Anullment

[Mike S]

Along these same lines if divorced in another country and marry in this one do they keep your certified divorce papers here or 1) return them to you2) or will a notarized copy of the certified one suffice after they have seen the originals There is so many unanswered questions about forms .. types of forms and copies of forms here in the Phils that it is unbelievable ...... nothing seems to be cut and dried ...... plus what is required of one person may not necessarily be required of the next ..... ex.Some people are asked to get a cenomar as a foreigner ..... others say it was not required of them ..... others say a foreigner can't get a cenomar and still others say the certificate from the embassy is all that is required ...... what a mess ..... god only knows what new requirements will be augmented this year ..... and to whom it will apply ....... hahahahaha ..... Ya gotta love it ......

[TheMason]

I have heard this several times from different people but if you were married here and then divorced in another country NSO will not issue the cernomar. They have aparently never heard of this and say you have to have an annulment. If anyone has any concrete legal information on this I would love to hear it. If you were married in the Philippines but divorced in another country can you get a cernomar without an annulment? What steps do you have to take to get it? In this case it was a US citizen married to a filipina who moved to the US and they were later divorced.

Basically, if a divorce is granted in a foreign country you need to go to court in the Philippines to have it recognized here. I don't know what that involves, but I'm sure it's not fast, easy, or cheap to get it done. This applies to a divorce between a foreigner and a filipino. If the divorce is between 2 foreigners, all you need to do is convince your embassy so they will give you the affadavit of legal capacity to contract marriage. (This is for US citizens). If you have your divorce papers, showing them to the consular officer should suffice to get your affadavit.Divorce between a foreigner and Filipino is covered by Article 26 of the Family Code of the Philippines. The law reads....Art. 26. All marriages solemnized outside the Philippines, in accordance with the laws in force in the country where they were solemnized, and valid there as such, shall also be valid in this country, except those prohibited under Articles 35 (1), (4), (5) and (6), 3637, 38 and (17a) Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner is validly celebrated and a divorce is thereafter validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall have capacity to remarry under Philippine law.You can find this online at http://www.chanrobles.com/executiveorderno209.htmThere is a good discussion of Article 26 available at http://jlp-law.com/blog/divorce-annulment-philippines/At first read, this seems to apply only to marriages solemnized outside the Philippines, but that's not what it means. The article deals with two separate issues. The first is about recognizing marriages solemnized outside the Philippines and the second is divorce obtained outside the Philippines. The first paragraph does not apply to the second one.The interesting part to me is the last line of the second paragraph. That seems to say that if you take your Filipina back to the US and SHE files for divorce, the divorce won't be recognized in the Philippines. However, if YOU file for divorce, it will be. I tell my wife all the time that one of the things I love about the Phils is that the double standard is alive and well in the Phils, and it almost always works to my advantage. I don't know why, but she doesn't see the same beauty in this reality that I do. Edited January 3, 2009 by TheMason

[retired]

I have heard this several times from different people but if you were married here and then divorced in another country NSO will not issue the cernomar. They have aparently never heard of this and say you have to have an annulment. If anyone has any concrete legal information on this I would love to hear it. If you were married in the Philippines but divorced in another country can you get a cernomar without an annulment? What steps do you have to take to get it? In this case it was a US citizen married to a filipina who moved to the US and they were later divorced.

Tom , i certainly did not mean to confuse you by any previous post but i can only relate to my personal experience . I did marry a Filipina in the Philippines and we did reside in the US and we were divorced in the US . I later married Daisy in 2002 and there were no such requirements regarding Cernomar but then this is the Philippines and laws do change here about as fast as the latest political scandal . :thumbsup: So , it may well be that this is something cooked up since my experience . To me it just sounds like another way for the Lawyer Lobby in this country to extract money from foreigners but others may see it differently ? One thing you might try doing is contacting the US Embassy in Manila for clarification on this . If it is in fact required i am certain they would know about it . I did that once from stateside and they did respond via email though it took a couple of weeks .Now , if a foreigner were trying to marry a Filipina that had previously been married in this country and therefore requiring an annulment before another marriage ?? Well , that foreigner would have to be prepared to shell out lots of $$$ . Annulements here are never easy and always costly . I will ask around about this with other expats but i will admit i have seen no reference to it on any of the other philippine forums i visit .Good Luck

[tom_shor]

I have heard this several times from different people but if you were married here and then divorced in another country NSO will not issue the cernomar. They have aparently never heard of this and say you have to have an annulment. If anyone has any concrete legal information on this I would love to hear it. If you were married in the Philippines but divorced in another country can you get a cernomar without an annulment? What steps do you have to take to get it? In this case it was a US citizen married to a filipina who moved to the US and they were later divorced.

