A civil wedding is a secular ceremony officiated by a government official. It is a public ceremony marking a vital event of a legal union between a man and a woman for the purpose of forming a family. According to current Philippine laws, the Philippine Embassy can only solemnize a wedding:
- Between two (2) Filipino citizens ( “contracting parties”);
- Between a man and a woman, with sex according to their current Birth Certificates; and
- At least 18 years old, but Philippine law requires a person who is 25 years old or younger to obtain consent/advice from his/her parents.
A Filipino citizen who intends to marry someone of another nationality while in Oman may look for other institutions or authorities that will allow different nationalities to get married. These may be the Shariah Court, the Catholic Church, the Protestant Church, the Hindu Temple, the Sikh Temple, or some foreign embassies or consulates in Oman. Nevertheless, the Filipino citizen must present to these institutions a Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage (CLCCM), which serves as the Filipino citizen’s marriage license or “No Objection Certificate” from the Philippine Embassy to the prospective marriage.
REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFICATE OF LEGAL CAPACITY TO CONTRACT MARRIAGE (CLCCM)
- Birth Certificate issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and apostilled by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)
- Certificate of No Marriage Record (CENOMAR) issued by the PSA and apostilled by the DFA
- If the contracting party:
- is widowed:
- apostilled marriage certificate to deceased spouse issued by the PSA or the appropriate authority of the country or locality where the marriage was conducted; and
- apostilled death certificate of the deceased spouse issued by the PSA (if deceased spouse is a Filipino citizen or passed away in the Philippines) or by the appropriate authority of the country or locality where the deceased spouse passed away;
- had a previous marriage voided or annulled:
- apostilled certified true copy of the Philippine Court’s decision;
- apostilled PSA-issued Advisory on Marriage (AOM); and
- apostilled annotated Marriage Certificate issued by the PSA indicating the marriage as annulled or null and void;
- is divorced under laws outside of the Philippines:
- 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
- PSA-issued Advisory on Marriage (AOM) indicating foreign decree of divorce, apostilled by the DFA;
- certified true copy of the Judicial Recognition of Foreign Divorce with Certificate of Finality issued by a competent Philippine Court, apostilled by the DFA;
- is a Muslim divorced under the Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines: Certificate of Divorce issued by the PSA, apostilled by the DFA;
- If the contracting party:
- Three (3) passport-size pictures of the contracting party;
- Application for Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage (OMR 10);
- Affidavit of a Contracting Party (OMR 10), with copies of the passport data page and residence card;
- Joint Affidavit of Witnesses of the contracting party (OMR 10), with copies of the passport data pages and labor cards of the witnesses.
- Additional requirements:
- If contracting marriage with a party of another nationality:
- Apostilled Birth Certificate of the prospective spouse;
- Apostilled Certificate of Singleness or equivalent document indicating civil status of prospective spouse (e.g., divorced, widowed, previous marriage annulled or voided, etc.);
- If contracting party is 25 years old or younger:
- Personal appearance of both parents or legal guardian(s);
- Copies of data pages of their passports;
- Joint Affidavit of Parental Consent (if contracting party is 18-21 years old) or Joint Affidavit of Parental Advice (if contracting party is 22-25 years old) (OMR 10)
- If both parents are in the Philippines: original Joint Affidavit of Parental Consent/Advice, notarized by a Notary Public and apostilled by the DFA;
- If one of the parents is in the Philippines, the parent who is in Oman will submit the appropriate Affidavit at the Embassy. The parent who is in the Philippines must submit a separate appropriate Affidavit, to be notarized by a Notary Public and apostilled by the DFA.
- If contracting marriage with a party of another nationality:
Notes:
- The Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage will be issued after the posting of the marriage banns (public notice of intent to marry) for 10 working days or two (2) weeks.
- The absence of a CLCCM in the registration of marriage at the Philippine Embassy or a Local Civil Registry office in the Philippines can be grounds for the voiding of a marriage.
- Being already married prior to conversion to Islam and contracting another marriage under Islamic conventions, without undergoing the appropriate processes outlined in the Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines, can be grounds for a bigamy suit in the Philippines.
OBTAINING THE CERTIFICATE of no marriage record (CENOMAR) or advisory of marriage (AOM) (for divorced or have annulled/voided marriage) FROM THE PHILIPPINES
The Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR), also known as Certificate of Singleness, indicates that the person has no record of having been married registered at the Philippine Statistics Authority. This may be due to the person not having contracted any marriage, or having failed to register his or her marriage at the Local Civil Registry in the Philippines or the appropriate Philippine Embassy or Consulate (if marriage was contracted outside of the Philippines).
An Advisory of Marriage (AOM) indicates that the person has a record of having contracted a marriage that was duly registered at the Local Civil Registry in the Philippines or the appropriate Philippine Embassy or Consulate (if marriage was contracted outside of the Philippines). If the person’s marriage has been annulled or declared null and void, or if his or her divorce granted outside of the Philippines was recognized by the competent Philippine Regional Trial Court, it will be indicated in the AOM. An annotation on the person’s Marriage Certificate will also indicate if his or her marriage has been annulled, declared null and void, or has a recognized foreign decree of divorce.
To obtain the CENOMAR/AOM, 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 CENOMAR/AOM 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 and attested by the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry before it is accepted at certain Omani government offices or institutions.
The Philippine Embassy is not authorized to authenticate a PSA-issued CENOMAR or AOM 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 CENOMAR or AOM 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.
REQUIREMENTS FOR CIVIL WEDDING
- Notarized Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage (CLCCM) of both contracting parties;
- The schedule of mandatory public notice (marriage banns) has been completed;
- Civil wedding ceremony scheduled at the Philippine Embassy;
- Physical appearance of contracting parties and witnesses at the wedding ceremony (restricted to only one (1) witness per contracting party, or two (2) witnesses total);
- Formal attire for the contracting parties at the wedding ceremony;
- Solemnization fee: OMR 24 (cash only).
Notes:
The Report of Marriage (ROM) will also be notarized along with the Marriage Contract at the conclusion of the wedding ceremony. The contracting parties are advised to check the additional documents here.