Foreigner Divorce from a Philippine marriage to marry again

[Lee2]

Can someone tell us the law that makes it okay for a foreigner, who was married in the Philippines to a Filipina and then divorced her back in his home country, to be able to marry another in the Philippines?

[Peter]

Lee,

It is covered under the RA 8533 (Otherwise known as the Family Code of the Philippines) Chapter !, para 26, as amended.

I remember the RA, and the EOs governing this, were amended in 2010 or thereabouts.

Basically, a foreigner who instigates the divorce, outside the Philippines obviously, is free to remarry, as is the Filipino/a spouse.

If the Filipino/a instigates the divorce, the foreigner is OK to remarry, but the Filipino/a is not.

Fair? No it's not, but maybe change is on the way.

Peter

[Lee2]

Lee,

It is covered under the RA 8533 (Otherwise known as the Family Code of the Philippines) Chapter !, para 26, as amended.

I remember the RA, and the EOs governing this, were amended in 2010 or thereabouts.

Basically, a foreigner who instigates the divorce, outside the Philippines obviously, is free to remarry, as is the Filipino/a spouse.

If the Filipino/a instigates the divorce, the foreigner is OK to remarry, but the Filipino/a is not.

Fair? No it's not, but maybe change is on the way.

Peter

Thank you Peter but I need the exact section, I have been looking for where it says what you wrote above. I have a friend who married a lady in the Philippines and she divorced him in the U.S. years ago and now he wants to get married again. I told this fellow the same thing but it seems the govt here refuses to recognize his divorce without it going to the courts here and I do not understand why, we have always been told foreigners can marry again.

[Peter]

Lee.

I'm away from the PC, but will dig out the exact reference tomorrow.

Peter, not so smart on a smart phone

[suzukig1]

Thank you Peter but I need the exact section, I have been looking for where it says what you wrote above. I have a friend who married a lady in the Philippines and she divorced him in the U.S. years ago and now he wants to get married again. I told this fellow the same thing but it seems the govt here refuses to recognize his divorce without it going to the courts here and I do not understand why, we have always been told foreigners can marry again.

The PHL recognizes foreign divorces but it is not automatic if the marriage was registered in the PHL.

Unfortunately, it sounds like the LGU where your friend wants to get married requires a CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage Record) from the PSA for the foreigner as well.  Some municipalities have this requirement.  If a CENOMAR is required and the person was previously married in the PHL, then the divorce needs to be "recorded" at the PSA.  To get a marriage record changed at the PSA you need to go through the PHL courts to get a court order for the PSA to change the record.

Technically, the article linked below applies to PHL citizens.  The PHL laws on marriage and divorce don't apply to a foreigner.  So it might be easier for a foreigner to get a court order to change a PSA marriage record.  However, I think a court order is still needed to change the PSA marriage record.

http://www.philstar.com/freeman-opinion/2015/04/23/1446966/recognition-foreign-divorce-decree-philippine-courts-1

Recognition of foreign divorce decree in Philippine courts (1)

[suzukig1]

Oops.  The article I tried to link to no longer exists.  Here's another one.  Again it applies to PHL citizens but I don't see a way around going to court if a LGU is going to require a foreigner to get a CENOMAR and the foreigner needs to have his PSA marriage record changed.


http://jlp-law.com/blog/judicial-recognition-of-a-foreign-divorce-decree/

If there’s already a divorce validly secured abroad (by the foreigner-spouse or the Filipino spouse who became a foreign citizen, losing his/her Filipino citizenship in the process), can the Filipino spouse immediately remarry?

No. The existence of a valid divorce decree, however, does not automatically entitle the Filipino to remarry in the Philippines. The foreign divorce decree must be judicially recognized in the Philippines. This means that the proper action or petition must be filed in a Philippine court. For purposes of re-marriage, the divorce validly secured abroad is not automatically recognized here in the Philippines.

Isn’t it enough that I already forwarded the divorce decree to the Philippine Embassy (or the Department of Foreign Affairs) and the National Statistics Office (NSO)?

No. The foreign divorce decree must be recognized here in the Philippines; a process which may only be done through the courts.

Why should we waste money in filing a petition in court for the recognition of the divorce decree?

