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Judicial Recognition of Foreign Divorce

There is no divorce in the Philippines, but when a divorce is validly obtained abroad by an alien spouse from his or her Filipino spouse, the Filipino spouse shall have the capacity to remarry under Philippine law. However, the divorce obtained abroad must be passed upon judicially by a Philippine court to prove its validity before the Filipino spouse can remarry under Philippine law through the process of Judicial Recognition of Foreign Divorce (JRD).

The decision of the Philippine Court shall become the basis for the annotation of civil registry documents.

The following guidelines shall be followed in the annotation of the foreign-issued divorce decree with the Office of the Civil Registrar General in the Philippines:

  1. The foreign divorce decree must be judicially enforced or confirmed in the Philippines by filing the proper civil action at the Regional Trial Court in the Philippines (RTC-Phil).
  2. The court decision shall be registered in the Local Civil Registry Office (LCRO) where the concerned RTC-Phil functions.
  3. The registered document shall be submitted to the Local Civil Registrar where the marriage is registered.
  4. If the marriage was registered at the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, refer to the following link in filing for annotation of Report of Marriage after undergoing the JRD process:
    Philippine Embassy – Tokyo, Japan | Annotation of Civil Registry Documents (philembassy.net)
  5. After the annotation at the Embassy, the annotated documents and its requirements will be submitted to the Office of the Civil Registrar-General (OCRG) in Manila for proper registration.

NOTE: All documents sourced or obtained in Japan and intended for use and submission to Philippine authorities must be issued an Apostille by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (Gaimusho).

For any inquiries and/or clarification, please contact the Civil Registration Unit through email (civilreg@philembassy.net).

More information about the legal procedures or hiring the services of a lawyer in the Philippines may be obtained from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) or the Public Attorneys’ Office (PAO) in Manila.

INTEGRATED BAR OF THE PHILIPPINES (IBP)
IBP Building
No. 15 Julia Vargas Avenue
Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Metro Manila, Philippines.
Tel: (+63-2) 631-3014 or 631-3018
Email: ibp_national@yahoo.com or tech@ibp.ph
Website: www.ibp.ph

PUBLIC ATTORNEY’S OFFICE (PAO)
4th and 5th Floors
DOJ Agencies Building
NIA Road corner East Avenue
Diliman, Quezon City
Metro Manila, Philippines.
Tel: (+63-2) 929-9436
Email: pao_executive@yahoo.com
Website: www.pao.gov.ph