marriage contract in the philippines | Moneymax

Marriage isn't something people practise on a whim. But equally you lot don't marry someone y'all met but yesterday, you don't go hitched without being legally prepare.

Getting married won't exist an easy ride, what with the many requirements soon-to-weds have to take intendance of. At that place'due south your CENOMAR, marriage license, and after the nuptials, the spousal relationship contract in the Philippines.

Only that doesn't mean you lot shouldn't get married. Of course, you want your spousal relationship to become legal and official.

The point is, earlier y'all tie the knot, yous accept to exist ready for all the paperwork information technology entails. Your dream wedding ceremony won't become a reality if you lack even just one requirement.

Here'due south everything Filipino or foreign couples demand to know before getting married, whether in ceremonious or church rites, in the Philippines.

Table of Contents

  • Who Tin can Get Married in the Philippines?
  • How to Get Married in the Philippines in 8 Steps
    • Step 1: Go Your PSA Birth Certificates
    • Step 2: Request a CENOMAR
    • Footstep 3: Get a Cedula
    • Step 4: Apply for a Marriage License
    • Step five: Book an Officiant
    • Step 6: Invite Your Witnesses
    • Step 7: Get Married
    • Step 8: Get Your Union Certificate
  • FAQs on Getting Married in the Philippines
    • 1. What is the departure between a marriage license vs marriage document?
    • 2. Can we go married in a different place from where nosotros got our marriage license?
    • 3. Can two foreigners get married in the Philippines?
    • 4. How tin can a foreigner get married in the Philippines?
    • five. Can you get married without a wedlock license in the Philippines?
    • 6. How many copies of CENOMAR are needed for securing a matrimony license?
    • seven. Tin can I get copies of the marriage document for both my ceremonious and church weddings?
    • 8. How long does it accept before I get the marriage certificate afterwards our wedding in the Philippines?
  • Final Thoughts

Who Can Go Married in the Philippines?

marriage contract in the philippines - Who Can Get Married?

The Family unit Code of the Philippines[1] allows the marriage of people who run into the following requirements:

  • A male and a female
  • At least 18 years old
  • Notarized parental consent for eighteen to 20 years old
  • Notarized parental advice for 21 to 25 years old
  • Not blood relatives up to the 4th ceremonious degree (i.eastward., cousins, siblings, etc.)
  • Complimentary of legal impediments such as being previously married to someone else (unless annulled, divorced, or widowed)

These legal requirements mean that people under the age of xviii tin can't get married even with their parents' consent. As well, aforementioned-sexual practice wedlock is non yet legal in the Philippines.

See too:

  • Are You Financially Ready to Get Married?
  • Financial Tips for Couples: How to Balance Love and Coin

How to Get Married in the Philippines in 8 Steps

After making sure you're permitted by law to ally in the Philippines, the side by side crucial affair to do is to comply with the legal requirements for marriage, specifically a marriage license and a marriage certificate (sometimes called the union contract).

Here are the steps involved in making sure you lot'll exist legally married in the Philippines.

Step i: Get Your PSA Birth Certificates

marriage contract in the philippines - get your PSA birth certificate

The offset thing that should be on your checklist, even earlier y'all beginning with the nuptials planning, is to secure your birth certificate.

Doing it in advance will give you lot ample time to verify your name, besides as that of your partner and parents, and have it corrected if necessary. This prevents whatever issues afterward due to incorrect entries on your birth certificate or inconsistency between the details you provide in your marriage license application and those on your nascency certificate.

Ideally, your birth certificate is certified and issued past the Philippine Statistics Dominance or PSA (formerly National Statistics Office or NSO). Y'all can apply for this document at any PSA Serbilis Heart[2] in the Philippines.

Or, for your convenience, get your PSA-certified birth certificate online via the PSA Serbilis website or PSAHelpline.ph. Bank check this guide on how to become a nascence certificate from the PSA.

Alternatively, you may get a certified true copy of your birth certificate from the local civil registrar's office in the city hall or municipal hall that has jurisdiction over your birthplace. The certified true copy is accepted for the marriage license awarding.

Pace 2: Asking a CENOMAR

marriage contract in the philippines - get your CENOMAR

What is CENOMAR?

