A Philippine Marriage Certificate serves as a permanent and official record under Philippine law of the legal union that took place with both, or either of the parties being a Filipino citizen. It will enable Filipinos to apply for processes or benefits related to their married status, such as medical and life insurance, joint bank accounts, joint property ownership, pension, inheritance, etc. It will allow a Filipino woman to legally use the surname of her husband on her identity documents, such as her passport, if she wishes to take this option.
To obtain a Philippine Marriage Certificate, Filipino citizens who get married abroad must register their marriage at the Philippine Embassy in the country of their wedding, or the Philippine Embassy or Consulate with consular jurisdiction over the country or locality of their wedding.
Filipino couples who got married in Oman must register their marriage by submitting a Report of Marriage (ROM) at the Philippine Embassy.
If only one of the married couple is a Filipino citizen, the couple can still register their marriage and obtain a Philippine Marriage Certificate. Having this document may facilitate, for the spouse of a Filipino citizen, immigration, banking, insurance and related matters in the Philippines.
REQUIREMENTS FOR REPORT OF MARRIAGE:
- Duly accomplished Report of Marriage (ROM) form (download here)
- 4 copies, signed by the married couple as informants
- Marriage Contract issued by the Philippine Embassy in Oman (4 copies), if the wedding was solemnized at the Philippine Embassy
- Alternatively, Marriage Certificate issued by the Ministry of Justice, with English translation, apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (original apostilled document, 4 copies of apostilled document); or
- If the civil wedding was solemnized at another Embassy or Consulate in Oman, the Marriage Contract notarized by the Embassy or Consulate, apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (original apostilled document, 4 copies of apostilled document);
- If the wedding was solemnized in a religious ceremony, the Marriage Contract issued by the Catholic Church, Protestant Church, Hindu Temple, Sikh Temple, or other religious entity recognized by the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs (MERA), apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (original apostilled document, 4 copies of apostilled document);
For locations of the Authentication Offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, please visit https://fm.gov.om/attestation-of-documents
To see a sample of the Oman Apostille stamp, please visit https://dfa.consular.gov.ph/images/Authentication/Sample_Foreign_Apostilles/Oman.pdf
- Apostilled Birth Certificate of both spouses
- For Filipino citizens: Birth Certificate issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), apostilled by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA);
- For foreign spouse: Birth Certificate issued by his/her country of citizenship, apostilled by authorities of the country that issued his/her Birth Certificate;
- Copies (4 sets) of the passport data pages and residence cards of the married couple (bring original documents for comparison);
- Documents indicating civil status of spouses prior to wedding
For Filipino citizens:
- Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage (CLCCM) (original and 3 copies) for each Filipino spouse, issued by the Philippine Embassy (see this link).
- The LCCM must have been secured before the wedding, together with supporting documents, including but not limited to:
- PSA-issued Certificate of No Marriage Record (CENOMAR), apostilled by the DFA;
- If widowed: (1) PSA-issued death certificate of the deceased spouse, apostilled by the DFA (if the deceased spouse is a Filipino citizen or passed away in the Philippines), or apostilled death certificate issued by the appropriate authority of the country or locality where the previous spouse passed away; and (2) PSA-issued marriage certificate with the deceased spouse, apostilled by the DFA;
- If divorced: (1) PSA-issued Marriage Certificate with annotation on divorce granted in a foreign country recognized by a Philippine Regional Trial Court, apostilled by the DFA; and (2) PSA-issued Advisory on Marriage (AOM) indicating foreign decree of divorce, apostilled by the DFA; (3) certified true copy of the Judicial Recognition of Foreign Divorce with Certificate of Finality issued by a competent Philippine Court, apostilled by the DFA;
- If previous marriage was voided or annulled: (1) annotated Marriage Certificate issued by the PSA indicating the marriage as annulled or null and void, apostilled by the DFA; (2) PSA-issued Advisory on Marriage (AOM), apostilled by the DFA; and (3) certified true copy of the Philippine Court’s decision, apostilled by the DFA;
- If the Filipino citizen failed to secure a CLCCM prior to his/her wedding, he/she must submit an apostilled PSA-issued Birth Certificate and apostilled CENOMAR or AOM and apostilled other required documents indicating widowed, divorced or marriage annulled or voided status prior to marriage being reported (see above);
- Affidavit of party contracting marriage;
- Joint Affidavit of witnesses, with attached copies of the data pages of the passports of the witnesses, and their residence IDs;
For foreign spouse:
- Apostilled civil status or family status document or equivalent;
- If widowed: (1) apostilled death certificate of the deceased spouse; (2) apostilled marriage certificate with deceased spouse;
- If divorced: apostilled divorce decree or certificate issued by the appropriate authority of the country or locality where the divorce was effected, or equivalent document;
- If previous marriage was voided or annulled: apostilled decree or decision of annulment or nullification issued by the appropriate authority of the country or locality where the annulment was effected, or equivalent document;
- Fee of OMR 10 (cash only – for ROM only);
- In case of a late Report of Marriage (more than one year from the date of the wedding), the reporting spouses must also submit an Affidavit of Delayed Registration of Marriage (download here), which has a fee of OMR 10.
The Philippine Embassy in Oman will only accept registrations of marriage for weddings that are officiated in Oman. Weddings solemnized in another country must be registered at the Philippine Embassy or Consulate with consular jurisdiction over the country or locality where the wedding took place.
The Philippine Embassy can only solemnize a wedding between two (2) Filipino citizens. If one of the contracting parties is not Filipino, the couple must find another arrangement for getting married in Oman or outside of Oman. The Filipino citizen, however, may secure an LCCM, which serves as the wedding license or “No Objection Certificate” required by the host government courts, religious establishments, and some other embassies in Oman.
OBTAINING THE MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE FROM THE PHILIPPINES:
Around nine (9) months after you submitted a Report of Marriage at the Philippine Embassy, you should be able to get your Marriage Certificate from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
To obtain the Marriage Certificate, you can choose any of these options:
- Assign a representative in the Philippines to obtain the Marriage Certificate on your behalf at any PSA Census Serbilis Center or SM Business Center; or
- Apply online through PSA Serbilis (https://www.psaserbilis.com.ph/).
If you need to submit copies of your PSA-issued Marriage Certificate to any government office or institution in Oman, as well as for any consular service at the Philippine Embassy, make sure it is apostilled by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) before it is sent to Oman. You may also need to have the document and its apostille certificate translated to Arabic by a licensed translator before it is accepted at certain Omani government offices or institutions.
The Philippine Embassy is not authorized to authenticate a PSA-issued Marriage Certificate and will not accept it for such service. Only the DFA has authority to apostille documents issued by Philippine government authorities and institutions following Philippine authentication regulations.
To enable your representative to have your Marriage Certificate apostilled on your behalf, you must assign him/her as your Attorney-in-Fact (AIF) through a Special Power of Attorney (SPA), which you can notarize at the Philippine Embassy in Oman.