Getting Married in the Philippines as a Foreigner

If you're a foreigner marrying a Filipino in the Philippines, the wedding is the easy part. The paperwork before it runs through your own embassy and the local civil registrar. The paperwork after it runs through the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and, if you want to stay, the Bureau of Immigration (BI). This guide walks through each step in order: the legal capacity document by nationality, the CENOMAR, the marriage license and its 10-day posting, civil or church, PSA registration, and the 13(a) visa that comes after. I checked the rules below against the Family Code, PSA, embassy and city registrar pages in November 2026.

This is general information, not legal or immigration advice. Embassies change their procedures and every registrar keeps its own checklist, so verify with your mission and your registrar before you book anything.

Quick answer

Under Article 21 of the Family Code, a foreigner needs a certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage from their own embassy or consulate before a marriage license can be issued. The US and Canadian embassies don't issue that certificate as such, and the British Embassy can't confirm you're single, so each offers a sworn statement or other document instead. You then apply for the license at the civil registrar where either of you habitually resides. The application is posted for 10 consecutive days, and the license is valid anywhere in the Philippines for 120 days. After the wedding, the marriage is registered locally and then with the PSA. Marriage alone doesn't give you residency; the 13(a) visa is a separate application to BI.

The steps at a glance

Work backward from your wedding date. Two of the embassies below warn that registrars may not accept their document if it's more than six months old by the wedding, the posting alone takes 10 days, and the license runs out 120 days after it's issued.

What Philippine law requires

Marriage in the Philippines is governed by the Family Code (Executive Order No. 209). The articles that matter most to a foreign partner:

• Essential requisites (Art. 2): legal capacity of both parties, "who must be a male and a female", and consent freely given in the presence of the solemnizing officer. The Philippines doesn't recognise same-sex marriage under this text.
• Formal requisites (Art. 3): an authorised solemnizing officer, a valid marriage license (with narrow exceptions), and a ceremony where you both appear in person and declare you take each other as husband and wife before at least two witnesses of legal age.
• What happens if one is missing (Art. 4): the absence of an essential or formal requisite makes the marriage void from the beginning. The one exception, in Art. 35(2), applies where either or both of you believed in good faith that the officer had the legal authority.
• Age (Art. 5): 18 and over. Under Art. 35, a marriage where either party is below 18 is void even with parental consent.
• Form (Art. 6): no particular religious rite is required.

Age, parental consent and advice

These rules mostly affect the Filipino partner, but they apply to either of you:

• 18 to 21 (Art. 14): written parental consent is required.
• 21 to 25 (Art. 15): you must ask your parents for advice. If you don't, or the advice is unfavourable, the license won't be issued until three months after the posting ends.
• Counselling (Art. 16): where consent or advice applies, the couple also needs a marriage counselling certificate. Without it, the license is held for three months.

Registrars apply these with their own forms. Davao City's checklist, for example, asks for a notarised parental consent or advice and the parents' personal appearance.

Certificate of legal capacity, by nationality

Article 21 is the rule that makes foreign marriages different: "When either or both of the contracting parties are citizens of a foreign country, it shall be necessary for them before a marriage license can be obtained, to submit a certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage, issued by their respective diplomatic or consular officials." Stateless persons and refugees submit an affidavit instead.

People call it the LCCM. The catch is that many countries keep no central marriage register, so their embassies can't certify that you're single. What they give you instead varies by country, and it changes. During the pandemic the PSA let registrars accept locally notarised affidavits from US, UK, Canadian and Australian nationals. Its Memorandum Circular No. 2023-16 extended it to 31 October 2023, after which Article 21 applied, so older advice to "just see a local notary" is out of date.

United States

The U.S. Embassy's notarial page says the US government "does not maintain marriage records and cannot issue certificates of U.S. citizens' legal capacity to marry." Instead it notarises "a citizen's statement of their own legal capacity as an ordinary affidavit." It offers templates for Manila and Cebu, and you can write your own.

The embassy's instructions: book a notarial appointment (Manila and Cebu appointments aren't interchangeable), bring the affidavit fully completed but unsigned, and sign it in front of the officer. The page lists a fee of USD 50 per notarial signature. The embassy also says the affidavit "may or may not satisfy the Philippine requirement", so confirm with your registrar that they'll accept it. If you were married before, the template asks how each marriage ended, so bring the divorce decree or death certificate.

The same page notes that US diplomats can't perform marriages, and that you don't need to register a Philippine marriage with the embassy.

