You would want to get married to your partner and build a family. You also want to do it legally but it needs a lot of work, waiting, and definitely a lot of documents to prepare especially if you are marrying a foreigner. If you are a Filipina and wanted to get married in the Philippines with your foreign partner (an Indian), then this post is for you. 

I know it’s tough. You must have searched on the web on how to get married to your foreign partner or what would be the necessary documents to prepare. Don’t worry, my husband and I also went through that process and we couldn’t find a single page that answers our queries. So, I wanted to write this post for you and help you with your preparation to get married in the Philippines. 

All of the information in the list are from our experience. 

1. Marriage License: Go to your Local Civil Registrar’s Office and ask for the requirements. Before you get married, you need a marriage license from LCR. I am from the province of Negros Occidental and I went to LCR to ask what are documents I need when getting married to a foreigner (Indian). Requirements are deemed to be different according to your local office’s policies, so it’s better that you go there personally. You don’t need to bring your partner with you. 
   1. For Filipina Wife: Here are the requirements they gave me and you will need 4 photocopies of each document. 
      1. Birth Certificate (NSO copy/ they might need your LCR copy if the names aren’t clear) 
      2. CENOMAR (if you are aged above 23, if you are below 23, then you don’t need this) 
      3. Affidavit of Parent Consent to get Married (if you are aged below 23, if you are above 23, then you don’t need this) 
      4. Parental Advice upon Intended marriage ( if you are aged 21-25, if you are above 25, then you don’t need this) This is like a contract that your parents or guardian doesn’t have any issue with you marrying your partner. The LCR already has a copy of this, you just need to bring your parents or guardians to their office.  
      5. Valid ID or passport 
      6. Fee: 775 php 
   2. For Indian Husband: You will need 5 photocopies of each document 
      1. Birth Certificate ( document needs to be in English) 
      2. CENOMAR (the wife can get this on behalf of Indian husband at the PSA office) 
      3. Legal Capacity to get Married  This has a long process. This was where we got stuck because you need to get this at the Indian Embassy in Manila. Check www.legalcapacity.com for more information and how we got it. 
      4. Valid ID and Passport 
      5. In case, they might also need the photocopy of your parent’s ID because of the name clarity. To be safe, just bring copies of it. After you passed these documents, they’ll give you a form to fill. Here, you need your husband’s presence because they need his signature and personal information. Once you finish, they’ll give you a pass that you can attend a seminar. For us, the seminar was held at the City Health Office. Visit www.allaboutseminar.com about how to get a special seminar and more information about it. After you attended the seminar, they’ll give you a PRE-MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE that you need to give to LCR. You will wait for 10 working days before they’ll release your marriage license.  
2. Wedding day: Know or set the date of your Marriage whether it’s Civil Marriage or Church Marriage I can’t get much information about Church Marriage because we did a Civil Marriage. But there’s not much difference in the requirements, you will just need to visit the Church. Once you passed the requirements at the LCR, ask them at what specific date they will release your marriage license so that you could set the date of your marriage. After you received the Marriage License, go to the Mayor’s office or the Judge’s office of whom you want to wed to set and confirm the marriage date. You need to bring the papers on the day of your marriage. The signing will happen during that day. 
3. Marriage Certificate: Pass the Marriage Certificate signed by the Judge/Mayor and witnesses at the LCR This is to register your marriage at the LCR. Prepare 100-250 PHP so that the office will process your marriage certificate. If you are rushing to get your Marriage Certificate then, the soonest time that you can get this is 1 month and 15 days. The LCR office will only release your local copy of the Marriage Certificate the day after.