CENOMAR stands for Document of No Union Record. Every bit the name implies, this legal certificate certifies that a person has never been married.

Individually, you and your partner must secure a CENOMAR from the PSA. But if one or both of you are widowed, you lot need to become a death certificate of the deceased spouse (also from the PSA) instead of a CENOMAR.

What are the CENOMAR Requirements?

No documents are required to apply for a CENOMAR. Simply go it via the PSA Serbilis website or PSAHelpline.ph as you would when getting a birth certificate.

When requesting a CENOMAR online, you'll be asked to provide the following data:

  • Your full name, nascency date, birthplace, and address
  • Father'southward full name
  • Mother'due south total maiden name
  • Number of copies requested
  • Purpose of the certification i.e., marriage

How Much is the CENOMAR Fee?

The amount you'll have to pay depends on where you'll become a CENOMAR from. Getting this document online is more expensive because you lot'll exist paying for convenience.

  • PSA Serbilis Eye – PHP 210
  • PSA Serbilis website – PHP 430
  • PSAHelpline.ph – PHP 465

What'south the CENOMAR Validity?

A CENOMAR is valid for six months from the engagement of upshot. Thus, secure this certificate within six months or less before your wedding engagement.

Stride three: Get a Cedula

Become to the barangay hall, city hall, or municipal hall in the place where you or your fiancé lives to get a cedula.

A cedula, besides called residence certificate or community tax document, is 1 of the marriage license requirements to get married in the Philippines. Information technology proves that the bride, groom, or both are resident/s of the city or town. Getting a cedula is but quick and like shooting fish in a barrel with a minimal fee.

Stride iv: Apply for a Marriage License

What is a Union License?

A marriage license is a legal document verifying that a couple is eligible to marry. It's an of import requirement for either a civil or church wedding in the Philippines.

What are the Requirements for Marriage License?

Prepare the original re-create and photocopy of the post-obit documents from each of the couple:

  • Original or certified true copy of nascency certificate/baptismal certificate
  • CENOMAR
  • Community tax certificate (cedula)
  • Recent 1 10 one ID photo of both applicants
  • Achieved wedlock license application form

For special cases, the couple must submit an additional requirement:

  • Bride and/or groom aged 18 to 20: Affidavit of parental consent
  • Bride and/or groom aged 21 to 25: Affirmation of parental advice
  • Widowed: Death document of the deceased spouse (instead of the birth/baptismal certificate)
  • Annulled previous marriage: Court decision and decree of accented certitude (instead of the nascency/baptismal document)
  • Divorced: Final prescript of accented divorce (instead of the birth/baptismal document)
  • Foreigners: Valid passport and Document of Legal Chapters to Contract Marriage or any equivalent document issued by a foreign embassy in the Philippines (instead of the birth/baptismal certificate and CENOMAR)

How to Use for a Spousal relationship License in the Philippines

When you've secured all the requirements, y'all and your partner should personally use for the wedlock license together.

  1. Visit the local civil registrar (LCR) office in the metropolis or municipality where you or your partner reside.
  2. Submit the marriage license requirements. The designated officer will check and evaluate the documents.
  3. Pay the matrimony license fee to the treasury or treasurer'due south office. Nowadays the official receipt to the LCR officer.
  4. Fill out four copies of the wedlock license application grade provided by the LCR part. Make sure to attain the bride's and groom'due south information sections correctly and completely.
  5. Nourish the required pre-marriage counseling and family planning seminars. This tin exist held on the aforementioned day every bit your marriage license application within the city or municipal hall circuitous.
  6. Get your Certificate of Omnipresence and submit information technology to the LCR function.
  7. After ten days, return to the LCR office and claim your marriage license. Two copies volition be issued—one for your personal copy and another one that you'll give to your solemnizing officer.

How Much is the Wedlock License Fee?

The cost of a marriage license varies per urban center or municipal hall, but it ranges from PHP 280 to PHP 352.

Inquire nigh any additional fees as well. For case, in Quezon City, couples must pay PHP 50 for the application form and PHP 100 filing fee in add-on to the union license fee of PHP 100.[iii]

What is the Matrimony License Validity?

A marriage license is valid anywhere in the Philippines for 120 days from the date of effect. If you don't utilise it within that period, the expired marriage license is considered canceled.