United Kingdom

The route depends on where you live. A PSA memo dated 13 December 2023, published by GOV.UK, notes that the UK has no central register of marriages, so the British Embassy can't confirm you're single. It sets out two routes:

• If you live in the UK: an apostilled Certificate of No Impediment from your local register office in the UK.
• If you live in the Philippines or anywhere else outside the UK: an Affidavit of Freedom to Marry (the PSA memo's name; GOV.UK calls it an affirmation and affidavit of marital status) sworn before the British Embassy in Manila.

For the embassy route, GOV.UK has you apply online first, then print an affirmation or affidavit form, fill it in by hand and sign it at your appointment. Check the fee on GOV.UK when you apply.

Australia

The Australian Embassy calls its Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage "the equivalent of the Philippines' Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage." Its page says:

• You need an appointment and must attend in person. Your partner doesn't have to come if they're not Australian.
• At least one applicant must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident. If you're both Australian, you each apply.
• Bring your passport, your partner's government ID and any divorce or death certificate that applies.
• CNIs are generally issued the same day if the application is complete.
• The Philippine government normally doesn't accept a CNI issued more than six months before the wedding, and local registrars usually accept only CNIs issued by the embassy in the Philippines.

The embassy also tells you to get the registrar's full requirements before you book.

Canada

Canada's Manila page says the embassy doesn't issue certificates of legal capacity or of singleness. It offers a "Statement in lieu of certificate of non-impediment to marriage abroad" instead. You send a notarised Statutory Declaration, proof of citizenship and any divorce or death certificate, and pay a CAD 50 consular fee by credit card. Visayas and Mindanao applicants can apply through the Consulate in Cebu.

Canada warns that some registrars may not accept the statement, and that a registrar may not accept one issued more than six months before the wedding. Ask your registrar first.

Other nationalities

Every country handles Article 21 its own way. Some embassies issue a real certificate; others only notarise a declaration or want documents from home. Ask your embassy or consulate in the Philippines what it issues, how long it takes and whether anything has to be apostilled. Then check with the registrar that they'll accept it. Verify with your mission before you set a date.

The CENOMAR

The PSA describes the CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage Record) as "a certification issued by the PSA stating that a person has not contracted any marriage." It's a PSA search of Philippine records, so it's mainly about your Filipino partner.

The Family Code doesn't mention the CENOMAR, but registrars ask for it. Davao City and Quezon City both list it among their general marriage license requirements. Quezon City asks for an original PSA CENOMAR, "one each."

Davao City lists the CENOMAR under requirements 'for all applicants' without excluding foreigners, and Quezon City lists it 'one each'. Some registrars will accept your embassy document alone and some will also ask for a PSA record check on you. Ask for the written checklist.

If your partner has a marriage on PSA record, PSA practice is to issue an Advisory on Marriages, which lists those marriages, rather than a CENOMAR. Davao City asks for one where an earlier marriage was annulled or declared void.

If either of you was married before

Under Article 13, a previously married applicant gives the registrar the death certificate of the late spouse, the judicial decree of absolute divorce, or the court decree of annulment or nullity. Davao City also asks for the certificate of finality and an annotated marriage certificate after an annulment or nullity case.

• You (the foreigner) are divorced: bring the divorce decree, and expect your embassy to want it too when you swear your affidavit or apply for a CNI.
• Your partner was married before in the Philippines: an earlier Philippine marriage has to be ended by the spouse's death or a court judgment (annulment or declaration of nullity) that is recorded in the civil registry (Arts. 40, 52, 53). As far as I could find in November 2026, Congress still hadn't passed a general divorce law; the Commission on Human Rights was urging passage in August 2026. Muslim Filipinos are covered by a separate code.
• Your partner divorced a foreigner abroad: Article 26 lets the Filipino spouse remarry when "a divorce is thereafter validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to remarry." In practice the divorce usually has to be recognised by a Philippine court before the registrar will act on it.

Any earlier marriage is the point where you should hire a Philippine family lawyer. Under Article 35, a bigamous marriage is void, and getting this wrong can unwind everything that follows, including a 13(a).

The marriage license, step by step

Where to apply and what to bring

Article 9 says the license is issued by the civil registrar "of the city or municipality where either contracting party habitually resides." In practice most couples apply where the Filipino partner lives. Under Article 11, each of you files your own sworn application.

