Initial Step
It's very hard to live away from your loved one. I've known my soon-to-be husband since over two years ago. He is from France but is currently working in Martinique Island (French West Indies). We first met personally in 2010 and now we have finally decided to tie the knots this year God willing.
We know that it is not going to be easy to get married to a foreigner. It's not even nearly possible for us to get married in France so we decided to do it here in the Philippines because it's easier but it's not really that easy at all.
We have done the first step on our long vacation at the beginning of this year. We both went to the French embassy which is located at:
16th Floor, Pacific Star Building
Corner Gil Puyat and Makati avenues
1200 Makati City
Thankfully we didn't have to wait for a long time. We waited just a few minutes before my fiancé's name was called. We met the lady in-charged for wedding procedures, Miss Audrey HUI BON HOA-CHAN. She explained to us the wedding procedure. She gave us some forms to fill-out, my fiancé's in French and mine in English.
One of the most important requirements for a wedding with a foreigner is his/her Certificate of Legal Capacity to marry which will be issued by his/her embassy. Miss Chan gave us the list of required documents to compile so that my fiancé will be issued with the said certificate. She advised me to forward the documents personally to her at least three months before our planned wedding date.
These are the following documents required for the Certificate of Legal Capacity to be issued:
For the French National:
- A duly accomplished questionnaire from the embassy
- A recent (less than 3 months) full text of Birth Certificate
- Copy of National Identification card or Certificate of Nationality or Biometric passport
- (If previously married, a court decision of divorce; if widow/er, a certified true copy of death certificate of spouse)
- Proof of residency or copy of consular certificate if applicable
For the Filipino National:
- A duly accomplished questionnaire from the embassy
- Authenticated copy of the full text birth certificate (NSO and DFA)
- Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR) issued by NSO
- Copy of CFO certificate (Commission on Filipino Overseas)
- Proof of residency in the Philippines
- Photocopy of 2 ID cards
- (If previously married, mention of annulment decision on duly authenticated marriage certificate and certified true copy of judgment of marriage annulment; If widow/er, authenticated copy of death certificate of the spouse, Copy of birth certificate of illegitimate children duly authenticated.
My fiancé will compile his documents and I'll do the same for mine and then hopefully we can have everything flowing smoothly.
The rest of the procedures will be posted in the next posts. If this topic interests you, feel free to follow.
Good evening miss .. i just want to ask a questions.. i want to get married here at Philippines with my French Fiance this year but i think it's not easy :( there is a lot's of procedure that will be so hard for me . im just 18 and my fiance is 36 but age is just a number :) im studying french language in Makati since March of this year (Alliance francaise de manille )i can spoke french as well now but not so good because it's really so complicated :D i want totally integrate and treasure France. back on the topic hehehe .. pwede po bang ikasal sa embassy ?? instead of civil wedding here ?? i hope you can answer me .. may pagkashy type kasi ako kaya i don't ask a questions to others .. i really hope to get married here as soon as possible :( i wanna be with him as soon and i can say to my family and friends that he is already my Husband :) merci beaucoup mademoiselle ;)
ReplyDeleteHi!
DeleteI think the consul can officiate a wedding but I suggest that you contact the embassy and address them this question directly. You're still young, don't rush! :)
Hi, I really cannot find answer to our situation. I am a filipina and my fiance is french. I am living in Cambodia for 3 years already. We live together for 2 years and Our work is in Cambodia. But we want to get marry in Philippines because France embassy and philippine embassy do not marry both foreigners in Cambodia :(
ReplyDeleteNow, we do not have tons of free time to stay in Philippines to process whatever requirements they might ask. How can we process our marriage license before december 2016? His Family will fly to Manila for our wedding but we haven't process anything yet. The plan wedding is just civil at the city hall. Another thing, I do not really need a special document to show that I will go to france with my husband after the marriage, we are still going back to cambodia to continue working. And we do not plan yet to go to france. How can this be possible?
