About getting married in Philippines as British Citizen, here's some useful information from the British Embassy about
Marriage in The Philippines
And here is some general information about
Getting married abroad
There's a new system to book an appointment at the British Embassy Consular Section in Manila which should be done through the Clickbook Consular Appointment site.
See this link for details of
Online appointment system for Consular services
Be informed that for Philippines the UK CNI has only 3 months validity, so plan out carefully what needs to be done and when. It's a good idea to make a project plan from wedding day backwards so you can line it all up.
The local Philippine CNI that is given to you by the British Embassy also has a validity of 3 months.
The UK CNI is available from your local registry office. It takes 22 days from time of application. It's 21 days for the 'bans'.
You need to present the UK CNI to the British Embassy in the Philippines to be issued a Philippine version called a Certificate of Legal Capacity to Marry.
This certificate is needed for the application of a marriage license.
Incidently many folks are now been reporting that a lot of authorities are now asking that the foreign partner also secures their own CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage) from Philippine NSO (National Statistics Office) in order to process the marriage licence. You would be well advised to include this contingency as well.
The CNI is a Certificate of no impediment (sometimes called Legal Capacity to Marry) and provides evidence to officially authorised people that the marriage will be recognised as a valid marriage in both Philippines and the country of the foreign spouse.
A valid CNI is required by Philippine law.
A CENOMAR ( Certificate of No Marriage Record) is available from the National Statistics Office (NSO) and is simply what its name implies.
It is a certification issued by the NSO stating that a person has not contracted any marriage within the Philippines.
In connection with the Marriage Licence the Executive Order No.209 (The Family Code of the Philippines) states:-
Just for completeness it goes on to state:-
As I'm sure you may know by now, there are always 'local variations' in the Philippines.
After all, if the licence is not issued until after 11,12 or 13 days then it still complies with the legal requirement provided it has been
posted continuously for a minimum 10 consecutive days.
Best advice is to always check locally when it actually
WILL be issued.
Generally, with good organisation, and things go fairly smooth along the way, you should have no problems getting married within a 20-30 day timeframe.
I'm sure there are some folks who will say you can achieve it in only 14 days. In my opinion that can only be achieved if you are very lucky, the organisation is really slick or if you use an agent who just might be able to find ways and means for some workarounds.
Most folks will tell you that 21 days is enough time, and I think on balance that's a reasonable time without major problems, but not much time left for honeymoon.
I suggest you always check the latest information for paperwork needed etc but in principle to apply for the Marriage License you should consider having the following:-
Your birth certificate
Your passport
Your C.N.I.
Your NSO CENOMAR
Your Divorce decree asbsolute (if applicable)
Certificate of 'Pre-Marriage Seminar' (if needed, please check well beforehand)
Her N.S.O. birth certificate (This should be fresh from NSO on latest type of security paper. Check)
Her Passport (or other appropriate ID)
Her Barangay clearance (if needed, please check well beforehand)
Her community tax certificate (often called Cedula)
Her postal I.D. Address
Her cenomar
Her Parents signed advice form (if under 25 years age)
Her Parents I.D.
Apply for the Marriage License in your fiancée's home town at the registry office. (or locality of where marriage will take place)
You might also be requested to attend the "Pre-Marriage Seminar" counselling sessions prior to being allowed to be married. Check and ask when you apply for the marriage license
After you apply for the license there is a mandatory 10 day waiting period while the marriage bans are published
By the way just be sure that you have authorised copies of the Marriage Certificate after the wedding or that you request fast-tracking /Expediting for NSO copies. Quite a few get into a long waiting time for the marriage certificate needed for a visa application. Worth thinking about
Take a look at this thread for information on fastracking the marriage certificate -
Advance Endorsement Birth ,Marriage and Death Certificate
Hope this gives you some ideas on weddings/ID's/more