiated the divorce proceedings, such a divorce will be recognized under Philippine law (Article 26, paragraph (2), of the Family Code). The foreign divorce will have the effect of capacitating either the foreigner spouse or the Filipino spouse to remarry under Philippine law.
That is exactly what is required for the divorced Filipina and it requires about 6 court hearings to obtain. To Colin57 I think you will be alright I do not believe foreigners are bound in this fashion by Philippine law, however your ex wife is bound and she would have to have had a court recognize the divorce. The one thing you can be certain of is that annulment has got nothing to do with anything here, annulment only really applies in marriages of two Filipinos it does not apply to a foreign spouse, the requirement for you to remarry will be to obtain a valid Certificate of no Impediment from the UK authorities which you will be able to do, the Philippine authorities are looking to see that 'your' government considers 'you' to be free to marry. I think you are fine.
Yes my partner had to go through that procedure as she had divorced a Korean about 17 years ago. It took us two years from the point that we finally had the required papers to obtain that but navigating the legal system over there and obtaining the required papers took us near 8 years in total and required Ana to become resident again in South Korea for a period of 6 months to obtain current copies of the family register, it's been a total nightmare.
The issue of who divorces who is an important one, in the majority of cases if the Filipina initiates and obtains a divorce abroad then she can not avail of the law which allows her to remarry in the Philippines, however there is a special case in jurisdictions like South Korea where there is no such thing as one party divorcing the other, they only have consensual divorce in South Korea, in this case we have proved that the Philippine authorities will grant the Filipina recognition of the divorce under Article 26 para 2.
Hi, i do hope that you are correct. Common sense would say that its correct but common sense seems in short supply when dealing with legalities in Philippines. I have asked the British Embassy to give me an answer so im waiting on their reply. Many thanks for your reply.
Thanks for all your replies, Im waiting for a reply from the British Embassy in Manila. hoping they can give definitive answer to my question. Common sense says my divorce here in UK should be good enough but this is Philippines we are talking about and straight forward does not seem to be the order of the day in matters of divorce
I agree I believe the "Filipino" in the relationship has to jump through hoops due to process in the same way many foreigners choose to marry outside the Philippines in locations such as Hong Kong to utilise this loop hole (because marrying in the Philippines rules change not that I for one would pre-think about divorce!).
You are still married under the Philippine law, your wife can press charges on you and your supposed to be "new wife"--- bigamy and adultery.
Actually she can, but I doubt she will because it will cost her money to prosecute the case. It would be safer if you marry your "new wife" somewhere else so that your ex-wife cannot press charges on both of you.
I would definitely recommend getting a Certificate of No Impediment ("CNI") in the UK. This should be straightforward provided you have a Decree Absolute and there seems no reason for you not to do that right away. To marry in the Philippines anyone then needs a Certificate of No Marriage ("Cenomar") which is issued against the CNI. If you get the CNI now your mind should be at rest. It is not expensive.
Hi yes. If you dont get CNI you cant get married in Phils. Having married there before... I am aware of the procedures.
I didn't make myself clear. What I meant was - just go through the CNI/Cenomar procedure and if there is a problem it will emerge before you have incurred significant expense.But I don't think you will have one.
