Congratulations to you Jennessie Rayner (formerly Jennessie Avila) for a successful name change and aligning that led to the successful issuance of your First British Passport. (Jennessie on the right poses with her proud mother Jenneth on the left) Last September 2025, ECO-Friendly posted an article about JUDICIAL RECOGNITION OF FOREIGN DIVORCE.
In that article, we explained that in order for a divorce issued by a foreign country between a Filipino married couple who celebrated their wedding in the Philippines can become legally valid here in the Philippines, that foreign divorce needs to be judicially recognized by a local court.
And that after the foreign divorce is judicially recognized, even the spouse who was left behind here in the Philippines can be allowed to remarry.
In the same manner, an adoption conducted legally outside the Philippines can likewise be validly accepted locally once it is judicially recognized by the Regional Trial Court (RTC).
Just like in the case of a foreign divorce, a pleading, in the form of a Petition for Judicial Recognition of a Foreign Adoption must first be filed in the RTC having jurisdiction over the Local Civil Registry Office (LCRO) where the birth certificate of the adoptee from the Philippines was registered.
After a verified petition with the appropriate RTC having jurisdiction over the special proceeding is filed, the said court who shall take cognizance of the petition shall order the presentation of evidence (authenticated documents) in order to prove that the foreign court’s decision to issue the adoption was valid.
The following basic supporting documents shall be filed with the court by the petitioner:
The evidence shall not be limited to the documents listed above and the court may request additional proof it may deem necessary and relevant to the petition in order to prove the veracity of the petitioner’s claims.
Worth mentioning is the fact that the RTC has no intention to re-litigate the adoption but is merely establishing that without a doubt, the adoption was legitimately and validly obtained by the petitioner and issued by the foreign court.
After evidence has been presented, the RTC will now hear the testimony of the competent witnesses, who may either be the adoptee himself or the duly authorized representative.
Note that the child who was subject of the foreign adoption will, in most cases be living in the country where the adoption took place and therefore he or she will need to return to the Philippines for the hearing of the petition.
In some cases, since the child is a minor and usually attends school in the foreign land, it is the parents who will fly to the Philippines to represent the child in the hearings.
Say for example a minor Filipino child Roberto, 13 years old, is brought to the UK by his Filipina mother Martha to live with the latter’s British husband George. Now the three of them are happily living in the UK as a family. Martha and Roberto are in the UK on a spouse and child dependent visa respectively.
George then adopts Roberto in the UK and the family court issues an adoption decree now making George the adoptive parent of Roberto. In the case at bar, if Roberto could not fly back to the Philippines because he is studying in the UK and at the same time still a minor, either his mother Martha or his adoptive father George or both can be allowed testify in the Philippine court as representative of Roberto.
The proceedings can take around two to three years depending on the court’s docket, so the parents Martha or George or both or Roberto himself needs to return to the Philippines every time the court needs their testimonies.
Once the decision of the local court judicially recognizing the foreign adoption is issued, the next step to take would be registering the same with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) so that the new name of the adoptee using the surname of the adoptive parent can be annotated in the birth certificate.
At this point, the adopted child in the UK may file for a British passport using his adoptive parent’s last name as he or she automatically became a British citizen on the date of the adoption order.
But before the adopted child can file for a First British Passport, all documents must be aligned and changed to the last name of the adoptive parent. This will be the topic of our next article…
In that article, we explained that in order for a divorce issued by a foreign country between a Filipino married couple who celebrated their wedding in the Philippines can become legally valid here in the Philippines, that foreign divorce needs to be judicially recognized by a local court.
And that after the foreign divorce is judicially recognized, even the spouse who was left behind here in the Philippines can be allowed to remarry.
In the same manner, an adoption conducted legally outside the Philippines can likewise be validly accepted locally once it is judicially recognized by the Regional Trial Court (RTC).
Just like in the case of a foreign divorce, a pleading, in the form of a Petition for Judicial Recognition of a Foreign Adoption must first be filed in the RTC having jurisdiction over the Local Civil Registry Office (LCRO) where the birth certificate of the adoptee from the Philippines was registered.
After a verified petition with the appropriate RTC having jurisdiction over the special proceeding is filed, the said court who shall take cognizance of the petition shall order the presentation of evidence (authenticated documents) in order to prove that the foreign court’s decision to issue the adoption was valid.
The following basic supporting documents shall be filed with the court by the petitioner:
- Foreign Adoption Decree or Certificate: Must be duly authenticated (apostilled or consularized, depending on the country of origin).
- Authenticated Copies of Foreign Laws: Proof of the law under which the child was adopted abroad, showing compliance with that jurisdiction’s adoption requirements.
- Birth Certificate of the Child: Usually the latest version on file plus any prior documents, if available.
- Marriage Certificate of Adoptive Parents (if applicable)
- Supporting Documents: These might include immigration or travel documents, proof of residency, or other evidence that the adoption was validly issued abroad.
The evidence shall not be limited to the documents listed above and the court may request additional proof it may deem necessary and relevant to the petition in order to prove the veracity of the petitioner’s claims.
Worth mentioning is the fact that the RTC has no intention to re-litigate the adoption but is merely establishing that without a doubt, the adoption was legitimately and validly obtained by the petitioner and issued by the foreign court.
After evidence has been presented, the RTC will now hear the testimony of the competent witnesses, who may either be the adoptee himself or the duly authorized representative.
Note that the child who was subject of the foreign adoption will, in most cases be living in the country where the adoption took place and therefore he or she will need to return to the Philippines for the hearing of the petition.
In some cases, since the child is a minor and usually attends school in the foreign land, it is the parents who will fly to the Philippines to represent the child in the hearings.
Say for example a minor Filipino child Roberto, 13 years old, is brought to the UK by his Filipina mother Martha to live with the latter’s British husband George. Now the three of them are happily living in the UK as a family. Martha and Roberto are in the UK on a spouse and child dependent visa respectively.
George then adopts Roberto in the UK and the family court issues an adoption decree now making George the adoptive parent of Roberto. In the case at bar, if Roberto could not fly back to the Philippines because he is studying in the UK and at the same time still a minor, either his mother Martha or his adoptive father George or both can be allowed testify in the Philippine court as representative of Roberto.
The proceedings can take around two to three years depending on the court’s docket, so the parents Martha or George or both or Roberto himself needs to return to the Philippines every time the court needs their testimonies.
Once the decision of the local court judicially recognizing the foreign adoption is issued, the next step to take would be registering the same with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) so that the new name of the adoptee using the surname of the adoptive parent can be annotated in the birth certificate.
At this point, the adopted child in the UK may file for a British passport using his adoptive parent’s last name as he or she automatically became a British citizen on the date of the adoption order.
But before the adopted child can file for a First British Passport, all documents must be aligned and changed to the last name of the adoptive parent. This will be the topic of our next article…
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