Filipino Wives - How to Legally Get Married in Philippines

But don't let the two-step process of getting married in the Philippines fool you. For each step, there are what I call "sub-process" that are downright ridiculously complicated.

You need the following documents to get a marriage license:

* LEGAL CAPACITY TO CONTRACT MARRIAGE (for the foreign national)

Legal Capacity To Contract Marriage is actually a document issued by the foreign man's government, which certifies that the man is not legally married to anyone in his home country. This document proves that the man is either legally single, divorced, or widowed in his own country.

You can get this from the embassy of the man. Most embassies are located in Makati, Manila.

Although this may not be true in your case, most embassies require the couple to PERSONALLY hand in their application for the document. This document requires a copy of the man's passport and the woman's NSO-issued birth certificate and photocopy of passport. Depending on your embassy, it could take up to three weeks for this to be issued.

* CENOMAR (both parties)

CENOMAR means Certificate of No Marriage. The easiest way to get this is by requesting a copy online at e-Census Philippines (https://www.ecensus.com.ph/Secure/frmIndex.asp.) CENOMAR certifies that neither you nor your partner ever got married in the Philippines to another person. Copies of the CENOMAR are delivered to the address that you indicate.

When you already have copies of your CENOMAR and Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage, you can apply for marriage license at the local civil registry office, which is a sub-office of the city government or municipal government of the place where the woman currently lives. Make sure to ask what other documents are needed for a marriage license to be issued.

Philippine guidelines indicate that the affianced couple should be present at the time that the application for marriage license is submitted. Officially, the marriage license takes 11 days to be issued AFTER submitting your application. Within the 11 days, you will be required to attend a marriage preparation seminar (again this is something required by the national government).

You can book a Catholic wedding at the local Catholic Chancery's office. You will need to submit your marriage license, plus the same set of legal documents in applying for your marriage license (plus baptismal and confirmation certificate if you have them).

If you're divorced, make sure to get a certificate of annulment of your wedding if you were previously married in a Church. You can get this document at the Catholic Archdiocese office in your country.