CENOMAR Question

I am US citizen, my fiance is Filipina, who is permanent resident of Japan. She was married in Japan to a Japanese citizen. After 14 yrs they got a divorce in Japan in 2004. In 2005 she filed the divorce with the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo. The Certificate of Acceptance of Notification of Divorce (Report of Divorce) was accepted and it states at the bottom that the certificate will be forwarded to the NSO (I abbreviated) thru the Dept of Foreign Affairs for proper recording and notation on their marriage certificate/report of marriage.
I filed for a Fiance visa in Dec of last year. She finally received the letter from the US Embassy in Tokyo (as that is where she will have her interview, she still lives and works in Japan) It gave a list of documents needed, she has all with the exception of a CENOMAR. After research I went to Ecensus.ph as I could order her CENOMAR as they would deliver outside the Philipppines, NSO or now PSA, whatever they want to call themselves, would not. I was to have it delivered to her in Japan. I checked the status but it said they found the following record for her name, CEMAR and it would mailed to her.
Now is the CENOMAR another name for a marriage certificate which is annoted that she was divorced in another country? I am confused since other things I am reading state she needs to file with the court in the Philippines, which could take months, or more and cost quite a bit of money. She makes little and I am not overly rich to be honest.
I contacted the US Embassy to see if the CEMAR was annoted was that what they wanted but was told she would have to submit the documents to the embassy and the consular would have to review them and then let her know if all was good. They would not give any info over the phone.
Her K-1 petition expires in August so we have little time and if it takes longer I would have to file for extension and hope it gets approved. If not then I would have to start the whole process over again. I hope what I am asking is clear. Maraming Salamat

Pat

By the facts stated here, you are saying that it was your Filipina fiance who obtained the divorce, correct?

Divorce is not recognized in the Philippines and the only divorce decree that could be recognized in the Philippines involving a Filipino is when a Filipino marries a foreigner and the FOREIGNER later on obtains a divorce. This is not automatically recognized in the Philippines. The Filipino ex-spouse has to file a Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Divorce in a Philippine court. SEE ART. 26 PARAGRAPH 2 OF THE FAMILY CODE.

In your case however, it appears that the since it was the Filipino who obtained and initiated the divorce, the same cannot be recognized because laws regarding family relations are governed by the laws of the country of which one is a citizen, and Philippine law does not recognize divorce obtained by its citizens.

Gabriela filed a bill in Congress to amend Art. 26 paragraph 2 but I don't think this has been passed yet.

Jadis wrote:By the facts stated here, you are saying that it was your Filipina fiance who obtained the divorce, correct?

Divorce is not recognized in the Philippines and the only divorce decree that could be recognized in the Philippines involving a Filipino is when a Filipino marries a foreigner and the FOREIGNER later on obtains a divorce. This is not automatically recognized in the Philippines. The Filipino ex-spouse has to file a Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Divorce in a Philippine court. SEE ART. 26 PARAGRAPH 2 OF THE FAMILY CODE.

In your case however, it appears that the  since it was the Filipino who obtained and initiated the divorce, the same cannot be  recognized because laws regarding family relations are governed by the laws of the country of which one is a citizen, and Philippine law does not recognize divorce obtained by its citizens.

Gabriela filed a bill in Congress to amend Art. 26 paragraph 2 but I don't think this has been passed yet.

She was married in Japan, I will have to ask her if he initiated the divorce, although from what I understand they mutually agreed to get divorced with him getting custody of the Children. I will ask her and also if she ever filed in the Philippine court a Petition of Recognition. I am also going to wait and see what the CEMAR that ecensus is sending looks like. I have contacted them several times but they do not respond to any emails or feedback on their website and no phone number so it is hard to get any answers, even when it will be delivered.
One last question and I know this can be subjective, on average what is the cost to have her file a Petition of Recognition. Only reason I ask is I have seen figures as high as $3,000 or more (american dollars) and would need to save up for a good length of time to pay that. She does not make much. Just wish Philippine law would change to allow divorce without all the hoops to jump thru and the costs!! Thanks again and look forward to any additional answers anyone can give. Sidenote: The K-1 visa petition I filed with US Immigration expires in August and hope I can get an extension and it will be long enough to cover the time frame it would take to file a petition of recognition and get a CENOMAR. If not I would have to start the process all over again paying all the fees again. Did not know it would be this difficult to marry one you love!!!

CEMAR stands for CERTIFICATE OF MARRIAGE.

CENOMAR stands for CERTIFICATE OF NO MARRIAGE.

If your fiance has a CEMAR that means as per the records of the PSA she is STILL married.

I understand what you are saying that by CEMAR if that is what she gets it means she is still legally married as far as the Philippine Gov't is concerned.
What I am trying to understand is the document Certificate of Acceptance of Notification of Divorce filed with the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo. It gives her maiden name, states that marriage has been dissolved through divorce in accordance with Japanese laws and regulations.
After that there is his name, hers date of marriage, place of marriage and date. Also that enclosed documents were submitted by her for purposes of notification and of divorce in the Philippine Registry.
The last statement states "This certificate shall be forwarded to the National Statistics Office, Manila, Philippines, through the department of Foreign Affairs, for proper recording and notation on their marriage certificate/report of marriage."
It has a gold seal (mine is a copy) the date 2005 and Philippine Consuls signature. This tells me that that her divorce should of been registered AND that the marriage certificate should be annotated to show "With Decree of Foreign Divorce". Am I missing something here?? Seems we could submit her original with Gold seal and Ribbon to the US Embassy and that would show she is divorced.

The foreign divorce still needs to be judicially recognized here in the Philippines.

Your fiance still has to file the petition in the Regional Trial Court (preferably where the marriage was celebrated, or if not, where she resides in the Philippines) for the recognition of her foreign divorce here in the Philippines.

It appears that the last statement you are referring to "This certificate shall be forwarded to the National Statistics Office, Manila, Philippines, through the department of Foreign Affairs, for proper recording and notation on their marriage certificate/report of marriage." is a generic notation for all sorts of things that could be annotated on a record existing with the PSA, and might refer to instances other than divorce, where just a simple annotation would suffice - ex. deaths.

There has to be a judicial decree of recognition of the foreign divorce.