Marriage License Tips to Remember

  • Don't employ for a matrimony license too early on or besides late so that it'due south still valid on your wedding twenty-four hour period.
  • Have a leave of absence from work and arrive early. Authorities offices are open but from 8 a.chiliad. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and the entire procedure of getting this certificate (including the required seminars) might take a whole day.
  • Refer to your nascence document to find your mother's correct maiden proper noun.
  • Assign an authorized representative to claim the wedlock license on your behalf if you tin't pick it up due to a busy schedule. Your representative should present your authorization alphabetic character and valid ID to the LCR office.

Pace v: Book an Officiant

marriage contract in the philippines - book an officiant

In one case you lot secure a matrimony license, detect a solemnizing officer who will officiate your wedding ceremony. Any of the following people are authorized to solemnize weddings in the Philippines:

  • Priests, rabbis, or ministers of whatever registered church or religion in the Philippines
  • Municipal judges, judges of the Courts of Offset Instance, Presiding Justice and the Justices of the Courtroom of Appeals, or Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court
  • City or municipal mayors

Book an date with your chosen wedding officiant. Before your wedding rites, you'll take to meet with your officiant and provide him a re-create of your marriage license.

Stride 6: Invite Your Witnesses

At least two witnesses of legal age (18 years former and above) are required of anyone who will marry in the Philippines. Exist sure that all your invited witnesses are available on your wedding date and are informed of the wedding details.

Tip: Have dorsum-upwardly witnesses just in case the ones y'all initially invited all of a sudden get unavailable on your wedding day.

Step 7: Go Married

marriage contract in the philippines - get married

In one case you've completed all the legal requirements for matrimony, you tin already get married!

On your wedding mean solar day, show up, say your "I do," and sign the wedlock contract. Your officiant and witnesses will as well have to sign your marriage certificate in the Philippines.

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Step 8: Get Your Wedlock Certificate

how to get marriage contract in the philippines

Now that y'all've been alleged husband and married woman, the only thing left to do is to obtain your marriage certificate.

Within 15 days after you get married, your solemnizing officer submits the four copies of your marriage contract to the LCR office in the city or municipality where your wedding took place.

Where and How to Get Wedlock Contract in the Philippines

You may get two kinds of copies of union document: a certified truthful copy from the urban center or municipal hall and an authenticated re-create from the PSA.

How to Get Matrimony Contract from the Local Civil Registry:

  1. Present your valid ID
  2. Fill out a wedlock contract application grade
  3. Pay a fee (the toll varies per LCR office).

Your certified true re-create of matrimony certificate may be issued within the day, or a week subsequently if y'all adopt it in security paper (SECPA).

If y'all tin can't personally claim your wedlock certificate, you can assign a representative to pick information technology up for you. The representative must present your potency letter, your valid ID, and his/her valid ID.

How to Become Marriage Contract from the PSA

Y'all can get your PSA-certified marriage certificate online via the PSA Serbilis website or PSAHelpline.ph. When requesting for this certificate, you'll exist asked to provide the following details:

  • Husband'due south full name
  • Wife'south full proper noun
  • Date of marriage
  • Place of marriage
  • Requestor's address
  • Number of copies requested
  • Purpose of getting a marriage certificate

Related article: Should Y'all Merge Your Finances After Marriage?

FAQs on Getting Married in the Philippines

1. What is the difference between a marriage license vs matrimony certificate?

marriage contract in the philippines - marriage license vs marriage certificate

A marriage license is what you lot get before getting married. Having this document doesn't mean yous're officially married man and wife. It only authorizes you lot and your soonhoped-for-spouse to marry anywhere in the Philippines, and so it's like the approval of your application for marriage.

On the other hand, a wedlock certificate is what yous get after getting married. This certificate is proof that your partner is your legal spouse and that your spousal relationship took place legally. It as well contains the important details of your wedding ceremony such as the date and place.

In the Philippines, a marriage contract is merely another term used when referring to the marriage certificate.

2. Can nosotros go married in a different place from where we got our marriage license?

Some couples wrongly assume that a spousal relationship license is valid only in the city or municipality where it was issued. Withal, Article 20 of the Family unit Code of the Philippines clearly states that the certificate is "valid in whatever part of the Philippines." This means if you got a marriage license in Cebu, you can marry in Manila or anywhere in the country, as long as it's used within the 120-day validity menses.

