Apply In-Person:

1. To Apply for Recognition of Foreign Divorce, the applicant has to approach Regional Trial Court in the Philippines link

   Note: The applicant can click on their region and city from the drop-down menu or the applicant can enter their court name or city to find nearby courts to them.

2. To file, the lawyer must prepare a Petition for Recognition of Foreign Divorce signed by the lawyer and sworn to by the applicant (the Petitioner).
3. The Petition will contain copies of all the relevant documents and must also be accompanied by the Judicial Affidavit of the proposed witnesses.
4. Then the Regional Trial Court will order that the substance of the Petition be published in a random newspaper once a week for 3 weeks.
5. The case will be calendared for the first Hearing and Notices of this will be served to the Philippine government offices concerned, to the last known address of the ex-spouse, and to any other required parties.
6. The Testimony of a Witness will be through a Judicial Affidavit. A Judicial Affidavit is used to speed up the Trial.
7. In a Judicial Affidavit, the lawyer’s questions and the answers of the Witness are set into writing and Notarized before the Hearing. During court, a Witness will simply identify and affirm this Judicial Affidavit in Court to complete her direct Testimony.
8. After all the evidence is submitted, the lawyer will submit to the Regional Trial Court a legal document known as a Formal Offer of Evidence.
9. Also attach the necessary documents which is mentioned in the “Required Documents” section of this page.
10. If there is no active opposition by other parties, the Petitioner will then await the Court’s Decision. The waiting after these submissions will probably take a few months because of the clogged court dockets.
11. The Trial can take about a year and a half to finish from the date of filing. This can vary depending on the situation.
12. A Recognition of Foreign Divorce in the Philippines cost can vary. Certainly, a Petition entails a number of different costs. There are minimal fees to be paid to government offices for the Certified Copies of documents.
    

• Philippine Marriage Certificate/Record if the marriage was in the Philippines
• Official Marriage Certificate/Record from the foreign country if the marriage was abroad
• Report of Marriage of a Filipino Married Abroad (if one was filed with the Department of Foreign Affairs)
• Official copies of your Foreign Divorce documents
• Certified Copy of the foreign country’s Divorce Law
• Proof of citizenship
  

Note: Depending on the particular foreign country involved and depending on the particular case, other documents may be necessary. This is because different countries have different divorce processes and different kinds of marriage and divorce documents.

SUPREME COURT OF THE PHILIPPINES
Padre Faura St., Ermita, Manila
Philippines 1000
Email: chiefjusticehelpdesk@judiciary.gov.ph
Hotline Numbers: (02) 8552-9644, 0908-8500919
Court Hotlines and Email Addresses Link
Regional Trial Court in the Philippines link

Note: The applicant can click on their region and city from the drop-down menu or the applicant can enter their court name or city to find nearby courts to them.

• Any person who intends to apply for Recognition of Foreign Divorce is eligible to make this application.
  

• A Recognition of Foreign Divorce in the Philippines cost can vary. Certainly, a Petition entails a number of different costs. There are minimal fees to be paid to government offices for the Certified Copies of documents.
  

• The validity of Recognition of Foreign Divorce is forever.
  

Please attach documents that can be used by people. e.g. links

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

The Trial can take about a year and a half to finish from date of filing. This can vary depending on the situation.

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

• Applicants must complete the application form before submitting it. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
• Applicants must provide genuine information while applying for this procedure.
  

• Name of the applicant
• Civil Status
• Citizenship
• Email Address
• Contact Number/s
• Postal Address
• Type of current Philippine visa
• Name of Institution
• Postal Address:
• Contact Numbers
• Contact Person/Designation
  

• Recognition of Foreign Divorce in the Philippines requires a court case to recognize a valid foreign divorce between a Filipino and a foreigner. It allows the applicant to correct his/her Philippine marriage record to reflect the divorce.
  

• For more information Link
  

Please explain what are other uses for obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

Link

More information which might help people.