Expect both of you to appear in person. Requirements vary by city, but Davao City's and Quezon City's published lists overlap on:

• birth certificates (PSA copy for your partner)
• the PSA CENOMAR
• the pre-marriage seminar certificate (below)
• valid IDs, and proof of local residence if your ID doesn't show the city
• for the foreigner: the certificate of legal capacity, plus copies of your passport bio page and latest arrival stamp
• divorce, annulment or death papers if either of you was married before

Quezon City also lists the ACR I-Card or tourist extension "if any." If you're past 59 days on a tourist stay, my ACR I-Card guide explains why you'll have one.

Fees are set locally. As examples, Davao City posts ₱300 for the application and ₱200 for the license, plus ₱250 for a foreign applicant's legal capacity. Quezon City posts ₱50 for the form and ₱100 for filing. Your city's numbers will be different, so check its page or Citizen's Charter.

Pre-marriage seminar

Section 15 of Republic Act No. 10354 says: "No marriage license shall be issued by the Local Civil Registrar unless the applicants present a Certificate of Compliance." The local Family Planning Office issues it for free after instruction on responsible parenthood, family planning, breastfeeding and infant nutrition. Cities name and run it differently. Davao City calls it a Pre-Marriage Counseling Certificate from the health office, and Quezon City a Certificate of Family Planning from the city health department. Ask when and in what language the sessions run.

This is separate from the counselling certificate under Article 16, which applies only where parental consent or advice is needed.

The 10-day posting and 120-day validity

Under Article 17, the registrar posts a notice with your names and details "for ten consecutive days on a bulletin board" and asks anyone who knows of an impediment to come forward. The license is issued after the posting ends. Quezon City tells applicants to come back after 11 days.

If someone does report an impediment, Article 18 says the registrar notes it but still issues the license after the posting, unless a court orders otherwise.

Under Article 20, the license "shall be valid in any part of the Philippines for a period of one hundred twenty days from the date of issue." So you can apply where your partner lives and marry somewhere else in the country, as long as you use the license within 120 days. Some cities add their own conditions: Quezon City says the wedding must be held in QC. Ask your registrar before you plan a venue elsewhere.

Plan around the posting, and add three months if you're 21–25 without parental advice, or if the required counselling certificate is missing (Arts. 15–16).

When no license is needed

The Family Code exempts a few cases from the license, such as a marriage at the point of death. The one people ask about is Article 34: no license is needed for a couple "who have lived together as husband and wife for at least five years and without any legal impediment to marry each other," stated in an affidavit.

Don't treat Article 34 as a shortcut. The five years have to be the five years right before the wedding, with no legal impediment during any of them. The Supreme Court has voided a marriage where the five-year affidavit was false (Republic v. Dayot, 2008), because the marriage then had no valid license (Art. 35(3)). Ask a lawyer before relying on it.

Civil or church wedding

Philippine law recognises both. Under Article 7 and the Local Government Code, the people who can officiate include:

• Judges, within their court's jurisdiction.
• Mayors of cities and municipalities. Sections 444 and 455 of the Local Government Code give them the power to "solemnize marriages, any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding."
• Priests, ministers, imams and rabbis authorised by their church and registered with the civil registrar general, as long as at least one of you belongs to that church or sect.

Under Article 7, foreign embassy staff aren't authorised solemnizing officers (the US Embassy says US diplomats can't perform marriages). Philippine consuls marry Filipino citizens abroad (Arts. 7 and 10), which isn't this case.

Venue. Article 8 says the wedding takes place in the judge's chambers or open court, a church, chapel or temple, or a Philippine consul's office abroad. A beach, garden or hotel wedding works only through an exception: you both ask the officer in writing, and name the place in a sworn statement. Ask your officer early whether they'll do it.

Church weddings. A religious wedding still needs the civil license, and the officiant sends the certificate to the registrar like any other. Churches often add their own requirements, such as baptismal papers or a seminar of their own, and a mixed-faith couple may need permissions. Those are church rules, not civil law, so ask the parish or diocese what they need from a foreign partner and how far ahead to book.

Civil or church, the ceremony needs you both present, two witnesses of legal age, and a marriage certificate signed by you, your witnesses and the officer.

Before you sign: property

Under Article 75, if you sign nothing, your property relations default to absolute community of property. A prenuptial agreement (the Code calls it a marriage settlement) has to be in writing and signed before the wedding (Art. 77). Article 80 applies Philippine law to the couple's property relations unless the settlement says otherwise. Article 80's exception for couples where both spouses are foreign doesn't apply, because one of you is Filipino. Marrying a Filipino doesn't change the rule against foreigners owning land; my guide to buying property in the Philippines explains what you can and can't own. If you hold property or pensions at home, talk to a lawyer in both countries before the wedding.

