Recognition of Divorce for Aussie previously married to Filipina

Sydney0228 · September 2018

Hi ang case ko po is yung fiance ko was previously married sa Filipina and kinasal sila sa Philippines. Divorced na po sila and both AU citizens na. Ang tanong ko po is pwede po ba kme magpakasal sa pinas? or we need court order for recognition of divorce if gusto nmin sa pinas magpakasal? I'm based po sa Thailand and if ever pwede po ba kme magpakasal dito na walang magiging problema? Ang worry ko lng po kc is magaapply kme ng spouse visa this year and need ng PSA certified document like Marriage Certificate. Wala po kayang magiging problema?Thanks in advance po sa sasagot.

patotoy · September 2018

Sydney0228 said:
Hi ang case ko po is yung fiance ko was previously married sa Filipina and kinasal sila sa Philippines. Divorced na po sila and both AU citizens na. Ang tanong ko po is pwede po ba kme magpakasal sa pinas? or we need court order for recognition of divorce if gusto nmin sa pinas magpakasal? I'm based po sa Thailand and if ever pwede po ba kme magpakasal dito na walang magiging problema? Ang worry ko lng po kc is magaapply kme ng spouse visa this year and need ng PSA certified document like Marriage Certificate. Wala po kayang magiging problema?Thanks in advance po sa sasagot.

yung partner mo was a Filipino? kailan sila nagdivorce, nung naging AU Citizen na?

Sydney0228 · September 2018

Hi ndi AU citizen na cya nung kinasal cya sa ex wife nya n pinay 10 years ago. nagdivorce sila last year and both AU citizens na. Salamat po sa pagsagot. Nalilito lang kc kme sa process medyo matrabaho and magastos if magpakasal kme s Thailand kce need ng translation to English ng Marriage Certificate. Ang worry lng kc nmin is baka lumabas saPSA na kasal pa cya s ex nya.

cucci · September 2018

@Sydney0228 This might be of interest to you.
Supreme Court says foreign divorce valid in PH

Sydney0228 · September 2018

@cucci Thanks sa input

cucci · September 2018

@Sydney0228 Na-curious ako dun ah... did some digging at eto ang actual case sa Supreme Court...

Republic of the Philippines Vs. Marelyn Tanedo Manalo
G.R. No. 221029. April 24, 2018

Seems that the foreigner may need to file a petition for cancellation of entry of marriage in the local civil registry where the marriage contract was filed unless nag-file na si ex-wife, otherwise lalabas ang record nya pag nag-request ng CENOMAR.

Sydney0228 · September 2018

@cucci Yun din yung concern ko kc ang sabi sa mga legal articles na nabasa ko is the Philippine law will recognize other countries' laws but they still need to conform the laws of the Philippines. So if ganun nga then need ng petition for Recognition of Divorce abroad and ang problem is matagal yung process at aabot ng 100k php ang ggastusin. Kaya I'm really torn kung anu ang pwede nmin gawin. Kaya naisipan nmin itry na magpakasal dito sa Thailand since dito ako nakabased. Thank you very much ha sa insights hirap mag-isip lalo pag legalities na.

cucci · September 2018

@Sydney0228 I am not a lawyer but as I understand it, itong jurisprudence sa case ni Manelyn Tanedo Manalo is a very recent case, only last April 2018. As such ang mga nabasa mo maybe pertaining mostly sa old jurisprudence pa. A lot has been simplified in the processes like before it used to take a lot of court hearing just to change misspelled name, now it's simply a matter of filing a petition with the local civil registrar.
I would suggest you contact a lawyer and show him/her that recent jurisprudence... may mga lawyer tayo na hindi rin updated kaya much better to show that you also did some research.

Sydney0228 · September 2018

@cucci I think yun yung best option nmin for this is to seek a lawyer and hopefully sana filing a petition with the local civil registrar. Ang hirap din kc magfollow-up since wala ko sa pinas. Thanks again!!!!

Mia · September 2018

At this point hindi pa kayo pwede makasal since the foreign divorce decree still has to be recognised by the local court (not local civil registrar). Sa Regional Trial Court ito fina-file and best for your partner to have a lawyer in the PH that he can liaise with.

Readings:
https://lawyerphilippines.org/2017/04/11/recognition-of-foreign-divorce-in-the-philippines-process/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/guidelines-filing-petition-recognition-foreign-joyce-domingo-dapat/
https://tokyo.philembassy.net/consular-section/services/civil-registration/judicial-recognition-of-foreign-divorce/

Basically current pa naman yung process details with the exception dun sa shinare ni @cucci na it doesn't matter who the petitioner was in the divorce and irrelevant na rin if the petitioner was still Filipino at the time of the divorce and siya yung nag-initiate ng divorce.

Although while petitioner in mentioned case submitted her petition sa civil registry, 'yung local court pa rin 'yung dapat mag-issue ng decree na finally recognised na yung divorce between the two people. If you read diyan sa G.R. No. 221029 sa huling part the case has been returned sa court of origin for further proceedings and reception of evidence as to the relevant Japanese law on divorce (since Japan ang nag-grant ng divorce in her case).

The court still has to review na lawful sa country kung saan na grant ang divorce before PH can officially recognise it... ayun lang.

Sa ngayon it's not as easy as correcting mistakes sa civil registry record because in general PH still does not recognise divorce.

Just to clarify lang your partner is also a former Filipino?

Sydney0228 · September 2018

@Mia thanks for the clarification. So even if magpakasal kme sa Thailand ndi p rin b po yun mrrecognize sa PH? Kc ang concern nmin is we'll be lodging for a partner visa this year and we don't want any legalities to affect our lodgement.

Their divorce was finalized sa AU. Both of them were AU citizens already during the lodging and nung mafinalized na yung divorce.

My partner was a former Filipino but he's already an AU citizen for 17 years already and at the time na nagpakasal sila ng ex wife nya na Filipino AU citizenship nya.

Mia · September 2018

@Sydney0228 nope hindi mare recognised kasi by law in the PH kasal pa rin yung partner mo. Pwede pa rin naman kayo magpakasal but it would be unlawful sa Pinas... covered ka because you’re Filipino. I guess start niyo na yung process para makasal kayo agad na mare-recognise everywhere.

And sa partner visa kung yun yung aapplyan niyo, sa de facto partnership kayo magfo-fall under. I guess I think for the mean time I register niyo na lang muna ang relationship sa local state (kung available) ng partner mo