Annulment in the Phil

Hello!

I have a couple of questions which are somewhat related.

After living in the United States as a tourist, I divorced my wife who was living in the Philippines. Then I married another Filipina citizen in the United States. Now I am back in the Philippines. If divorce is not honored in the Philippines, is it advisable to have our marriage in U.S registered in the Philippines? I we do, what are the ramifications?

My wife and I are planning to travel abroad. To travel as husband and wife, are we required to register as married couple in order to get clearance for visa and passport?

In another subject... when filing for annulment, is my former wife required to sign the documents? Is there a case when it is okay if only the filer signs it?

I await for your reply.

Thank you so much.

Where are you from originally? before we can answer your questions clearly.

If you are Filipino and just tourist in the United States, then your divorce will not be acknowledge in the Philippines. So if you marry another Filipina, although this happened in the United States, you have committed BIGAMY! because your divorce in the first place is not recognised as you are Filipino and you marry another Filipina citizen.

Hi, considering that you're not an American citizen at the time that you divorced your wife who was living in the Philippines, that divorce is not valid here in the Philippines.

A Filipino citizen has no divorce option. Your marriage in the U.S. is not valid here in the Philippines. Under the Philippine law, that second marriage is bigamous. Thus, you cannot register as a married couple for visa purposes.

For purposes of annulment (i think what you mean is declaration of nullity of marriage based on psychological incapacity), only the petitioner signs the petition.

Thank you for your immediate response.

Referring to our marriage in the U.S. as bigamous, if we do NOT register our marriage here in the Philippines, does my former wife have legal rights and sue for bigamy? The fact that she signed the divorce papers when it was sent to her from the U.S., does that make any difference?

Also, what is the difference between annulment and nullity of marriage? How are they different in application process and outcome/result?

We thank you for your assistance.

I believed the difference of annulment and nullity, annulment is if the marriage is perfectly legal in this case in order to file for this you need a grounds and nullity of marriage is if the marriage is null and void from the start like bigamous or there's technical error involved on your marriage like, you or your partner provided fake documents, under age without parents consent, shotgun wedding, etc.

Thank you for your immediate response.

Referring to our marriage in the U.S. as bigamous, if we do NOT register our marriage here in the Philippines, does my former wife have legal rights and sue for bigamy? The fact that she signed the divorce papers when it was sent to her from the U.S., does that make any difference?

perdigonis wrote:Thank you for your immediate response.

Referring to our marriage in the U.S. as bigamous, if we do NOT register our marriage here in the Philippines, does my former wife have legal rights and sue for bigamy?  The fact that she signed the divorce papers when it was sent to her from the U.S., does that make any difference?

Also, what is the difference between annulment and nullity of marriage?  How are they different in application process and outcome/result?

We thank you for your assistance.

Before answering your question, did you obtain a marriage license when you married your second wife?

Annulment means that the marriage is valid but because of some defect during the celebration of the marriage (wedding), the marriage is rendered invalid. The outcome is that the children are still considered legitimate.

In Nullity of Marriage, the marriage is not valid from the very beginning because one or more of the requisites for a marriage to be valid is absent. The result is that the children are considered illegitimate (except in case of psychological incapacity, in which case the children remain legitimate).

yes, we obtained a marriage license and everything was done in U.S. referring back to our marriage in the U.S. as bigamous, if we do NOT register our marriage here in the Philippines, does my former wife have legal rights and sue me for bigamy? The fact that she signed the divorce papers when it was sent to her from the U.S., does that make any difference?

Thanks so much.

yes, we obtained a marriage license and everything was done in U.S.  referring back to our marriage in the U.S. as bigamous, if we do NOT register our marriage here in the Philippines, does my former wife have legal rights and sue me for bigamy?  The fact that she signed the divorce papers when it was sent to her from the U.S., does that make any difference?

Thanks so much.

No! she can't sue you if she signed the divorced papers, also your second marriage is outside Philippines jurisdiction. If and when you obtained American citizenship don't get dual citizenship until you clear your record back in the Philippines, meaning forward your divorced papers at the Philippine Embassy there but don't submit any of your second marriage documents.