Hi

[sweetnote143]

welcome to the forum...so much helpful advice here....I dont know about that but it's always best to do things legally....seek for annulment if they are legally married....money talks here that's true but not in every case

[Maria B]

[Jenky]

Your girlfriend should go to the NSO in Manila and ask for a CENOMAR which is a certificate of no marriage. Because the Embassy will require this should you ever apply for a visa/marriage license. if her CENOMAR comes back as "no marriage recorded" then you dont have a problem. If it comes back as married to XXXXXXX then that marriage will have to be annulled before you two can get ever get married, even if her recorded marriage is fake and the husband now has 20 wives! Why is that? because the marriage has been recorded at the NSO and only an annullment will undo that record making your girlfriend able to marry somebody else. The good thing is that if the recorded marriage is fake (as my wifes was with a fake marriage license) then the annullment is straightforward.
Annulment is not cheap (>£2000 three years ago, even for a simple case) in the Philippines and can take up to a year. We used an attorney in Manila called Jeannie Pulido, she was great.

[Russell_61]

Thank you so much for this Jenky. Yes we're treating it as if Jen is still married as neither of us want to live with false hopes. We know it will be a long and expensive process but we feel our love is strong enough to see us through anything. Once we know for certain where we stand then we can move forward. jen and her mum are going to visit the NSO soon so we should know more by then. The fact that her husband says he is married again is the confusing part as he is either a bigamist or indeed he has paid someone to wipe the records. Either that or the marriage was void from the outset, but as you say even that would need to be officially annulled. Jen says she has a marriage certificate and says they were married in a civil ceremony not a church one. Hmmmmm all very confusing but hopefully we will know more soon. We will keep you updated and no doubt ask for much valued advice

thank you so much once again

[Terpe]

I hope that Jen's mum can resolve with NSO

[Russell_61]

Another ingredient to thicken the plot:
Jen tells me that she was "forced" to get married by her husband; quite what this means I don't know as yet, but I'm sure neither of Jen's parents gave consent as her mum was in Australia and her father was absent for whatever reason. It just makes me think that maybe there is some hope that this may not be a valid marriage...as i have said, we live in hope...

[pumpkinbee]

Another ingredient to thicken the plot:
Jen tells me that she was "forced" to get married by her husband; quite what this means I don't know as yet, but I'm sure neither of Jen's parents gave consent as her mum was in Australia and her father was absent for whatever reason. It just makes me think that maybe there is some hope that this may not be a valid marriage...as i have said, we live in hope...

Hi Russel_61, just thought I'd share this with you. I've just consulted with a lawyer this morning regarding my annulment and was quoted 120Kphp. In my case I haven't had any contact with my ex for 21yrs and has no idea with his whereabouts. I was told that it can take roughly an estimate of 8mos to a yr cos he's nowhere to be found so there'll be no one to contest and also depending on the flow of the court system here...He's a reputable lawyer from the Commission on Human Rights here in the PI and was referred by my best friend who was once the director there...I'd be happy to share his information with you in case you or Jen are interested.

I must say, whether she was forced to marry this guy or not so long as it's recorded in the NSO there's really no way around it but annulment...it's the ugly truth....in addition, you said it yourself that she has a marriage certificate with her so I think there's the answer to your question. Let us know if her mum can make her marriage cert disappear..here in the PI, there's a saying that "it is not what you know...it is who you know"

[Russell_61]

Hi Russel_61, just thought I'd share this with you. I've just consulted with a lawyer this morning regarding my annulment and was quoted 120Kphp. In my case I haven't had any contact with my ex for 21yrs and has no idea with his whereabouts. I was told that it can take roughly an estimate of 8mos to a yr cos he's nowhere to be found so there'll be no one to contest and also depending on the flow of the court system here...He's a reputable lawyer from the Commission on Human Rights here in the PI and was referred by my best friend who was once the director there...I'd be happy to share his information with you in case you or Jen are interested.

I must say, whether she was forced to marry this guy or not so long as it's recorded in the NSO there's really no way around it but annulment...it's the ugly truth....in addition, you said it yourself that she has a marriage certificate with her so I think there's the answer to your question. Let us know if her mum can make her marriage cert disappear..here in the PI, there's a saying that "it is not what you know...it is who you know"

hahahahaha yes, we have that saying too...

Thanks so much for your advice and yes, as I said in a previous post we are going to treat it as if Jen is still married unless we find otherwise from the NSO.

myself and Jen wish you all the luck we would wish for ourselves & who knows, may be in a year's time we will have a double celebration. We will keep you posted as to the outcome with the NSO

[pumpkinbee]

hahahahaha yes, we have that saying too...

Thanks so much for your advice and yes, as I said in a previous post we are going to treat it as if Jen is still married unless we find otherwise from the NSO.

myself and Jen wish you all the luck we would wish for ourselves & who knows, may be in a year's time we will have a double celebration. We will keep you posted as to the outcome with the NSO

hehehe didn't know that works there too

Can't agree with you more Russell...will look forward to that double celebration, in the meantime we're planning for a visit visa....cross fingers that i get one Where is Jen located by the way?
Saw one thread here about annulment that she got hers completed in 4 months which is pretty awesome so I'll leave her a message cos 4months is so much better than 8 hahaha

[scott&ligaya]

don`t take this as gospel but I am sure I rad here last year that some provinces are faster and that you can apply in any province... I may be completely wrong but worth checking out

good luck to both couples

[Russell_61]

hehehe didn't know that works there too

Can't agree with you more Russell...will look forward to that double celebration, in the meantime we're planning for a visit visa....cross fingers that i get one Where is Jen located by the way?
Saw one thread here about annulment that she got hers completed in 4 months which is pretty awesome so I'll leave her a message cos 4months is so much better than 8 hahaha

Jen is in Manila, originally from Iloilo

[Terpe]

Another ingredient to thicken the plot:
Jen tells me that she was "forced" to get married by her husband; quite what this means I don't know as yet, but I'm sure neither of Jen's parents gave consent as her mum was in Australia and her father was absent for whatever reason. It just makes me think that maybe there is some hope that this may not be a valid marriage...as i have said, we live in hope...

Here is my understanding which may be of interest.

If parental consent is needed, then this must be made prior to the issue of a marriage license.
The local reistrar cannot issue a marriage license without parental consent, if such consent is needed.
A marriage solemnized without a valid marriage license is void from the beginning (unless it falls under the exceptions).

Just trying to help out

[Russell_61]

Here is my understanding which may be of interest.

If parental consent is needed, then this must be made prior to the issue of a marriage license.
The local reistrar cannot issue a marriage license without parental consent, if such consent is needed.
A marriage solemnized without a valid marriage license is void from the beginning (unless it falls under the exceptions).

Just trying to help out

yes i read this and these were my thoughts too

[grahamw48]

We needed parental consent back in 1991, as the ex was only 22.
I think it was required then if the lady was under 24...may have changed now.

Of course she hadn't needed parental consent for the 2 kids that she'd given birth to.

[Russell_61]

scrub that last point, apparently Jen's father gave consent...my mistake

[sars_notd_virus]

welcome to the forum Russell61, I would suggest to make it all black and white(legal) as your gf has a marriage certificate meaning she is married , an appointment with a philippine lawyer is the best choice, ..u maybe able to pay ''someone'' in the Philippine to remove the records but am afraid it would come back and bite you in the ar$e someday.