This is the requirement of law, unfortunately. The divorce decree must be proven, just like any fact, in court. The presentation of the divorce decree is insufficient. Proof of its authenticity and due execution must be presented. This necessarily entails proving the applicable laws of the jurisdiction where the foreigner-spouse (who could be a former Filipino) is a national. One of the requirements under Article 26 is that the decree of divorce must be valid according to the national law of the foreigner.

[Lee2]

Okay so unless I am missing something apparently everyone has been wrong who said a foreigner can marry again after a divorce in another country, if the first marriage was registered with the NSO?

[suzukig1]

Okay so unless I am missing something apparently everyone has been wrong who said a foreigner can marry again after a divorce in another country, if the first marriage was registered with the NSO?

Technically, yes.  If a marriage is registered in the PHL, the person is still married under PHL law until they get their divorce authenticated by a PHL court.

However, if a municipality does not ask for a CENOMAR from the foreigner, the foreigner could still get a marriage license issued even though their PSA record says they are married.  The municipality would not know the foreigner has a PSA marriage record unless they ask.  Most municipalities do not ask the foreigner for a CENOMAR.


Side notes:

I got married in the PHL in 2009.  When I went to the U.S. Embassy to get my "Affidavit in Lieu of a Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage" the first thing the Embassy person asked was if I had been married before in the PHL.  Another person there for the same reason, a former PHL citizen, answered yes.  They would not give him an "Affidavit" and sent him away telling him to bring back a document from the NSO showing that the NSO recognizes his U.S. divorce.  My impression at the time was that you could just go to the NSO with your divorce papers and get that straightened out.  But I have no idea what was really required at that time.

I had my U.S. divorce papers (yes, papers plural) and the Embassy person looked at them and basically said "ok".  The lawyer at the municipality where we got our marriage license looked at my divorce papers and said "ok".  I did not have to have them approved by a PHL Embassy in the U.S. (like you might have to today, I don't know).  I was married in the U.S. both times.

Now I have been to the U.S. Embassy a few times since to have papers notarized and I have overheard the conversations when people go for their "Affidavits".  (No more private rooms for this like in the old Embassy building.)  They don't ask any details anymore.  They just ask the person to swear under oath that they have the legal capacity to marry.

[suzukig1]

1 more thing:

If your marriage was registered in the PHL until you get your divorce authenticated by a PHL court, your ex wife still owns half of your assets in the PHL.

[suzukig1]

1 more thing:

If your marriage was registered in the PHL until you get your divorce authenticated by a PHL court, your ex wife still owns half of your assets in the PHL.

Executive summary:

1) Former PHL citizens became naturalized U.S. citizens. 

2) California divorce, wife gets U.S. assets, husband gets PHL assets.

3) Wife sues for PHL assets in PHL court.  U.S. divorce not authenticated in a PHL court so the divorce is ruled not valid in the PHL and the two are still legally married in the PHL.  Still married so she owns half of the PHL assets.

4) Wife gets U.S. assets + half the PHL assets.  Husband gets only half the PHL assets.


http://www.philstar.com/opinion/2015/03/25/1437235/unauthenticated

On appeal to the Court of Appeals (CA) the later modified the decision of the RTC by directing  the equal division of the Philippine properties ...

... Dan questioned the CA decision. He contended that it should have recognized the California Judgment which awarded the Philippine properties to him as it awarded the US properties to Dina ... Is Dan correct?

No. For the foreign divorce decree relating to the status of marriage to be recognized here, the presentation of a copy thereof duly authenticated by the foreign court issuing the said decree must be presented. In this case, only the divorce decree was presented in evidence. The required certificates to prove its authenticity as well as the California Law on divorce were not presented. These are either the official publication thereof or a copy attested by the officer having legal custody thereof. This certificate may be issued by any of the authorized Philippine embassy or consular officials stationed in the foreign country in which the record is kept and authenticated by the seal of his office.

So absent a valid recognition of the divorce decree, it follows that the parties are still legally married in the Philippines. Thus the judicial separation of the absolute community of property in the Philippines as prayed by Dina should be granted with Dan getting only one half and Dina another half ...

Here's a link to what I think is the actual court case judgement: https://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2014/aug2014/gr_188289_2014.html

[Lee2]

Thank you for that information, so far I still cannot find anywhere where it says foreigners are free to marry again in the PHL, I guess they are free to marry anywhere else but now according to case law, even their assets here could be an issue.

While I doubt we will ever divorce, I am still glad we married in the U.S. since the laws here are so IMO backwards.