foreign divorce

hi all,
      can someone enlighten me with the current mess I am in now please  , I just want to check another option before I jump to annulment.

     ive just recently obtained my Divorce degree days after i was naturlalised which means when I filed the divorce, i was still filipino but I applied for citizenship the same time . however, the divorce took longer because  my ex refused to sign but luckily it doesnt really need his consent and I was able to proceed the divorce and due to those delays ive got naturalised first obtained my decree absolute. Hence, I was technically an alien already when I obtained decree absolute ( fingers crossed).

Ive read this in the Article 26 of Family code

[2] The reckoning point is not the citizenship of the parties at the time of the celebration of the marriage, but their citizenship at the time a valid divorce is obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating the latter to remarry.


am i covered on this? if yes do I have to file
recognition of foreign divorce if i wanted to remarry in the philippines?  or I just need a certificate of legal capacity to marry from the brit embassy? or worst Am I too late and the divorce will not be recognised at all.

thank you very much, hope you'll take a little bit of time to enlighten this poor soul dying to be free.

You are covered. In a case decided by the Supreme court, the reckoning point is the time the divorce decree was granted that you were an alien.

Recognition of divorce decree is necessary ONLY to a filipina/filipino spouse who wants to remarry again.Such recognition in court is NOT necessary in your case.

Further, Since you were already an alien, a certificate of legal capacity to marry is sufficient document for you to remarry.

That divorce decree is recognizable in the Philippines.

thank you tsi ming moi,

one more thing po, sorry, but paano yung records po sa NSO? would it matter? magka problema po ba kung sakali magpakasal ako sa philippines? or do i have to ask my ex to file the Recognition of foreign divorce to have our records annotated first. we only had civil wedding before with my ex and never used his surname. thank you

Forget your NSO records, hinde mo na kailangan yan since you are already a naturalized citizen of another country, before the eyes of Philippine law, you are a foreigner.
Kung magpakasal ka, just bring that divorce decree & obtain a certificate of legal capacity from your embassy.
You don't need to ask your ex for further annotation kasi by virtue of naturalization na override lahat records mo dito even your "citizenship" in the birth certificate.

i see, thank you very much 😊

If you were a filipina married in the Philippines with a filipino. Your divorce would only be recognize in the country where you filled it but NOT IN THE PHILIPPINES. The law of the land where you were married shall apply. ( Lex loci celebrationis) Since the Philippine law does not recognize divorce then it shall not be acknowledged here in the Philippines.

You can remarry, but not in the Philippines, only in the country were you secured your divorce.

happy28 wrote:hi all,

am i covered on this? if yes do I have to file recognition of foreign divorce if i wanted to remarry in the philippines?  or I just need a certificate of legal capacity to marry from the brit embassy? or worst Am I too late and the divorce will not be recognised at all.

thank you very much, hope you'll take a little bit of time to enlighten this poor soul dying to be free.

Yes maam you are covered. Be thankful that you had those delays

Bigamy is a public offense and territorial by nature so I think you have to file petition to recognize your foreign divorce if you want to remarry in Philippines.

marlo wrote:

happy28 wrote:hi all,

am i covered on this? if yes do I have to file recognition of foreign divorce if i wanted to remarry in the philippines?  or I just need a certificate of legal capacity to marry from the brit embassy? or worst Am I too late and the divorce will not be recognised at all.

thank you very much, hope you'll take a little bit of time to enlighten this poor soul dying to be free.

Yes maam you are covered. Be thankful that you had those delays

Bigamy is a public offense and territorial by nature so I think you have to file petition to recognize your foreign divorce if you want to remarry in Philippines.

hi atty marlo, thanks for the reply
twas indeed a blessing in disguise 😀. I was actually planning to file petition to recognise foreign divorce regardless just to be fair to my ex afterall I'm not as selfish as him and i believe he would cooperate this tiime (he's the filipino so siya dapatag file right?) , may mga anak na kasi na dalawa or tatlo 😒.  is it going to be as expensive as annulment though?. i don't know any lawyer from the philippines at all that I could even enquire about my case thank you i found this forum.

