# Filipina Getting A Divorce



## totalguy (Jun 11, 2018)

so im in a bit of a situation here i got divorced from my filipina wife for reasons she was demanding money and we argued a lot caused me a lot of anxiety stress and depression so i divorced her here in the uk i realise now i cannot marry again in the Philippines but i have divorced her here. 

now i have a girlfriend also filipina (1 year on) we are in a relationship but there is potentially future problems for getting married. we arent going to be rushing into marriage thats for sure but we need to plan a future if its possible so we have to look deep into things of course. 

she is married herself to a guy in the Philippines they are both from there. we also have checked if the marriage was fake and its not (i had to check the same myself so i knew the process to check) she has been split with no contact from him for 2 years we looked at annulment and that seems expensive but its one option so we cannot rule anything out. but is there another way? i would like here to come eventually to live here and maybe in a few years marry her but this is a potential problem 

ive no idea about this sort of thing but im guessing here and i want to check if this is possible could she get a divorce here on grounds of 2 year separation? or another reason? i realise she would still be married in the Philippines but if she can do that she could marry here maybe?

if thats not possible what other options do we have to be together here in the uk? 

this information may also help so you know my situation too. i am considered disabled im on disability benefits as well so i obviously looked into a spouse visa before with my wife i divorced but we didnt get as far as getting her here. anyway i qualify for what they call adequate maintenance which i only need to have £114 a week for a spouse to support them here i do not need to have the 18 thousand a year earnings. 

im not sure if there is another way to get her here to stay i didnt look into other options before so im trying to find out what options we have.

thank you in advance


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## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

Your divorce will be recognized here. A local and a foreigner getting divorced outside of the Philippines is a recognized divorce here.
_
"In the case of Marelyn Tanedo Manalo, the court noted Article 26 (2) of the Family Code which provides that "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 likewise have the capacity to remarry under Philippine law."_

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/24/18/supreme-court-says-foreign-divorce-valid-in-ph

This has since been extended to cases where the Philippine spouse initiates the divorce abroad.

https://lawyerphilippines.org/2017/04/11/recognition-of-foreign-divorce-in-the-philippines-process/

However there is still no divorce for two locals who marry. There are only two ways a local can remarry, one if is the first spouse is dead the other is if the marriage is annulled. Lots of discussions here on how long and expensive and unsure that process can be locally.

Not sure about a UK divorce. I know in my province of Manitoba Canada that at least one spouse has to be a provincial resident for a year to petition for divorce, the other spouse does not need to live in the province. Two Philippians divorcing would not be recognized here opening the possibility of a bigamy charge if you remarried and she ever returned to the Philippines.

One option would be to have her acquire UK citizenship. Then she would be the foreign spouse filling for divorce and that would be recognized here. She would also be renouncing her Philippine citizenship on acquiring UK citizenship. 

She could reclaim it but that might impact the recognition of the UK divorce locally. It could very likely become a landmark case in local family law. The outcome would depend in large part on how liberal or conservative the judge is in divorce issues.

If you go this route, I'd suggest that she never reclaim her Philippine citizenship. If you come back here to live then she would come on one of the options open to UK citizens to live here long term. Any children would not have Philippine citizenship unless she reclaims hers prior to the birth..

I'd also suggest getting some professional legal advice and not just proceeding on the posts of random strangers on the internet.


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## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

I did some further reading

https://deborjalaw.com/recognition-of-foreign-divorce/


States that the divorce would be valid if your wife became a UK citizen. The divorce would then need to be registered here to be considered valid here.


No word on what would happen if your wife reclaimed citizenship after the registration but I would think a good argument could be made that once the divorce was registered here and recognized subsequent acts would not in do the validity of the divorce and local recognition.

But again I'm not a Philippine family law lawyer, not a lawyer of any sort for that matter, get professional advice on this.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Two big problems, one getting her into the UK in the furst place, and second the years and cost of obtaining UK citizenshio. An annulment would probably be cheaper and quicker.


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## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

First thing I'd do is get your UK divorce registered here and get judicial recognition of the divorce, then you are free to remary once the girls issues are resolved.

Basically no divorce here.
Annulment is a long and costly process with no guarantee that it will ever be granted.

