Second wedding in Phils

[David & Kezia 25]

I am in a situation almost similar to this. We are actually going home to the Philippines this Thursday (Apr 12), and we will have a garden wedding there so that my whole family would be able to witness us getting married.

We were already married here, but I didn't report the marriage to the NSO, thinking that we'd get married there again anyway and we don't want a duplicate of reports although we'd have two wedding dates (a US and a Phil one).

An uncle of mine who is a judge is the one who will officiate the wedding.

My first question is if it is really still necessary for us to get a marriage license and have it official there, or can we just have a ceremony and I'll just report our US marriage when we get back here next month?

My second question is if we would still be required to present documents as if we are single, or would a copy of our US Marriage Certificate be good enough, since it's just a renewal of vows anyway?

?

Kezia

[Caryh 5,206]

Filipino Citizens are required to report their marriage abroad. That is the official line. You cannot get marriage license in the Philippines again without proving singleness. You would have to lie to do so, and fail to report your marriage. You can have a wedding ceremony, but you should not be doing it with a license. My wife and I intend to get married in the Catholic church in the Philippines when we return. We already were married by a minister and that was our legal wedding in the USA. The ceremony in the Philippines, will make our marriage official with the Catholic church, while legally we are already married in both countries. We have also already reported our marriage to our local Philippines Consulate. We wanted to get that settled by mail before the consulate outreach program shows up in our city this summer so we can renew her passport in her married name.

If you're married, you can't get married to each other again. But you can have a marriage ceremony, to have it recognized by a church or just to celebrate with family that could not make it to a wedding on the other side of the planet.

[Hank_ 9,173]

We are doing that, doing civil ceromony in June then later wedding in the Phils, just not catholic. Ceromony in the Phils is for "show" (family) only nothing official about it. We will report marriage in USA to NSO before even flying to the Phils.

[Tahoma 2,291]

Filipino Citizens are required to report their marriage abroad. That is the official line. You cannot get marriage license in the Philippines again without proving singleness. You would have to lie to do so, and fail to report your marriage. You can have a wedding ceremony, but you should not be doing it with a license. My wife and I intend to get married in the Catholic church in the Philippines when we return. We already were married by a minister and that was our legal wedding in the USA. The ceremony in the Philippines, will make our marriage official with the Catholic church, while legally we are already married in both countries. We have also already reported our marriage to our local Philippines Consulate. We wanted to get that settled by mail before the consulate outreach program shows up in our city this summer so we can renew her passport in her married name.

If you're married, you can't get married to each other again. But you can have a marriage ceremony, to have it recognized by a church or just to celebrate with family that could not make it to a wedding on the other side of the planet.

I agree with your post...except for the first line. I don't know of any reporting requirement for Filipino citizens who were married in the U.S. Since Chinook is not going to amend or renew her Filipino passport, and she doesn't plan on becoming a dual citizen, we don't plan on reporting our marriage.

[Hank_ 9,173]

I agree with your post...except for the first line. I don't know of any reporting requirement for Filipino citizens who were married in the U.S. Since Chinook is not going to amend or renew her Filipino passport, and she doesn't plan on becoming a dual citizen, we don't plan on reporting our marriage.

[DaveE 178]

Whether you report it or not, the marriage in the US is valid and recognized by the Govt. of the Philippines. It has nothing to do with passports and dual citizenship. When you apply for the marriage license in the Philippines you will be lying on an official document, by verifying that you are single. It can come back to bite you in the butt later.

Addtionally, to obtain a marriage license in the Philippines you must apply US Embassy Manila for the Affidavit In Lieu of Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry. You will have to certify to a consular official that you are single and able to marry. You will have lied to another government agency.

Philippine Law requires non-Filipino citizens to obtain a Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry if they wish to marry in the Philippines. U.S. Consular Officers cannot make any official certification about the status or eligibility to marry of persons residing in the United States who propose to be married abroad, or about the laws of the United States or of any of the fifty States or Territories about eligibility for marriage or the solemnization of a marriage. Instead, the U.S. Embassy provides an Affidavit In Lieu of Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry.

Overall, not a wise thing to do.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

The Church wedding will have no civil significance if you are already married in the US. However, you will be given the Sacrament of Matrimony, if you are both practicing Catholics, and attend the required courses prior to the ceremony, which can be lengthy. Be prepared either to attend the courses here in the US, (we were told they take 6 months in the US) and make arrangements for them to be honored in the Philippines prior to returning to the Philippines, or, plan on spending a couple months attending them in the Philippines.

[MI.PI 7]

We had our civil wedding in the US in December 2009 and our Catholic church wedding in the Philippines in May 2011. You don't need to get another marriage license for your wedding in the Philippines. You just need to give them a copy of your marriage certificate for your civil wedding in the US. Here's a link of the general requirements for a Catholic church wedding in the Philippines

http://www.weddingsatwork.com/culture_laws_churchgeneral.html

[Caryh 5,206]

I agree with your post...except for the first line. I don't know of any reporting requirement for Filipino citizens who were married in the U.S. Since Chinook is not going to amend or renew her Filipino passport, and she doesn't plan on becoming a dual citizen, we don't plan on reporting our marriage.

