Divorced in US but still not annuled in the Philippines

[*Linda12]

Hello,
I am filling up the forms for spouse sponsorship visa . Me and my husband been married here in canada.he is previously married in the philippines and not yet annuled. His ex wife filed a divorce in US and was granted. He is still holding a philippine passport and would like to know if there is still a need to provide the marriage contract of the previous marriage as it says in the Country specific requirements that need to provide the marriage certificate . The divorce papers will be also be included in the form although my concern is that divorced is not accepted in the philippines. Will it be a problem on our application?

 

[armoured]

My view would be (but I’ll admit it’s just an opinion)

Not an expert but I think the above is exactly right. Your task is to show your current marriage is valid: and for that to be true, the divorce has to be valid (US divorce is fine), and the marriage documentation in Canada should be fine.

And to loop back to the post: are you sure it requires you to provide information about the previous marriage apart from the divorce documents? I've checked our application and neither my spouse nor I provided docs about previous (respective) marriages except for the relevant divorce decrees.

So I don't think you'd need to provide the previous marriage certificate at all. But I am NOT certain, please check instructions carefully.

 

[*Linda12]

Thank you very much for the reply. I really appreciate it. We got married here in canada but reason why im confused if we will provide the marriage certificate of the previous marriage is that we saw the below provision:

“if you hold a philippine passport, you and your familh members included in the application must follow these instructions:

- principle applicant - to establish marital status , the principal applicant must submit either a Certificate of no record of marriage (CENOMAR) to establish that there is no record of marriage or a Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Advisory on Marriages registered in the philippines”



It says “ to establish marital status….” that does mean it is not necessary anymore to provide that ?Can we just provide the divorce papers ?

 

[armoured]

Agree with above. You could write a short letter of explanation.

Has your spouse been living in Philippines or USA or Canada?

 

[*Linda12]

@armoured he is currently here in canada on a tourist visa . Do you think his application will be returned if we did not attached the marriage certificate of the previous marriage in the philippines or is it okay if we will just attached it and have a note that the said marriage is already annulled in the US?

 

[*Linda12]

@armoured sorry for all the questions just getting worried and confuse if what might be the right thing to do

 

[*Linda12]

I'll stick to my view that you won't need cenomar or marriage certificate from PSA given that you have in hand a foreign divorce decree. Canada is aware of the no divorce rule in the Phils and the difficulty in getting an annulment in the Phils.

I know that, in general, Canada wants you to state and previous marriages and proof that they have been dissolved. Again, my opinion. I would be surprised if Canada insisted on more in your circumstances. I really would not expect Canada to say you must now jump through the hoops to get the US decree formally recognized, the Phils court order filed with PSA and a cenomar issued. I would hope not. Although, in the end, at least your spouse is here in Canada. It would be more of an issue if he had to wait in the Phils to clear all those hurdles.

@Kaibigan - hello , he is here in canada on a temporary residence status - Just very worried and confuse

 

[armoured]

@armoured he is currently here in canada on a tourist visa . Do you think his application will be returned if we did not attached the marriage certificate of the previous marriage in the philippines or is it okay if we will just attached it and have a note that the said marriage is already annulled in the US?

Note: answer questions precisely, including when you are completing forms. I was asking where your spouse resides, not where he is physically now. But anyway, don't think that matters so much.

Let's start with what you have: do you have the PH marriage certificate? I don't think you need it, but let's start with whether you have it.

I don't see any reason to include it (read above) BUT no harm in including it either. So if you have it - sure. (If you don't - probably not needed. As was said before).

But the key thing is to include the VALID US DIVORCE DECREE. (Or whatever it is called). That is what you need above all. You can then include a short letter of explanation (if you really think it's necessary) that since there is no divorce in PH, and he has not completed the annulment proceedings, you can't provide any other docs from PH about his marital status. But his ability to marry in PH doesn't matter - his ability to marry in Canada does, because that's where he got married. (And Canada recognizes Canadian marriages, unless there was some outright fraud).

And the Canadian marriage certificate, of course. (I believe you would have provided the divorce docs to be married in a Canadian province anyway, right?).

I believe that is it. The case is actually not that complicated. Canada doesn't require eg a Brit who gets divorced in Brazil and then married in Canada to prove they're 'single' according to UK law. And neither would it require any of that from others, including PH.

So I think you are overthinking it. If you're still unclear or worried, read the instructions again. If still worried, see a lawyer.