I'm permanent resident in the USA, and we are married in the Philippines. One year after my arrival here in the USA we decided to get married it was a walk in wedding although we knew we don't need to do that since we are already married in the Philippines and i was petitioned via immigrant visa.


Now, it's been 3 yrs and I want to divorce my husband for some reasons. Can I file for divorce and will it also terminate my marriage in the Philippines or the only marriage that will be terminated is our walk in wedding? Which marriage will be affected by the divorce the Philippine wedding or the US wedding.

Pls tell everything about this whole thing. I appreciate any help.

I'm sorry, I just got curious with your post but honestly, I cannot relate so I really don't know what to say. I'm sure some people here who are more knowledgeable will help you.

Good luck!


--Mae

when u file for divorce there and have it granted .. it WON'T affect ur marriage here in the Philippines. by law ur still legally married to ur husband coz the only legal way to terminate marriage in the Philippines is by LEGAL SEPARATION or ANNULMENT.

Does the marriage in the US count at all since you were legally married in the Phillipines?

Divorce is valid only here in the USA. You have to file for annulment in the Philippines.

Legal Separation will never terminated the legality of a Philippine Wedding.. it is only annulment that could. My parents have been legally separated for 20years now and they still need each others signature and approval on even the simplest thing like taking a bank loan... and of course they still cant marry their current partners even though they've been with them for ages.

I agree divorce in the US will also not affect the validity of your Philippine wedding. Maybe it will be best if you will consult a lawyer familiar with Philippine and US marriage laws.

correct .... ONLY ANNULMENT can terminate the marriage

thanks dbears

You can file for divorce here but it won't terminate your marriage in the Philippines. Claudeth was told by embassy staff up in L.A. that her marriage could be removed in the Philippines only if I divorced her, not her divorcing me. You have to be the respondant on the petition.

That's correct. A divorce in the US will be recognized in the Philippines only if it is the USC that petitions for the divorce. If her husband files for divorce, it will be recognized in the Philippines and she will not need an annulment.

She will still need an annulment, this time the grounds is that the USC ex-husband divorced her. It needs to be recognized by Philippine Court and issues the decision and decree to be able to change her NSO data. She can't get an annotated MC by just presenting her divorce decrees at NSO.

Yup! i agree with the above statements. only the USC can validly divorce their Filipino spouses for it to be recognized in the Philippines. This is based under Art. 15 of the Civil Code of the Philippines. Hence, if you are planning to remarry another Filipino, your marriage will be considered null and void, as you have no legal capacity to contract a second marriage...ooops! i seem to be jumping the gun here...sorry!

You need to read the Philippines family law. There is an exception to recognize a divorce obtained by the non-Filipino spouse.

just a petition to enforce the foreign judgment will do. once the said petition is granted by a Philippine court, the Philippine court's order can now be presented to the NSO for MC annotation.

So that this matter is clear and incorrect information can stop, I looked up the applicable article of the family law.

Article 26 of the family code was amended by executive order 227 on July 17, 1987.

Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner is validly celebrated and a divorce is thereafter validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall have capacity to remarry under Philippine law. (As amended by Executive Order 227)

i got this info which is more likely similar to the situation

http://www.gtalawphil.com/Philippine%20Ann...101_divorce.htm

Thanks everyone for the input, how about this question from JOMO'S GIRL?

Does the marriage in the US count at all since you were legally married in the Phillipines

was it recorded at a county clerks office?

For some reason the lady at the Filipino embassy thought Claudeth needed a long lecture on this. Kind of weird

Under Philippine laws, divorce is not a recognized mode of dissolving marital relationship. The above quoted provision is an exception to the general rule. The purpose of the law was to somehow give the Filipino national the same rights as that afforded the foreign spouse by virtue of said divorce. Since the OP is still a Filipino national, the laws of the Philippines will continue to apply to her as specifically provided under Article 15 of the Civil Code, which states: "Laws relating to family rights and duties, or to the status, condition and legal capacity of persons are binding upon citizens of the Philippines, even though living abroad." In view of the law of the Philippines, any divorce filed by the OP, while continuing to be a Filipino citizen, would have no legal effect whatsoever in the Philippines.

That's correct. A divorce will only be recognized if the non-Filipino spouse files for the divorce.

If your husband will file for the divorce here, then you dont have to file and annulment in the Philippines, however, when the divorce filed by your husband is already granted here in the USA , you still have to file a petition before the family court where you to got married in the Philippines for the divorce decree to be recognized for remarriage purposes. Once the petition is granted and the divorce decree is recognized by our Philippine laws , the same will be registered in the LCR where you got married and eventually in the NSO. Remember that you also got married in the Philippines so there is a record of such marriage in the LCR and our NSO so the divorce decree that will be obtained by your husband must be recognized by our Philippine courts ( I see no problem with this and the petition is easy) for remarriage purposes.

If your husband is not interested in filing for the divorce then you have to get an annulment in the Philippines. Annulment, although considered a civil case is a "special case" so you have to go home and appear before the court esepcially during the pre-trial conference because you will be the petitioner.