Let me rephase that then, per the consulate "The marriage of a Filipino should be reported to and registered with the Philippine National Statistics Office through the Embassy/Consulate General having jurisdiction over the locality where the event took place." Required isn't exactly the right term, since no one is going to get into any trouble if they don't. Its required only if you wish to officially use your married name with the Philippine government, such as renewing your passport in your married name.

[Penguin_ie 5,985]

*** Topic split from a 4 year old one. Please pay attention top the date of the OP and the last post in a thread before replying and create your own topic for your own issues, rather than ask questions about your case in someone elses thread. *****

[Hank_ 9,173]

I am in a situation almost similar to this. We are actually going home to the Philippines this Thursday (Apr 12), and we will have a garden wedding there so that my whole family would be able to witness us getting married.

We were already married here, but I didn't report the marriage to the NSO, thinking that we'd get married there again anyway and we don't want a duplicate of reports although we'd have two wedding dates (a US and a Phil one).

An uncle of mine who is a judge is the one who will officiate the wedding.

My first question is if it is really still necessary for us to get a marriage license and have it official there, or can we just have a ceremony and I'll just report our US marriage when we get back here next month?

My second question is if we would still be required to present documents as if we are single, or would a copy of our US Marriage Certificate be good enough, since it's just a renewal of vows anyway?

?

Kezia

You are already married, how do you expect to get a marriage license? Duh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You "second wedding" is for SHOW only, for the family, its not a REAL wedding, or at least it better not be. Just file your marriage cerficate that you ALREADY have with NSO and plan your "fun wedding" as a simple celebration for family.

I'm sorry but this topic really makes me scratch my head as to what someone is thinking....

Its Thursday here in the Phils, I hope you are just doing a ceromony for the pleasure of the family.

Edited April 12, 2012 by Hank_Amy

[TnJ 131]

You are already married, how do you expect to get a marriage license? Duh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You "second wedding" is for SHOW only, for the family, its not a REAL wedding, or at least it better not be. Just file your marriage cerficate that you ALREADY have with NSO and plan your "fun wedding" as a simple celebration for family.

I'm sorry but this topic really makes me scratch my head as to what someone is thinking....

Its Thursday here in the Phils, I hope you are just doing a ceromony for the pleasure of the family.

Hank, how did you guys go about this at the interview? Were you asked about your wedding plans/date? If so, how did you explain without posing any red flag? I ask because I intend to have the civil wedding here in US, and the ceremony for her family in PH.

[ac22 0]

We are planning also to have a double wedding. We are going to have a Church ceremony for Sacrament of Matrimony in Philippines this coming November.Civil certificate and Pre- Cana seminar required in the church.

[David & Kezia 25]

You are already married, how do you expect to get a marriage license? Duh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You "second wedding" is for SHOW only, for the family, its not a REAL wedding, or at least it better not be. Just file your marriage cerficate that you ALREADY have with NSO and plan your "fun wedding" as a simple celebration for family.

I'm sorry but this topic really makes me scratch my head as to what someone is thinking....

Its Thursday here in the Phils, I hope you are just doing a ceromony for the pleasure of the family.

Actually, in the Philippines, you are allowed to have as many "official" and "legal" weddings, although they will only recognize the first one as the real official one. People usually get married in a civil wedding first, with people signing official documents, etc., and when people get married again in a church wedding, they can also have either a ceremonial one or one that is fully legal (with everyone including the ninongs & ninangs signing too) and registered with the NSO. Both or all the weddings can be registered with the NSO, and that's what usually happens, although when you write down your marriage date anywhere or when their records come up with multiple ones, the first one is the one that is written down or reported. My parents and my other relatives had the same experiences, and so does a lot of people in the Phils.

My difference is because we got married here and we still haven't reported our marriage to the consulate and therefore it's not yet in the NSO, so as far as the Phils is concerned, I'm still single. I was hoping that someone here had a similar experience, especially if the "for-show" wedding is not a church wedding but also another civil wedding (with a real judge) but a garden affair this time. If we were wed in the Phils and had to go through a "renewal of vows" wedding (civil or church) no matter how many times we'd have to do it, we wouldn't have this issue because all we'd need is our old marriage certificate. I hope that the Civil Registrars in the provinces can tell the difference and wouldn't be so ignorant to require us to give documents that says that we are both single.

We just want our second wedding to be also official and recorded, and to allow our ninongs and ninangs to sign the document with us, instead of having a purely ceremonial wedding.

[Hank_ 9,173]

Hank, how did you guys go about this at the interview? Were you asked about your wedding plans/date? If so, how did you explain without posing any red flag? I ask because I intend to have the civil wedding here in US, and the ceremony for her family in PH.

They did not ask our wedding plans at the interview, heck they never asked for the Letters of Intent even, we still have them, and the CO almost forgot to ask my Fiancee if she understands she has to get married within 90 days so he had to call her back to the window and ask her.

Even if they had asked about wedding plans we would have said we are doing a civil wedding and left it at that, a second ceromony in the Phils later is not anything they need to know or do they even care about. Never DO-DO when DO will DO.