NOTES ON JUDICIAL RECOGNITION OF DIVORCE DECREE:

HOW ARE FOREIGN DIVORCE DECREES JUDICIALLY RECOGNIZED IN THE

PHILIPPINES?
A petition for a judicial recognition of a foreign divorce in the Philippines shall be filed before
the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in the city or province where the corresponding civil registry to
be corrected is located. If the marriage is celebrated abroad, the petition shall be filed before the
RTC which has jurisdiction over the place of residence of the petitioner.

The following are the documents required to be attached to the petition. For documents issued or
made abroad, they must either be (a) an official publication of such document or (b) a copy
attested by the officer having the legal custody of the document, or by his deputy. Additionally,
there must be an accompanying certificate that such officer has the custody, which may be issued
by the embassy or consular office of the Philippines and authenticated by the seal of its office.5
Any foreign document attached to the petition needs to be apostilled by the competent authority
or authenticated by the Philippine Embassy in the foreign country.

PROOF OF MARRIAGE
The petitioner needs to present to the court a certified true copy of the marriage certificate
registered in the Philippines issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

If the marriage was celebrated abroad, the official marriage certificate or record from the foreign
country shall be presented. If a copy of the marriage certificate or record was filed with the
Philippine Consulate, a copy of the Report of Marriage of a Filipino Married Abroad shall also
be presented.

PROOF OF DIVORCE
The petitioner needs to present to the court a certified copy of the divorce decree, order, or
decision.

The petitioner must present to the Court the official copies of his or her foreign divorce
documents such as the divorce decree which should be duly translated to English if it was written
in a foreign language.

Countries have different laws and policies when it comes to divorce. Thus, documents used or
issued may also be different. An example is the pronouncement of the Supreme Court in
Republic v. Kikuchi, 6 where it was established that Mayors in Japan are authorized to accept
divorce. The Supreme Court in this case considered the duly authenticated Certificate of
Acceptance issued by City Mayor of Sakado City as sufficient evidence of divorce obtained in
Japan.

PROOF OF LAW ON DIVORCE ABROAD

The foreign law capacitating the foreign spouse to remarry must be proven as a fact during trial
and in accordance with the Rules of Court.

The petitioner must present to the Court a certified copy of the specific law on divorce in the
country where it was obtained. It must be apostilled or authenticated by the Philippine Consulate
and must come with an official translation to the English language if written in a foreign
language. Said divorce law must indicate that parties to the divorce can remarry.

OCA Circular No. 157-2022 issued on 23 June 2022, announced that foreign divorce laws that
have been officially translated into English language may be obtained on the Supreme Court
website, and thus, petitioners need not prove it during the trial, to wit:

“…the Family Courts are advised to take judicial notice of this compilation of the laws of foreign
countries on marriage and divorce in the resolution of cases requiring the presentation of the
laws of foreign countries on marriage and divorce.”
However, OCA Circular No. 157-2022-A issued on 7 July 2022 supersedes the said Circular. It
states the following:

“To address this matter, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), upon request of the OCA,
furnished the OCA with a compilation of several foreign laws on marriage and divorce, for
reference and use of the judiciary in resolving petitions for recognition and enforcement of
foreign decree of divorce, subject to prevailing jurisprudence and/or applicable Court issuances
related thereto.”

Simply put, the trial court cannot take judicial notice of a foreign divorce law posted on the
Supreme Court website. In Arreza v. Toyo,7 the prevailing jurisprudence, states that:

“Philippine courts do not take judicial notice of foreign judgments and laws. They must be
proven as fact under our rules on evidence. A divorce decree obtained abroad is deemed a foreign
judgment, hence the indispensable need to have it pleaded and proved before its legal effects
may be extended to the Filipino spouse.”

Proofs of Citizenship and Residence of the Parties (the spouses), and the Children, if any.

In order to prove the citizenship of the parties (the spouses), and the children if any, the
petitioner needs to present to the court their birth certificates and/or passports.

It must be established that one of the parties is an alien or a foreigner at the time of the divorce
for Article 26 of the Family Code to apply.

PUBLICATION
After filing the petition, the RTC branch where the case is raffled will order that the substance of
the petition be published in a random newspaper of general circulation in the city or province
once a week for three (3) weeks.

POST-JUDGMENT PROCEDURE
After trial and after the court renders its decision granting the petition, the decision shall be
registered before the Local Civil Registrar (LCR) where the marriage was recorded, the Local
Civil Registrar (LCR) of Manila if marriage was celebrated and registered overseas, and the
Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

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

Any Philippine documents you attach to your Petition need to have been officially certified by
the correct government office. This may be the Civil Registrar, Philippines Statistics Authority,
Department of Foreign Affairs etc.

Any foreign documents attached to your Petition will need to be certified by the correct Foreign
Office. They will also need to be Apostilled by the competent authority or authenticated there by
the Philippine Embassy in the foreign country. You can read more about the Apostille process in
Apostille of Documents from and for the Philippines.

If a foreign document is not in English, then its certified English translation is also needed and
this should also be authenticated.