Quote Originally Posted by Arthur Little View Post
Oh well ... looks like a case of "I can't always be right - but I'm wrong again!" ... as the old saying goes. Or so it would APPEAR. But ...

... what I CAN vouch for is, having bypassed the fiancee route, and gone straight for the spousal visa, WE [my wife and I] had, FIRST and FOREMOST, to fulfill these two basic requirements - in order to comply with what is termed in the Phils as 'Legal Capacity To Marry' ...

... otherwise, why else would it have been necessary for us to incur the considerable expense involved? After all. one would've expected the documents in question to be needed in the long run ... as proof that each of the two parties was in fact free to wed ... irrespective of which of the countries "hosted" the ceremony.
I presume the Embassy runs some checks if they require before they issue a fiancee visa. Once the fiancee visa is issued that is the equivalent of a CENOMAR, and obviously when we gave Notice of Marriage in the UK that is the equivalent of a Certificate of No Impediment. Which means you do not have to provide them as part of an application for a fiancee visa.