hi everyone! my best friend who is on a temporary visa wants to marry her british bf but she have got a problem, she is married in the phils. she got married at a young age with a filipino and when she requested a copy of marriage right after they got married she wasnt able to get one so she thought that maybe it was not registered as she is not on a legal age. she was 17 then. the problem came when her and her now british bf decided to get married in phils she wasnt able to get a cenomar and they gave her a copy of her marriage. She is still in the phil at the moment so she ask me to call the registrar office here in uk to ask the requirements of getting married here which I did and they said that they only need passport copy and proof of address though I didnt tell them that she's married back there. now my friend is thinking to come back and just get married here but Im scared for her as IM sure its not right to not say that shes previosuly married in phils and they might see it in the records anyway im not sure. please advice me on what to tell her. we came here in england at the same time but luckily i was able to find a sponsor for my tier 2 working permit but she wasnt able to so she cant stay here unless her and her partner get married. thanks a lot
Bad news, I'm afraid. She does need a Cenomar, and quite a lot of other stuff, including an English language test and a TB chest x ray. There's a very helpful thread by Micawber in the "UK Visa and Immigration Help" section of this forum.
she ask me to call the registrar office which ive done and they said that only passport and proof of address is needed to apply for marriage??
she can still come back here in uk with her present visa i think. then shes planning to get married in local registrar. ive told her the best way is to annul the marriage in the ph if its really recorded there but she sais its costly and takes long time
Your advice to her was correct. In the event that the local Registrar (or priest) does not carry out the proper checks and she is shown as married in the Philippines then, obviously, the marriage here will be void because it will be bigamous and she will be jailed and deported at the end of her jail sentence. This is Micawber's thread with the advice on getting married in the UK: http://www.british-filipino.com/showthread.php?4280-How-To-Apply-For-A-UK-Fiance(e)-Visa
It is my understanding that the marriage in the Philippines was illegal as she was underage and so that marriage is null and void.
thats what she thought as well but when she went back to the phils and reuested a cenomar, theyve given her the copy of her marriage ceritificate so technically it was recorded. can she file a divorce when she come back here cos i guess it easier than annulment.
Unfortunately, Stefanska, your friend will not be able to marry in the UK until she has her current marriage annulled in the Philippines.
Your friend has to get an annulment in the Philippines. It can be invalidated since she was a minor when she got married, just have to prove that there wasn't any parental consent when it happened. Annulment takes time and money though. She can't go to the UK with her and file divorce from there since the marriage was conducted and registered in the Philippines
Whilst that is perfectly true, much depends on how conscientious the local Registrar was in checking all the documentation when the original application for a marriage license was submitted. It could be that her age was "overlooked" . Proving that no parental consent was given could be tricky: if the Registrar fears trouble by the discovery of him/her allowing such a marriage to take place, the original documents "may not be available".
That then might work for her since she now wants our of the marriage, just need a good lawyer to help her with it. However, I am worried that the dear friend and her boyfriend might not be patient enough to wait for the final decree on a yet to be filed annulment case. I hope they take the high road though
even it is a void marriage i.e. underage.. need to be annulled in court which is easy if she can prove the she was 17. divorce initiated by Filipino citizen abroad is not valid in Philippines. UNFORTUNATELY... NO DIVORCE SA PINAS ARRRRGGGGGHHHH!
I hope they do, because jail followed by deportation for a mandatory ten years is what the alternative actually is, and the Home Office are getting very hot on "fake" marriages.