3. Tin can two foreigners go married in the Philippines?

Yes. Some other common myth about getting married in the Philippines is that one of the soon-to-weds must exist a Filipino citizen. The Family unit Code doesn't prohibit ii foreign citizens from holding their hymeneals in the Philippines, as long equally they meet the legal requirements for matrimony in the state.

4. How tin can a foreigner go married in the Philippines?

marriage contract in the philippines - how foreigners can marry

The general procedure of getting married in the Philippines is quite the same for Filipinos and foreigners.

The biggest deviation is that foreign citizens are required to submit a Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage (instead of a birth certificate and CENOMAR) when they utilize for a marriage license. This document confirms that there are no legal impediments to the foreigner who will get married.

Foreigners who wish to ally in the Philippines should get this certification from their habitation country's embassy or consular role.

The application process and requirements for the Certificate of Legal Chapters to Ally vary per country, so it's all-time to contact the local diplomatic mission to know the specifics. To find the contact information of your home country'southward embassy in the Philippines, cheque the Department of Strange Affairs website.[4]

For example, instead of the certification, the U.S. and Chinese embassies in the Philippines issue an Affidavit in Lieu of a Document of Legal Capacity to Contract Wedlock. Meanwhile, the Australian embassy issues a Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage (CNI).

Subsequently getting married in the Philippines, foreigners are also required to get their marriage registered in their home country inside a prescribed period. To do and so, contact the embassy to inquire virtually how to written report your spousal relationship.

5. Can you get married without a marriage license in the Philippines?

Certain kinds of marriages or unions are exempted from providing a marriage license.

Nether Article 34 of the Family unit Code, couples who have been living together as common-constabulary husband and wife for at least five years (before the nuptials engagement) and without any legal impediment for marriage can become married without the need for a marriage license.

The law requires such couples to execute an affidavit stating such facts. As well, the solemnizing officeholder must execute a sworn statement proving that he has verified the qualifications of the parties and constitute no legal impediment to your spousal relationship.

Muslims and members of ethnic communities in the Philippines are besides not required to submit a marriage license, as long as they get married co-ordinate to their customs.

For the full list of matrimony license exemptions, refer to Affiliate 2 (Articles 27 to 34) of the Family Code.

6. How many copies of CENOMAR are needed for securing a spousal relationship license?

Y'all have to provide only one original copy and ane photocopy of your CENOMAR, too as those of your partner. Contact the LCR office of your city/municipal hall to verify this requirement.

7. Can I become copies of the marriage document for both my ceremonious and church weddings?

marriage contract in the philippines - church wedding

According to the PSA,[5] the first registered marriage is the ane considered valid. For instance, if you had a civil wedding first before you lot married in a church, and then the PSA will result the union contract that was registered commencement at the local civil registrar.

On the other hand, if yous had a church wedding without a ceremonious nuptials beforehand, the union is notwithstanding recognized as legal in the Philippines. The marriage document y'all'll get from the PSA is the one you signed during your church building rites.

viii. How long does it take before I go the wedlock certificate after our wedding in the Philippines?

Effectually v to x working days after the officiant registered your spousal relationship, you tin can go a certified true copy of your marriage certificate at the LCR function.

A PSA-certified marriage certificate in the Philippines takes longer to procedure than the LCR-issued certificate. The actual processing time depends on how fast the LCR transmits your marriage contract to the PSA. Wait for at to the lowest degree 2 to three months for your wedlock certificate to become bachelor at the PSA.

Last Thoughts

This guide is not a form of expert legal advice. Information technology's merely meant to provide general guidelines on how to get married, including how to get a wedlock contract in the Philippines, so that you know what to expect. Y'all and your partner are primarily responsible for ensuring your compliance with the legal requirements for marriage in the country.

Come across besides: I Love You, Goodbye: The Cost of Disparateness in the Philippines

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Sources:

  • [ane] Family unit Code of the Philippines (Official Gazette)
  • [2] PSA Serbilis Centers
  • [iii] How to Get a Matrimony License (Quezon City Government official website)
  • [four] List of Foreign Embassies in the Philippines, DFA website
  • [v] PSA Serbilis FAQs