Getting married in the Philippines is no easy task. It takes a bit of time, and a bit of planning. Your wife to be might have to do a bit of leg work as well. Don't think that you can just go to the Philippines, fall in love, and get married in one easy shot. The reality is, marriage is taken very seriously there...and with no divorce law in place, the process takes a bit of time.
So first off, if your girlfriend is currently married, this might cause some issues. First, her only option is to get an annulment. I don't know much about this process, but from my understanding, it is not always easy or successful. So if she has been previously married, she needs this first, before you can continue. No way to get around this. It's the law. There is NO divorce there.
Ok, to make the process a little easier, I will tell you one of the things we did to help ourselves out. On one of my trips, we got the application for our CENOMAR. You both need one to get married. CENOMAR is Certificate of No Marriage. It takes a few weeks to get, so I filled out my application on a previous trip, and a few months before I arrived to have our wedding, my wife submitted my and her application. This way, when I arrived, we already had it, rather than wait the few weeks to getting it after I arrived. The CENOMAR states that you have never been previously married in the Philippines. If you have been married before in the Philippines, I am not sure the route to take to get married.
Ok, now you have to decide...civil wedding or church wedding. And before you say church wedding, I will ask...have you been married before, and are divorced? The Catholic Church does not look highly on divorce. This is where her doing the leg work comes in to play...or you can help her while you are there on a trip before you get married. Will the church allow you to get married? This does not prevent you from a civil wedding. The church might give you a hard time. In my case, I needed a letter from a church in Canada stating that they recognized my divorce. I was Protestant. I say was, because before we got married, I converted. I don't know if that is a necessary choice...it was a personal choice for me. So, provide whatever the church wants to make them happy, if a church wedding is the route you are going.
Now, before your trip to go get married, you will need to plan to be in the Philippines for two to three weeks before the actual wedding takes place. Before you head to the Philippines on that trip, make sure you have all your documents. A divorce certificate or death certificate is mandatory of your previous marriage. So, your first step..other than the CENOMAR, is to stop at the embassy in Manila of your country. You will need to obtain a certificate from your embassy called a Affidavit in Leiu of Certificate of Legal Capacity To Contract Marriage. This is mandatory, and can ONLY be obtained at your countries embassy in the Philippines. To make it easier, go to the web page of your countries Embassy, and look what their requirements are. From what I understand, different countries have different rules. When I went to the Canadian Embassy in Manila, the process took about 10 minutes. We went first thing in the morning.
Ok, so certificate in hand, and CENOMAR also in hand, you need to go to the city hall of the city that you will be getting married in. If your lady has done some earlier planning, this next step can already be pre planned. You will need to go through PMC...or Pre Marriage Counselling. It is mandatory. If you get married in the church, they will also have mandatory counselling. If she can get you booked in, then it can be better planned for when you are there, rather than trying to book it after you arrive, and risk no classes being offered when you need it done.
After you have gone through these steps, you take every single document you have, including divorce or death certificates, if that applies to your situation, proof of your PMC...proof of your church's Pre Cana (Pre marriage counselling) if you are going the church route, and take it all to the city hall to apply for a marriage licence. If they are satisfied that everything is in order, they will start that process. Bad news...it takes 10 days to get your marriage licence once city hall starts their process.
After 10 days, you can pick up your marriage licence and either take it to the church, or to wherever you are getting married. You can now legally get married in the Philippines. It's a long process, but it can get accomplished. Good luck, and enjoy your wedding day.
