Travelers and ex-pats alike go to the Philippines, but some dive deeper into the country than others. Some of you may have fallen in love with a Filipino(a) local and pursued a romantic relationship.
Eventually, that can lead to marriage and trying to live happily ever after. But one day, you may realize the person you married is not the person you thought they were.
One or both of you may want to dissolve the marriage and file for divorce. But, the Philippine law there is not so simple. In fact, it can be a very complicated process to dissolve a marriage in the Philippines.
If you married a Filipino(a) national and want to separate, here is what you need to know.
There Is NO Divorce
In the Philippines, there is no legal process to file for divorce. The Philippines has a strong religious influence from Catholicism, so divorce is generally frowned upon and looked at as a failure.
The Philippine law then comes down to an annulment process. What the country does let you do is file for an annulment rather than divorce.
In America, this is usually the result of a drunk Vegas marriage in a TV show or a movie. But by the definition, an annulment is recognized as a marriage that never should have been allowed to be pursued in the first place.
But, it can get even more complicated than that, with a two-year case study showing that 82% of couples that filed for annulment had children.
Where You Are Is Important
The Philippines may not believe in processing divorces themselves, but they WILL honor a divorce that was filed abroad and foreign divorce law on their own soil.
If you married a Filipino(a), there is a chance that you took them back to your own country to get married and live rather than living in the Philippines. In that scenario, you do have the option to file for divorce in the country you got married in and maybe living in.
However, getting that divorced recognized in the Philippines may come with its own hurdles. But, it can be done.
The process can take over a year, perhaps a year and a half. The Filipino(a) citizen will need their marriage certificate, documents proving divorce, documents showing your country’s divorce laws, proof of citizenship, and more.
For a more extensive read on the recognition of foreign divorce in the Philippines, click here.
Know the Philippine Law
Divorce is not a fun process. In the Philippines, it can be even worse because the country goes out of its way to make legal marriage separations difficult.
The best thing you can do is to know the Philippine law and what actions that you need to take to make the separation faster and smoother.
Consult with a lawyer in the Philippines who knows all of the ins and outs of the local laws of marriage separation.