Tom , i certainly did not mean to confuse you by any previous post but i can only relate to my personal experience . I did marry a Filipina in the Philippines and we did reside in the US and we were divorced in the US . I later married Daisy in 2002 and there were no such requirements regarding Cernomar but then this is the Philippines and laws do change here about as fast as the latest political scandal . :thumbsup: So , it may well be that this is something cooked up since my experience . To me it just sounds like another way for the Lawyer Lobby in this country to extract money from foreigners but others may see it differently ? One thing you might try doing is contacting the US Embassy in Manila for clarification on this . If it is in fact required i am certain they would know about it . I did that once from stateside and they did respond via email though it took a couple of weeks .Now , if a foreigner were trying to marry a Filipina that had previously been married in this country and therefore requiring an annulment before another marriage ?? Well , that foreigner would have to be prepared to shell out lots of $$$ . Annulements here are never easy and always costly . I will ask around about this with other expats but i will admit i have seen no reference to it on any of the other philippine forums i visit .Good Luck

Yes it would have been no problem before the Cernomar requirement. Just show the embassy you are legaly divorced and get your legal capacity to marry. But now that the crenomar is required everyone that has been contacted at NSO says they won't issue it because there is no divorce here. They apparently never read article 26. There is actually a family friend who works there who says the same thing.Is the email address for the embassy on their website?

[retired]

I have heard this several times from different people but if you were married here and then divorced in another country NSO will not issue the cernomar. They have aparently never heard of this and say you have to have an annulment. If anyone has any concrete legal information on this I would love to hear it. If you were married in the Philippines but divorced in another country can you get a cernomar without an annulment? What steps do you have to take to get it? In this case it was a US citizen married to a filipina who moved to the US and they were later divorced.

Tom , i certainly did not mean to confuse you by any previous post but i can only relate to my personal experience . I did marry a Filipina in the Philippines and we did reside in the US and we were divorced in the US . I later married Daisy in 2002 and there were no such requirements regarding Cernomar but then this is the Philippines and laws do change here about as fast as the latest political scandal . :welcome: So , it may well be that this is something cooked up since my experience . To me it just sounds like another way for the Lawyer Lobby in this country to extract money from foreigners but others may see it differently ? One thing you might try doing is contacting the US Embassy in Manila for clarification on this . If it is in fact required i am certain they would know about it . I did that once from stateside and they did respond via email though it took a couple of weeks .Now , if a foreigner were trying to marry a Filipina that had previously been married in this country and therefore requiring an annulment before another marriage ?? Well , that foreigner would have to be prepared to shell out lots of $$ . Annulements here are never easy and always costly . I will ask around about this with other expats but i will admit i have seen no reference to it on any of the other philippine forums i visit .Good Luck

Yes it would have been no problem before the Cernomar requirement. Just show the embassy you are legaly divorced and get your legal capacity to marry. But now that the crenomar is required everyone that has been contacted at NSO says they won't issue it because there is no divorce here. They apparently never read article 26. There is actually a family friend who works there who says the same thing.Is the email address for the embassy on their website?

TomI THINK that's where i found it but you may have to fish around for awhile . Try the material in American Citizens Services first . I will try and find out but we don't have a land line phone so it may take a while . :wt-hell: In the end maybe a Philippine attorney could best advise . I said MAYBE !! :thats-funny:

[retired]

I have heard this several times from different people but if you were married here and then divorced in another country NSO will not issue the cernomar. They have aparently never heard of this and say you have to have an annulment. If anyone has any concrete legal information on this I would love to hear it. If you were married in the Philippines but divorced in another country can you get a cernomar without an annulment? What steps do you have to take to get it? In this case it was a US citizen married to a filipina who moved to the US and they were later divorced.