There is a divorce law under consideration but it has not passed the lawmakers, best thing that they could do in this regard is to open up the grounds of anulment, perhaps making it into a divorce in all but name. That might satisfy the religious conservatives and allow the people whose marriages have fallen apart to move on with their lives.

I will also advise you to take a look at the local adultery laws here. If the husband ever comes back into the picture he can make a lot of trouble for both you and your girl.


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## totalguy (Jun 11, 2018)

Manitoba said:


> First thing I'd do is get your UK divorce registered here and get judicial recognition of the divorce, then you are free to remary once the girls issues are resolved.
> 
> Basically no divorce here.
> Annulment is a long and costly process with no guarantee that it will ever be granted.
> ...


thanks for the replies it has been quite useful. 

ok so if she becomes a uk citizen then she can divorce from here but how can we get her to be a uk citizen if i cant marry her. 

what does "renouncing her Philippine citizenship" actually mean for her? my question is can she visit the Philippines again how would that work? 

i hope my eventual plan is to buy property out there and rent it out and also goto stay there some times so i wonder what would the situation be with that. 

i doubt her husband will come back into the picture to be honest from what she told me


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## totalguy (Jun 11, 2018)

Gary D said:


> Two big problems, one getting her into the UK in the furst place, and second the years and cost of obtaining UK citizenshio. An annulment would probably be cheaper and quicker.


i realise it will cost to get her into the uk. she is hard working so we would look at her working here. ok no guaranteed job i know but she is willing to work hard. 

getting her in the uk without a fiancée visa or spouse may be an issue i dont know how any of the other ways work


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## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

I don't know UK immigration law but as soon as she takes a second citizenship she is considered to have renounced her Philippine one. Regaining it is an easy process, all she has to do is go to an Embassy and request it back. I imagine some forms to fill in but not much else.

Until she reclaims it she is a UK citizen just like you, she would have to enter the Philippines on a tourist visa, register her divorce and get judicial recognition and then immediately reclaim her Philippine citizenship

I am no expert on this, I am just giving you some options to explore further, you really need some legal advice from someone who knows the law and regulations in this matter and who will have all the facts, not just a few paragraphs that you had in the OP.

Safest and cheapest way to get what you want is to register your divorce here and apply for the annulment. Assuming you get the annulment then there will be no legal pitfalls or new ground to trap you. Remember it was only a few months ago by a 10-3 decision that the ability for a Philippine spouse to initiate the foreign divorce and have it recognized. Prior to that it was only if the foreign spouse initiated the divorce. 

One question you should answer for yourself is why you want to remarry? Lots of couples here living together not married or married to someone else.

It is not legally adultery if the spouse gives permission, just pay the guy a few thousand p to sign away his ability to charge you with adultery and no need to remarry unless you have strong feelings about it. You can grant her property rights etc to ensure that she will be OK when you are gone. (You never said anything about ages but I assuming that you are older than her as that is the most common situation.)


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## totalguy (Jun 11, 2018)

i figured we would have to get married at some point for her to stay here but its not essential i mean if there is another way to get here without that i can look into it but those are the only ways i know so far fiance visa and spouse visa. i dont know anything about the other ones.

my divorce i got the papers for it and sent my ex hers i got it all processed here to save hassle she agreed to it and it was easier for me to sort it all out and just got her to sign what she needed to sign. 

maybe i should ask another question here about how to get a partner here without marriage? 

she is 30 im 40 not a big gap i wouldnt want to date someone younger way too much of an age gap. 

thing is i need to figure all this stuff out before we go much further, if i have my way this will be the last relationship i have and she wants exactly the same as well. what we want to do is get her here to stay she is hard working and wants to work and we can build a future together i got idea's and plans for that but thats getting way too far ahead we need to get through all this stuff first somehow


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

British citizenship takes 5-6 years for a non spouse and about 100,000 pesos. Getting her into the UK as a non spouse or fiancee would be extremely difficult if at all possible. About the only way would to be sponsored by a company.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

From reading this thread, there is no way for the Filipina to enter and live in the UK unless as spouse or fiance of UK resident OR she enters with a work visa from a sponsoring company. Sponsoring companies are looking for qualified, experienced, skilled people in order to be able to apply for a Tier 2 visa.