After the ceremony: PSA registration

Under Article 23, the officiant gives one of you the original marriage certificate and sends the other copies to the local civil registrar where you married "not later than fifteen days after the marriage." The registrar records it and passes it on to the PSA.

For anything official afterwards, including the 13(a), you'll need the PSA-issued copy, not just the registrar's copy. BI's 13(a) conversion checklist says Philippine civil registry documents, including the marriage certificate, "must be original and issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)." The PSA copy isn't ready on your wedding day; it can take a while after local registration. I found no official timeline, so ask your registrar when the record should reach the PSA, and check the names and dates before you leave the office. A typo now means a correction case later.

If you're American, the U.S. Embassy says a marriage that's legal where it took place is generally valid in the US, and your state's Attorney General can tell you what proof your state needs. Other countries have their own rules; verify with your mission.

Married isn't done: the 13(a) visa

A marriage certificate doesn't change your immigration status. You still need a valid stay while you wait for paperwork, and residency is a separate application.

The usual route is the 13(a) non-quota immigrant visa. BI's 13(a) page says who can apply: "A foreign national on the basis of his valid marriage to a Philippine citizen." The domestic process, per BI:

1. Fill in the CGAF application form and submit your documents for pre-screening.
2. Get the Order of Payment Slip and pay.
3. Attend a hearing, then do image and fingerprint capture for your ACR I-Card.
4. Once approved, submit your passport so the visa can be implemented, then claim your ACR I-Card.

BI's posted fee for the principal applicant is ₱8,620, plus USD 50 for a one-year ACR I-Card, from a fee table BI dates 6 March 2014. Your Order of Payment Slip shows the real amount.

On BI's conversion checklist, the main marriage documents are a joint letter from you both, the PSA marriage certificate, and your spouse's PSA birth certificate. Which papers your case needs are questions for BI or a Philippine embassy. My 13(a) marriage visa guide covers the domestic and consular routes, the probationary first year, converting to permanent and the common mistakes.

If you married abroad instead, the 13(a) page also explains the Report of Marriage that gets a foreign marriage into the PSA system.

Frank's take

Start with your embassy, not the venue. The legal capacity document is the step you control least: appointments, home-country records and apostilles take time, and two of these embassies warn that registrars may refuse their document once it's six months old. Get the registrar's checklist in writing first, then book the embassy, then the date.

Give yourself slack. With the seminar, the 10-day posting and a weekend or two, a license takes weeks, not days. If anything in either of your pasts is complicated, like an earlier marriage, a foreign divorce or a name that doesn't match across documents, pay a Philippine lawyer before the wedding. It costs much less than fixing a void marriage later.

And plan the visa while you plan the wedding. The PSA marriage certificate is the document the 13(a) filing waits on, so the day the PSA copy is ready is the day you can file.

FAQ

Does the foreign partner need a CENOMAR?

It depends on the registrar. The CENOMAR is a PSA certificate that a person has no marriage on Philippine record, so it's mainly for the Filipino partner. Some registrars accept only the embassy document from a foreigner. Others, such as Davao, list the CENOMAR for all applicants. Ask for the written checklist.

Does the US Embassy issue a certificate of legal capacity?

No. The embassy says it can't issue one, but it notarises your own Affidavit of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage by appointment, with a posted fee of USD 50 per notarial signature. Check that your registrar accepts it.

Can I get married in the Philippines on a tourist visa?

The Family Code doesn't list a visa type among the requirements for marriage. The license comes from the registrar where either of you habitually resides, which is usually your partner's city or town. Registrars do ask for your passport bio page and latest arrival stamp (Davao) and any ACR I-Card or extension (Quezon City), so keep your stay valid.

How long is a marriage license valid?

120 days from the date of issue, anywhere in the Philippines, under Article 20 of the Family Code. If you don't use it in time, it's automatically cancelled.

How long does the whole process take?

The Family Code fixes only the 10-day posting; add three months if you're 21–25 without parental advice, or if the required counselling certificate is missing (Arts. 15–16). Everything else depends on your embassy, the seminar schedule and your registrar. I'd plan for several weeks from your first registrar visit to the wedding, and more if you need documents from home.

Does marriage give me the right to live in the Philippines?

Not by itself. Marriage makes you eligible to apply for the 13(a) visa, and BI decides the application. Until it's approved, your current visa or extension is what lets you stay.

My partner divorced a foreigner abroad. Can they remarry?

Possibly, under Article 26 of the Family Code. Usually the foreign divorce must first be recognised by a Philippine court and the PSA record annotated. Talk to a Philippine family lawyer before you apply for the license.