Marrying a Foreigner in the Philippines: Legal Requirements

The second paragraph covers people without a country to issue it:

Article 21 does not say how a particular embassy or consulate handles this certificate, and this page does not cover it. Ask the foreign partner's embassy or consulate.

The rest is the same as for any couple. See Marriage license requirements for the details. In short:

• Each of you files a sworn application with the local civil registrar of the city or municipality where either of you habitually resides (Articles 9 and 11).
• You show birth or baptismal certificates (Article 12). A partner who was married before shows the death certificate of the late spouse, or the court decree of divorce, annulment or declaration of nullity (Article 13).
• Parental consent applies at 18 to 20 and parental advice at 21 to 25 (Articles 14 and 15), with marriage counseling in those cases (Article 16).
• The notice is posted for 10 days, and the license is then valid for 120 days anywhere in the Philippines (Articles 17 and 20).

Your local civil registrar may ask for more documents than these articles list, so check with that office first.

The officers listed in Article 7: a sitting judge within the court's jurisdiction, or a priest, rabbi, imam or minister registered with the civil registrar general when at least one of you belongs to that church or sect. A marriage without a license, outside the exempt cases, is void (Article 35(3)). See Is a marriage without a license valid?

Usually yes:

The exceptions cover a party below 18, bigamous or polygamous marriages (outside the Article 41 case of a spouse declared presumptively dead), a mistake about the identity of the other party, a later marriage that is void under Article 53, psychological incapacity, and the marriages barred by Articles 37 and 38, such as those between close relatives. A marriage abroad that falls under one of these exceptions is not made valid here by the fact that it was valid where it was celebrated.

Article 10 lets a Philippine consul-general, consul or vice-consul solemnize marriages "between Filipino citizens abroad". The article does not mention a Filipino marrying a foreigner. For embassy and consulate appointments, see Embassy appointment abroad.

This rule does not apply when both spouses are foreigners. It also gives way, for the form of a contract, to the formalities of the country where property abroad is located (Article 80). Without a prenuptial agreement, the default regime is absolute community of property (Article 75). See Absolute community vs conjugal partnership and Prenuptial agreement in the Philippines.

Yes, it can be. In Republic v. Albios (2013), a Filipina married an American so that she could get American citizenship, and agreed to pay him for it. After the wedding they went their separate ways. The Supreme Court refused to declare the marriage void for lack of consent. It found that both willingly and deliberately entered into the marriage, even if their purpose was an immigration benefit, and that a marriage can be declared void only on the grounds the law provides. It said the marriage "is not void ab initio and continues to be valid and subsisting." It also said it was not fraud under Article 45(3), because only the cases listed in Article 46 count as fraud.

The Family Code has no general divorce, but the second paragraph of Article 26 helps a Filipino married to a foreigner:

In Republic v. Manalo (2018), the Supreme Court said this also applies when the Filipino spouse was the one who filed for the divorce. A Philippine court must first recognize the divorce, and the divorce and the foreign law must be proved. See Is a foreign divorce valid in the Philippines?

These are made-up examples to show how the rules work. They are not advice for any real case.

Liza (Filipina) and Tom (Australian) marry in Cebu City. Tom submits a certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage issued by his country's diplomatic or consular officials (Article 21). They both apply for the license at the civil registrar of Liza's city (Article 9). They sign no prenup, so Philippine law governs their property and absolute community applies (Articles 75 and 80).

Nina (Filipina) and Hans (German) married in Germany under German law. If the marriage is valid in Germany and none of the exceptions in the first paragraph of Article 26 applies, it is also valid in the Philippines.

Joy and Ken married only so that Joy could get a visa, and never lived together. The marriage is still valid (Albios). It cannot be declared void on that ground alone.

Talk to a lawyer if one of you was married before, especially if an earlier marriage ended in a divorce abroad, if you want a prenuptial agreement, or if you own property in more than one country. A lawyer can also explain how a later divorce abroad would be recognized in the Philippines.

If you cannot afford a lawyer, see Free legal help in the Philippines for the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) and other options.