As the Filipina is still married then she is not eligible for spouse or fiance visa until such time as she obtains a divorce or annulment.

People can only apply for citizenship after residing in the UK for 5 years.


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## totalguy (Jun 11, 2018)

well spouse visa takes 5 years until you can apply for permanent residency anyway.

dont know any companies


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## totalguy (Jun 11, 2018)

Crawford said:


> From reading this thread, there is no way for the Filipina to enter and live in the UK unless as spouse or fiance of UK resident OR she enters with a work visa from a sponsoring company. Sponsoring companies are looking for qualified, experienced, skilled people in order to be able to apply for a Tier 2 visa.
> 
> As the Filipina is still married then she is not eligible for spouse or fiance visa until such time as she obtains a divorce or annulment.
> 
> People can only apply for citizenship after residing in the UK for 5 years.


so theres no way then  dont think she qualifies for an annulment from what i read about the reasons. plus its like 3 grand or so. divorce no chance in the Philippines


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## Diosa (Oct 27, 2018)

hi firstly getting your G/F to the UK will be very hard second you say about getting house in PH for you my friend it is a no no your G/f needs to keep PH citizenship or you will not be able to buy any land or house.At this time the only way is for her to get annulment long job but only way.I was in PH for 4+ years until typhoon destroyed everything i am back in the UK working to send money to my wife so we can rebuild i was unable to get my wife of 4+ years into the UK she is a teacher best of luck to you


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## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

totalguy said:


> .......
> maybe i should ask another question here about how to get a partner here without marriage?
> 
> ......


Lots of unmarried people living together here. Not at all uncommon once a marriage breaks down since annulment is difficult and divorce impossible.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Manitoba said:


> Lots of unmarried people living together here. Not at all uncommon once a marriage breaks down since annulment is difficult and divorce impossible.


If by 'here' you mean the Philippines, then that is an option for the poster to move to the Philippines.

It is *not *an option for the Filipina to enter the UK.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Crawford said:


> If by 'here' you mean the Philippines, then that is an option for the poster to move to the Philippines.
> 
> It is *not *an option for the Filipina to enter the UK.


The Op is young so would he need to work, opens a whole new barrel of worms.


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## Zep (Jun 8, 2017)

totalguy said:


> if thats not possible what other options do we have to be together here in the uk?
> 
> thank you in advance


Only option I see for her to go to the UK is for you to pay for her annulment in the PI and then marry her in the PI. Probably looking at 200,000p and 2 years for the annulment and then marry her and wait (5 years?) to move her to the UK.

That's along time and anything might happen along the way.


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## totalguy (Jun 11, 2018)

Diosa said:


> hi firstly getting your G/F to the UK will be very hard second you say about getting house in PH for you my friend it is a no no your G/f needs to keep PH citizenship or you will not be able to buy any land or house.At this time the only way is for her to get annulment long job but only way.I was in PH for 4+ years until typhoon destroyed everything i am back in the UK working to send money to my wife so we can rebuild i was unable to get my wife of 4+ years into the UK she is a teacher best of luck to you


she can get it back easily afterwards im not bothered about that part right now though 

why cant you get your wife to the uk? what is the problem?


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## totalguy (Jun 11, 2018)

Zep said:


> Only option I see for her to go to the UK is for you to pay for her annulment in the PI and then marry her in the PI. Probably looking at 200,000p and 2 years for the annulment and then marry her and wait (5 years?) to move her to the UK.
> 
> That's along time and anything might happen along the way.


she doesnt qualify for any of the annulment reasons! plus even if she did i wouldnt marry in the phillipines again thats just stupid. also why would i wait 5 years to get her here? she could come here on a spouse visa if i marry her or on a fiance visa if i was going to get her here first. 

but anyway none of this matters now because she cannot get an annulment


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## Zep (Jun 8, 2017)

totalguy said:


> but anyway none of this matters now because she cannot get an annulment


Anything is possible here with money. I was quoted 200,000p to get my niece annulled from her husband and he does not want the divorce. Imagine it is easier if he does want it.


