Hi all, this is a bit of an odd one. As the title suggests, the girl I'm seeing was married to a Filipino in the Philippines but he then left to live in the US and be with his mistress. He filed for a divorce from the US and then married a Filipina who was a US Citizen. He was not a US Citizen at the time the divorce was filed and approved in the US. She got copies of the divorce decree but now we're stuck on what she can do. Does she have to get an annulment before she can re-marry? Even if it's in a different country i.e. the UK? Can she get the Philippine court to recognise the divorce decree of her ex even though it was filed when he was not classed as a US Citizen? Many thanks for anyone's suggestions/help.
I am sorry to say that I think she is still married to the guy under Philippine law. Philippine law only permits divorce from a foreigner, and even if he became a US citizen that does not make him a foreigner in the sense intended by the law, I also seem to remember reading that Filipino's remained Filipino for certain purposes even if they took an oath of allegiance to another country. She might find it very hard to get an annulment as well. It must have happened many times so there will be some precedent in Philippine law for this particular situation, you could try asking these guys http://jlp-law.com/blog/ they have a lot of good articles on this kind of thing.
She could go to the Municipal Office in the Philippines where the marriage was registered and ask whether this can be brought before the NSO for acknowledgement. That might be a good starting point. At least there you will get advice and direction as there are always Lawyers present at the Municipal Office. As OSS has stated in his post, Philippine Nationals can only divorce a foreigner. Good luck.
Hi, first i think you need to go to the civil local registrar where the first marriage occur, discuss the case with them as there are updates on resolutions regarding these cases regarding the "7 year absence of a husband or a wife" , Second, please read this, this might help you clear out some issues, The confusion appears to be based on Article 83 of the Civil Code, which reads: Art. 83. Any marriage subsequently contracted by any person during the lifetime of the first spouse of such person with any other person other than such first spouse shall be illegal and void from its performance, unless: xxx (2) The first spouse had been absent for seven consecutive years at the time of the second marriage without the spouse present having news of the absentee being alive, or if the absentee, though he has been absent for less than seven years, is generally considered as dead and believed to be so by the spouse present at the time of the contracting such subsequent marriage, or if the absentee is presumed dead according to articles 390 and 391. The marriage so contracted shall be valid in any of the three cases until declared null and void by a competent court. If you stumbled on this provision, you may have this idea that a spouse can remarry even without securing a judicial declaration of presumptive death. In other words, there is NO need to go to court and it’s enough that any of the following circumstances is present: (a) there be no news that such absentee is still alive; (b) the absentee is generally considered to be dead and believed to be so by the spouse present; and (c) the absentee is presumed dead under Article 390 and 391 of the Civil Code. This understanding would have been correct, except that Article 83 of the Civil Code was superseded by the Family Code, which now provides: Art. 41. A marriage contracted by any person during the subsistence of a previous marriage shall be null and void, unless before the celebration of the subsequent marriage, the prior spouse had been absent for four consecutive years and the spouse present had a well-founded belief that the absent spouse was already dead. In case of disappearance where there is danger of death under the circumstances set forth in the provision of Article 391 of the Civil Code, an absence of only two years shall be sufficient. For the purpose of contracting the subsequent marriage under the preceding paragraph, the spouse present must institute a summary proceeding as provided in this Code for the declaration of presumptive death of the absentee, without prejudice to the effect of reappearance of the absent spouse. As the law now stands, a married person must, for purposes of remarriage, file the necessary action in court and ask for a declaration of presumptive death of the “absent” spouse. The crucial differences under the Civil Code and Family Code provisions are: 1. Under the Family Code, the time required for the presumption to arise has been shortened to 4 years. 2. Under the Family Code, there is need for a judicial declaration of presumptive death to enable the spouse present to remarry. 3. Under the Family Code, a stricter standard is imposed: there must be a “well founded belief” that the absentee is already dead before a petition for declaration of presumptive death can be granted. A married person must conduct a search for his missing spouse with such diligence as to give rise to a “well-founded belief” that he/she is dead. If you need an extended discussion on declaration of presumptive death, please click here to read the previous article entitled: “Presumptive death of a spouse for subsequent marriage.” On the other hand, just to be clear: no matter how long a spouse is “absent”, the present spouse CANNOT remarry unless there is a judicial declaration of presumptive death. (Reference: Republic vs. Nolasco, G.R. No. 94053, 17 March 1993)
my partner divorced her fili husband 2 years ago while she was here in the UK on a student visa. she is now back in the filis, awaiting the outcome of an annulment application started last december. she hopes to get the outcome by this december. in the event of this being unsuccessful---it has been suggested on here that we visit hong kong and get married there---then apply for spouse visa. i wish there was a precedent for this.
Its dragging for you Bigmac, what a pain, HK sounds good for a marriage though, at least you have a plan B to fall back on. Its probably true to say that the annulment process is a real grey area for us here at BF, nobody really has any idea at all of how long it takes, each annulment is obviously different and some must be more complicated than others. When your missus finally gets the annulment she will be officially single both in the Philippines and the UK, I was actually a little surprised when I got married last week that they actually recorded single on the wife's part of the marriage certificate. I hope you get the nod soon, I'd be pulling my hair out if I was you.
ha ha--no--ive been shaved for the last 6 years. i was told--at the time--it made me look years younger too.
Hi all, thanks for your replies. It's still not clear how her ex husband managed to divorce and re-marry in the US. I suppose my main question is: If she was able to come here by means of a work visa (or a visa which allows the person to marry) would the US divorce be recognised here in the UK? Would we be able to get married here? We have the divorce papers sent from the US. Annulment is such a long and costly progress and we just want to make things as easy as possible. Granted that it not normally the case with these things but if it's as simple as marrying in a country other than the Philippines then I am quite happy to do that. Thanks again for your help and suggestions. I still have some hair left although it's getting greyer by the day!
Maybe these links would help with considering a UK Marriage Visa and determining if the US divorce would be acknowledged? https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/overseas-divorces-set13/overseas-divorces-set13 https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...vidence-is-required-to-prove-freedom-to-marry https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fiancees-set01 https://www.gov.uk/marriage-visa/documents-you-must-provide But IF something happens, that later proves an annulment doesn't exist (disgruntle former partner makes it known to UK immigration that any divorce was actually void), then i suspect the grounds for entry would be declared void, even fraudulent and maybe risk deportation and hinder future applications?
Jonjuk This link may help concerning UK government recognizing foreign divorce https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/274428/annexb.pdf
Hi one word, thanks for all the links, it makes for some interesting reading. I'll take a look and see if there's anything we can do
Your welcome here is an old internet posting which seems similar in part to your scenario http://globalnation.inquirer.net/vi...ing-without-prior-annulment-a-word-of-caution