Tom , i certainly did not mean to confuse you by any previous post but i can only relate to my personal experience . I did marry a Filipina in the Philippines and we did reside in the US and we were divorced in the US . I later married Daisy in 2002 and there were no such requirements regarding Cernomar but then this is the Philippines and laws do change here about as fast as the latest political scandal . :welcome: So , it may well be that this is something cooked up since my experience . To me it just sounds like another way for the Lawyer Lobby in this country to extract money from foreigners but others may see it differently ? One thing you might try doing is contacting the US Embassy in Manila for clarification on this . If it is in fact required i am certain they would know about it . I did that once from stateside and they did respond via email though it took a couple of weeks .Now , if a foreigner were trying to marry a Filipina that had previously been married in this country and therefore requiring an annulment before another marriage ?? Well , that foreigner would have to be prepared to shell out lots of $ . Annulements here are never easy and always costly . I will ask around about this with other expats but i will admit i have seen no reference to it on any of the other philippine forums i visit .Good Luck

Yes it would have been no problem before the Cernomar requirement. Just show the embassy you are legaly divorced and get your legal capacity to marry. But now that the crenomar is required everyone that has been contacted at NSO says they won't issue it because there is no divorce here. They apparently never read article 26. There is actually a family friend who works there who says the same thing.Is the email address for the embassy on their website?

TomI THINK that's where i found it but you may have to fish around for awhile . Try the material in American Citizens Services first . I will try and find out but we don't have a land line phone so it may take a while . :wt-hell: In the end maybe a Philippine attorney could best advise . I said MAYBE !! :thats-funny:

US EMBASSY - MANILAacsinfomanila@state.gov

[tom_shor]

I have heard this several times from different people but if you were married here and then divorced in another country NSO will not issue the cernomar. They have aparently never heard of this and say you have to have an annulment. If anyone has any concrete legal information on this I would love to hear it. If you were married in the Philippines but divorced in another country can you get a cernomar without an annulment? What steps do you have to take to get it? In this case it was a US citizen married to a filipina who moved to the US and they were later divorced.

Tom , i certainly did not mean to confuse you by any previous post but i can only relate to my personal experience . I did marry a Filipina in the Philippines and we did reside in the US and we were divorced in the US . I later married Daisy in 2002 and there were no such requirements regarding Cernomar but then this is the Philippines and laws do change here about as fast as the latest political scandal . :1247: So , it may well be that this is something cooked up since my experience . To me it just sounds like another way for the Lawyer Lobby in this country to extract money from foreigners but others may see it differently ? One thing you might try doing is contacting the US Embassy in Manila for clarification on this . If it is in fact required i am certain they would know about it . I did that once from stateside and they did respond via email though it took a couple of weeks .Now , if a foreigner were trying to marry a Filipina that had previously been married in this country and therefore requiring an annulment before another marriage ?? Well , that foreigner would have to be prepared to shell out lots of $$ . Annulements here are never easy and always costly . I will ask around about this with other expats but i will admit i have seen no reference to it on any of the other philippine forums i visit .Good Luck

Yes it would have been no problem before the Cernomar requirement. Just show the embassy you are legaly divorced and get your legal capacity to marry. But now that the crenomar is required everyone that has been contacted at NSO says they won't issue it because there is no divorce here. They apparently never read article 26. There is actually a family friend who works there who says the same thing.Is the email address for the embassy on their website?

TomI THINK that's where i found it but you may have to fish around for awhile . Try the material in American Citizens Services first . I will try and find out but we don't have a land line phone so it may take a while . :th_noproblem: In the end maybe a Philippine attorney could best advise . I said MAYBE !! :540:

Talked to an Attorney. He is one of the ones saying we need an annulment. He is a relative and can't handle the case because of other commitments. So he has no reason to tell us that he won't make anything from it.

[Old55]

Tom;The Attorney advising you is a family member? Could it be the family wants to see an annulment?

[tom_shor]

Tom;The Attorney advising you is a family member? Could it be the family wants to see an annulment?

Anything is possible. This is the Philippines. I will try to contact the Embassy this week just to see what they say.

[daisy]

Just this morning I got a text message from a friend who just passed the bar exam last August 2009. She informed me that yesterday she just have her FIRST annulment case approved! It is practically less than 6 months! She is a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) Lawyer and is connected in the government.Her price but I don't know if it is negotiable is more or less 100K pesos but not more than 150K pesos. Yes she is well connected, maybe that answers it!

Edited January 20, 2010 by daisy