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## totalguy (Jun 11, 2018)

Zep said:


> Anything is possible here with money. I was quoted 200,000p to get my niece annulled from her husband and he does not want the divorce. Imagine it is easier if he does want it.


yeah if you got money things are possible. if i had a lot of money i could probably sponsor her to come here


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## Diosa (Oct 27, 2018)

Hi
There is problems with any person who wants to come to the Uk on visa first there is the £20,000
earnings you need to have then the amount you have to have in bank account here can be as much as £73,000 plus place to live the list goes on. A friend who is English Philippine wife 20 years live in Germany she need visit visa to go to UK but has been turned down several times Now they spend 6 months in PH and 6 months in Germany and do not go to the UK and thats before Britex


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## totalguy (Jun 11, 2018)

Diosa said:


> Hi
> There is problems with any person who wants to come to the Uk on visa first there is the £20,000
> earnings you need to have then the amount you have to have in bank account here can be as much as £73,000 plus place to live the list goes on. A friend who is English Philippine wife 20 years live in Germany she need visit visa to go to UK but has been turned down several times Now they spend 6 months in PH and 6 months in Germany and do not go to the UK and thats before Britex


i dont need to have that because i am disabled all i need is adequate maintainance of £114 per week its different for me thankfully. because otherwise there would be no way at all. its bloody ridiculous though that you have to have that much! i mean look at people on job seekers or universal credit they get less than 10 thousand a year! you should have to have less money they should lower it to atleast 15,000 or maybe even less!


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

totalguy said:


> i dont need to have that because i am disabled all i need is adequate maintainance of £114 per week its different for me thankfully. because otherwise there would be no way at all. its bloody ridiculous though that you have to have that much! i mean look at people on job seekers or universal credit they get less than 10 thousand a year! you should have to have less money they should lower it to atleast 15,000 or maybe even less!


Don't be ridiculous ... people who want to sponsor other folks into the UK should at least be able to support them, without being able to apply for benefits. Hence the 18,600 GBP minimum.


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## mogo51 (Jun 11, 2011)

I was going to comment on this, but it has been through the washing machine many time on all forums, but I am bemused that the OP is looking at marrying a 2nd time, you would have though once was enough here!!!


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

Very difficult to make a silk purse out of a sows ear, perhaps like "being caught between a rock and hard place", sometimes there are no easy answers and definitely will cost,,,,,,, sad as it is.

Cheers, Steve.


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## Nickleback99 (Aug 6, 2011)

I'm frankly dumbfounded. With all the wonderful Available SINGLE and Never Married Filipinas out there, my question falls back to a simple one? ... What are you thinking and Why are you wasting your time and potentially your $$$$ to even do this? Makes no sense. Seems to me with her still married and all the entanglements and traps that poses, you are simply asking for trouble with no need to even do so. My only suggestion is Move On!


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## sleepless_in_pi (Dec 8, 2018)

Manitoba said:


> Your divorce will be recognized here. A local and a foreigner getting divorced outside of the Philippines is a recognized divorce here.
> _
> "In the case of Marelyn Tanedo Manalo, the court noted Article 26 (2) of the Family Code which provides that "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 likewise have the capacity to remarry under Philippine law."_
> 
> ...


Terrible idea. The lawyers here, surprise, are corrupt. They will drag the simplest case on for YEARS, just so you keep paying them. And they will rip you off and scam you as well. My wife's cousin had an attorney help her get a passport to go abroad. Took over 10 years! Just for a passport. You can get one in a few hours on your own.


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## sleepless_in_pi (Dec 8, 2018)

Nickleback99 said:


> I'm frankly dumbfounded. With all the wonderful Available SINGLE and Never Married Filipinas out there, my question falls back to a simple one? ... What are you thinking and Why are you wasting your time and potentially your $$$$ to even do this? Makes no sense. Seems to me with her still married and all the entanglements and traps that poses, you are simply asking for trouble with no need to even do so. My only suggestion is Move On!


Agreed. I would say Filipino women are a dime a dozen, but that would be putting too high a value on them. There are virtually an unlimited supply of women and girls here, if one were looking. Never understood why men go after 35 year old, worn out prostitutes with 8 kids. You could have young single girls anywhere any time.


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

sleepless_in_pi said:


> Agreed. I would say Filipino women are a dime a dozen, but that would be putting too high a value on them. There are virtually an unlimited supply of women and girls here, if one were looking. Never understood why men go after 35 year old, worn out prostitutes with 8 kids. You could have young single girls anywhere any time.


