Civil status

The country where you decide to apply for divorce or an annulment depends on where you are officially registered. But what is of utmost importance is to have both facts (marriage + divorce/annulment) timely and correctly registered in both countries. This means that:

• For an annulment in the Philippines your annulment process will have to be fully complete and registered with the Embassy or your municipality in Belgium.
   
• For a divorce in Belgium: A judicial recognition of foreign divorce may be reflected to your civil status here in the Philippines:
   
  1. You need to secure a copy of the Decree of Finality of your Divorce from the Ministry of Justice in Belgium and have it authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Belgium. Translation to English is needed for submission to Philippine authorities.
      
  2. If you are married here in the Philippines, you need to submit the document at the Local Civil Registry where the marriage took place. (This can be seen at the upper left corner of marriage certificate).
     
     OR
     
     If the marriage was celebrated abroad and later on registered at the Philippine Embassy where you got married, the document must be submitted to the Local Civil Registry of Manila.
      
  3. After submission, a proper civil action at the Regional Trial Court will take place to hear your case. You will be needing a lawyer and need to appear personally for the case.
      
  4. Once the court has accepted and recognized the foreign decree, an annotation of the divorce will be ordered and be placed at the margin of the original marriage certificate.

How to proceed

Read the complete procedure (PDF, 127.46 KB)

More general information on divorce