Carlmag wrote:If you were a filipina married in the Philippines with a filipino. Your divorce would only be recognize in the country where you filled it but NOT IN THE PHILIPPINES. The law of the land where you were married shall apply. ( Lex loci celebrationis) Since the Philippine law does not recognize divorce then it shall not be acknowledged here in the Philippines.

You can remarry, but not in the Philippines, only in the country were you secured your divorce.

I see, as advised i'll just ask my ex to file the petition to recognition of foreign divorce to be in the safe side. thank you atty. Carlmag 😊

I think it is you, not your ex.

Seek legal advises from an attorney.

marlo wrote:
I think it is you, not your ex.

Seek legal advises from an attorney.

i am the 'alien' who filed the divorced and obtained the absute decree hence capacitating me to remarry in UK whilst on the other hand my filipino ex is still stuck on our marriage. that why may law for them (article 26) na pwede sila mag file nung recognition of foreign divorce ? am i right? sorry im confused na.

Na confused tuloy..
Art. 26 of family code 1st par. speaks for mixed marriages.
2nd par. speaks for the "effect of divorced obtained by the alien spouse" and its consequence to the "filipino spouse" who wants to remarry.
Therefore, kung yung ex nyo po gusto magasawa ulit, nasa kanya yung burden or tasked na ipa prove or recognize in court yung divorce decree na inobtained mo.

Now, if gusto mo magasawa ulit, sufficient na yung certificate of legal capacity na inissue ng iyong embassy para maka asawa likewise para cgurado ka na walang bigamy, just present yung divorce decree sa iyong embassy.

happy28 wrote:

marlo wrote:
I think it is you, not your ex.

Seek legal advises from an attorney.

i am the 'alien' who filed the divorced and obtained the absute decree hence capacitating me to remarry in UK whilst on the other hand my filipino ex is still stuck on our marriage.  that why may law for them (article 26) na pwede sila mag file nung recognition of foreign divorce ? am i right? sorry im confused na.

The opinion was based on your statements. Earlier you mentioned that you (not another person of no concern and obligations from you which is your ex-spouse) have plans to re-marry in Philippines (under Philippines law), so the reply.

As earlier mentioned, bigamy is territorial afaik. As you are aware, marriage in Philippines is governed by Philippine laws. Granted foreign decree such as divorce are not automatically recognized by Phil. courts, institutions including NSO and civil registrar; And such foreign decree does not (automatically) authorize updates and/or removal of your still-existing valid records from NSO and/or civil registrar.

And since your have plans to re-marry in Philippines, it safe for me to assume the fact that in bigamy (territorial) case, the witness act of identification of one same spouse of two recognized Philippine-marriages is a mere proof (which can simply be done by picture of 2 wedding celebrations) of a strong bigamy case.

So, on top of Art. 26, I think you should also consider Art 407, Art 412 and Rule 108 of Rules of Court may govern your concerns of re-marriage in Philippines afaik . This is to recognize your decree by Philippine court (coz you are to re-marry in Phil), and the same can order updates/annotations of your NSO records as well.

In all these, I could be wrong. So consult your legal adviser.

hi all,
im really confused here so pls. enlighten me regarding my current issue,i was long naturalized before my divorced with a taiwan national, i was applying for legal capacity to marry but they asked for my CEMAR with annotation, how can i acquire that ? do i have to file for recognition for foreign divorce?and or do i have to apply for dual citizenship to be able to file for recognition,,magulo tlga...maraming salamat po.

Article 26 of the Family Code can be invoked only by the Filipino spouse.

Please note that if the naturalized/alien spouse wishes to get remarry in the Philippines, the local civil registry cannot automatically register the divorce decree. Thus, the alien spouse can file for a petition for recognition of divorce.

There was a Supreme Court decision on this in 2010 pa.

Regards,

Atty. Katrina