Is that where your 8 children came from? Only asking with the way you presented this reply.
There are plenty of decent women out there in all age brackets and saying Pinays are a dime a dozen is insulting to say the least. OMO.

Cheers, Steve.


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## sleepless_in_pi (Dec 8, 2018)

bigpearl said:


> Is that where your 8 children came from? Only asking with the way you presented this reply.
> There are plenty of decent women out there in all age brackets and saying Pinays are a dime a dozen is insulting to say the least. OMO.
> 
> Cheers, Steve.


You should come to the Philippines sometime and check it out!


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

sleepless_in_pi said:


> You should come to the Philippines sometime and check it out!


Perhaps I should "come here sometime" and perhaps you should research some/all of the contributors on this site before suggesting you know it all, especially the ones that have the decency to respond to your posts, and yes while I have only spent 3 odd years in the last 8 living, working and visiting PH. I feel confident with my decision to relocate, positive in fact, definitely not negative as some are here.
A simple scenario. I am not happy living in Australia as it is far too expensive and our family is living in PH. Hence the move but hey, like most here I will not have to work in PH. as I as many others sorted their finances to not work and live on PHP 10K a month. If in 1, 5 or 10 years we are not happy then we move on.

Cheer, Steve.


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## lawyer128 (Aug 14, 2018)

You do not need to get your divorce recognized here before you can remarry in the Philippines. The Philippines is governed by Nationality Rule and our jurisdiction respect your legal status as adjudicated by the laws of your country. Meaning, if you are legally divorced in UK capacitating you to remarry that means you may validly contract a second marriage in the Philippines. Thus, notwithstanding the fact that your first marriage was with a Filipino national and the marriage was celebrated in the country. All you need is to show the Local Civil Registrar a document from your Embassy showing that you have the legal capacity to enter into a marriage in addition to your Certificate of Live Birth.

Your current girlfriend however, being a Filipino national, is another story. She needs a to get a judicial declaration of nullity of her first marriage first before she can validly remarry within the Philippine jurisdiction. The annulment process usually takes 2-3 years before the court renders a decision. The process is commenced by a psychological evaluation of the parties and two witnesses by a licensed psychiatrist. Attorney's fee ranges from P200,000 to P350,00 depending on the professional experience of the lawyer. Do not believe anyone who comes to you and tells you that he/she can get an annulment for her for a shorter period of time. It's a scam! 

Hope this helps. All the best!


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## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

lawyer128 said:


> ..... The annulment process usually takes 2-3 years before the court renders a decision. The process is commenced by a psychological evaluation of the parties and two witnesses by a licensed psychiatrist. Attorney's fee ranges from P200,000 to P350,00 depending on the professional experience of the lawyer. Do not believe anyone who comes to you and tells you that he/she can get an annulment for her for a shorter period of time. It's a scam!
> 
> Hope this helps. All the best!


And the court decision is not a slam dunk. In the west if you have the grounds for a divorce and have the financial issues settled and child care issues settled the court will ALWAYS grant the divorce. In many places if you do not settle then a formula is applied to the assets and child care expenses and that if forced upon the parties.

Here even after jumping through all the hoops, paying the lawyers and other experts, the final decision can easily be no annulment.


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## lawyer128 (Aug 14, 2018)

Manitoba said:


> And the court decision is not a slam dunk. In the west if you have the grounds for a divorce and have the financial issues settled and child care issues settled the court will ALWAYS grant the divorce. In many places if you do not settle then a formula is applied to the assets and child care expenses and that is forced upon the parties.
> 
> Here even after jumping through all the hoops, paying the lawyers and other experts, the final decision can easily be no annulment.


Based on Statistics from Office of the Solicitor General and the Supreme Court, the percentage of those cases where the court denied or dismissed the Petition for Annulment of Marriage is actually less than 5%. As long as you can prove that one of the parties is psychologically incapacitated to fulfill the essential marital obligation and such incapacity is deeply rooted and is existing before the marriage although it only became manifest after the marriage, then there is no reason that the court will deny the petition. It is not as handy as getting a divorce, but it is what it is.


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