# Docs required for marraige?



## 88lance (6 mo ago)

Hello, new here, not sure if this is in the right section, feel free to relocate if necessary.

American, was married in the US for 4 years to another American, divorced 2015. 
I received the divorce papers and the agreement, and all signed papers. After the Divorce I never received a paper saying it was finalized. (Decree, I guess?)
I called the courthouse (it's in another state) and they confirmed it was finalized, and this was re-assured by my ex getting remarried. So the divorce is definitely finalized, but all I have is my original signed papers about us getting divorced and our agreements. They never sent anything else.
When I get married here in PH, (PH citizen) what will be required for me to officially get married? Will the paperwork I have be enough, or do I need to get an actual finalization paper?


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## Kalbo832 (7 mo ago)

I got married in 2018, I was divorced they wanted the divorce decree with the raised seal on the paper if your state has these. Some states do not use a raised seal from what I understand. You should be able to go to the county courthouse and request a copy, going in person you can get it the same day normally. Doing it via mail could take 10 to 30 business days, I am relocating to the Philippines and I recently requested an extra copy of mine just in case it's been 20 business days. They requested a copy of my birth certificate which I did not have I only had my passport, divorce decree, affidavit from the consulate in Cebu. You will also need a record of no marriage from the Philippines Statistics Authority, this is a recent addiction there are expats getting married where they had records of marriage that were not cleared via the court system. As long as you got married outside of the Philippines, the record of marriage does not need to be cleared by the Philippine court system. At least this is what the attorney I consulted confirmed, since I was married to a Filipina previously we got married in the USA fortunately.

Your biggest pain will be getting your PSA record of no marriage, you will have to get this yourself your fiancé will not be able to get this for you.

There is an update to all of this you no longer need to get the affidavit from the US Embassy or US consulate any longer as of 2021.









Message for U.S. Citizens: Change in Notarization Requirements for Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage, April 6, 2021







ph.usembassy.gov


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

88lance said:


> Hello, new here, not sure if this is in the right section, feel free to relocate if necessary.
> 
> American, was married in the US for 4 years to another American, divorced 2015.
> I received the divorce papers and the agreement, and all signed papers. After the Divorce I never received a paper saying it was finalized. (Decree, I guess?)
> ...


Welcome to the forum Lance! Always know this... everything has to be original documents with a seal or stamp and you can get that from that court house or records division of that state and probably through the mail system also.

So once again all documents related to birth, divorce, marriage, etc... will have to be original or you're going to have problems, it'll be no fun trying to get these while in the Philippines, and very costly plus who's gonna do the leg work for you.

Good thing you're thinking about all this now before coming here, so you should contact your local Philippine Consulate for all documents you will need for immigration before stepping foot in the Philippines for sure you'll need an original copy of your Police Record they call it a Police Clearance here but it's just an original copy of your Police Record for immigration purposes.

Also, another issue many fellow Expats come across is their fiance has already been married, kids even worse, you don't want to deal with that issue because there is no divorce here and so you'll end up living here on a tourist Visa unless you're over 50 years old and can afford to deposit a good chunk of change in a Philippine Bank.

The #! issue our fellow Expats have to focus on is their Immigration status and then after that all the other issues such as how are you going to get your money or have access to your money and a backup plan if that ATM card comes up missing or damaged.

Here's a link for the documents that you will need here for a 13a Visa Usefull link sfor Expats 13a


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## Dten Cfive (8 mo ago)

88lance said:


> Hello, new here, not sure if this is in the right section, feel free to relocate if necessary.
> 
> American, was married in the US for 4 years to another American, divorced 2015.
> I received the divorce papers and the agreement, and all signed papers. After the Divorce I never received a paper saying it was finalized. (Decree, I guess?)
> ...


Print the form, get it notarized locally, all done. You DO NOT need your divorce paperwork, that is what the form is for, ... been there and done that.. and got married.
"
*United States Embassy Manila, Philippines
United States Consular Agency, Cebu Philippines
April 6, 2021*
Effective immediately, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), pursuant to recently issued Memorandum Circular No. 2021-004, will allow local notarization in the Philippines of the “*Affidavit of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage.*”
As a result, U.S. citizens who wish to marry in the Philippines are no longer required to have their affidavits notarized at the Embassy or Consular Agency. Instead, you may have the affidavit notarized locally in the Philippines. We encourage U.S. citizens to have these affidavits notarized locally, as appointments for consular services remain limited at the Embassy and Consular Agency due to the ongoing pandemic. Link to text


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## Kalbo832 (7 mo ago)

Just like any place in the Philippines one government office wants things others do not. If I did not have my divorce papers they would not have allowed us to get married even with the form. It's possible the next town over they wouldn't have asked. Another expat needed his baptismal which we were not required to have fortunately my baptismal was back in the US.


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## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

Kalbo832 said:


> Just like any place in the Philippines one government office wants things others do not. If I did not have my divorce papers they would not have allowed us to get married even with the form. It's possible the next town over they wouldn't have asked. Another expat needed his baptismal which we were not required to have fortunately my baptismal was back in the US.


Great take on things Kalbo and that's what I do also, I get all my ducks in a row and expect the worse and so far when I prepare for the worst it ends up being just that. 

I've talked to several fellow Expats inside either the Main or Satellite offices actually they engaged me into conversation while sitting next to them and they all had bad stories about their papper work or requirments, some were inside filling out there documents so no preparation either.


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