Hi,
DeleteApologies for the delayed response, I've been really busy lately. Your situation is indeed particular and challenging. I knew some cases like yours but they indeed up getting married in France instead of the Philippines, i guess it's less time consuming to get married in France but since you're not planning to go to France yet that makes all the difference. Have you inquired the local Cambodian authorities on how to get married in Cambodia following the Cambodian legal system? I mean, celebrating the marriage at a Cambodian city hall or by a Cambodian judge instead of the Philippine or French embassy and then later declaring it to both embassies?
Sorry I can't be of much help but good luck with everything!
Hello po! Ask ko lang po kng ang frencg embassy po ba ppunatahan din po sa haws or sa address kng san ka nakatira? Kasi pano kung pupuntahan ka sa haws katulad po ng bf ko nag rent po kmi sa condo unit kc mas comfortable sya dun kesa mag stay kmi sa haws.
ReplyDeletehi,
DeleteI'm afraid I don't really understand your question. If you'd like to know if the embassy would somehow verify your declared address by physically going there then I'd say "I don't think so". They never went to verify my address anyway. They'll ask you to provide them some papers indicating your address such as electricity/phone bill etc..that's where they'll base the validity of the information I think.
Good day, i do really appreciate all your advice here thank you for this, but can i asked some questions also, me amd my boyfriend (French are in planning to get married after his first vacation of coming here in Philippines but since we're both 23 years old im afraid they might not let us to get married in his second vacations 😭 what should we do please help us give some advice we really need it, because i already searched it also they said a French fiancée must atleast visit here in Philippines 3-4 times before they can let us getting married here and i think its gonna be so complicated since we both wants to get married this year or in his second vacation so we really dont know how to process this .
ReplyDeleteHi!
DeleteI'm glad that you find the blog post helpful. I haven't had much time for a while now so the information I shared haven't been updated. Regarding your situation, I don't think your age can be a hindrance as long as you are able to provide them all the necessary requirements from the beginning (filing of certificate of legal capacity) up to the marriage documents. Inquire about having a "contrat de mariage" too, that way they'll see that you both are serious. That's what we did and the process went on pretty smoothly, initially they told us they'd do another interview upon the release of the LCM but when they learned that we're having a contrat de mariage they skipped the interview and just issued the LCM without any further requirements. Just to set the right expectation, I think it might not be possible to get married upon his first time to visit you unless you already saw each other elsewhere and it's just his first time to visit the Philippines (and I'm just sharing my opinion here I could be wrong). I'm saying this because when you want to apply for an LCM they might require an interview with both of you present (to be sure of the authenticity of your relationship). But on his second vacation it's definitely not impossible as long as you are able to have all the needed documents on both the French and the Philippine authorities.
Best of luck!
Hello Sis, thanks for your blog! I found it really helpful. But meron lang po ako gusto itanong. My fiance and i are planning to get married, pero once nia pa lang nvisit ang pinas since dto nia ako lagi sa dubai pinupuntahan, required b tlaga n kelangan may 3-4 stamp sya ng pinas? Also, regarding sa LCM, pede nia b un personally i apply sa france, then dalhin nia sa pinas pag uwi nia instead of mag apply p kmi sa embassy? I hope you can help me. Thank you
ReplyDeleteHi! Hindi naman yan official requirement ang stamps sa entry sa pinas ang point nyan is to be sure that you've spent time together to get to know each other so kahit hindi sa Pilipinas that's fine. Just show them some proof (photos and exchanged messages na hindi naman masyadong personal). About the LCM as far as I know it has to be filed talaga sa embassy ng lugar kung saan kaayo magpapakasal (given na hindi sa France, if sa France you need to do it at the city hall). Ang process kasi after you've submitted all the required documents the embassy will publish the banns for ten days if walang mag file ng opposition sa kasal nyo they will send the information to your fiancé's city hall in France where the banns will be published again for another ten days and if wala pa ring mag oppose the city hall will send the letter of non-opposition to the embassy who will issue the LCM. It is actually the equivalent to our CENOMAR.
DeleteGood luck!