Congratulations to Ms. Jennifer Manalo for her successful UK Visit Visa application. In our previous ECO-Friendly blog, Judicial Recognition of Foreign Divorce, we discussed how marriages celebrated in the Philippines can be subjected to divorce by foreign courts even if divorce is not permitted under Philippine laws.
In the same article, ECO-Friendly also pointed out that as long as the foreign divorce is established by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) as valid after a Petition for Judicial Recognition of the Foreign Divorce is heard and resolved, the divorce made outside the country will be recognized in the Philippines and both parties to the former marriage shall now be allowed to remarry even here in the Philippines.
In the case that was mentioned in the blog, Beth asked one of our ECO-Friendly consultants whether the foreign divorce of her partner who was a former Filipino can be held valid even if the Petition for Judicial Recognition thereof was still pending in the RTC.
According to Beth, they could not wait for the decision of the RTC because the minimum income requirement for the UK Fiancée Visa was set to be increased in May 2024 which was only a few months away. From the then MIR of GBP18,600, the new MIR was scheduled to be increased to GBP29,000 by May 2025.
Although the law on foreign divorce mandates that it be judicially recognized by the RTC in order for the former spouses to be permitted to remarry in the Philippines, this is with respect to the Filipino spouse left behind here in the Philippines. This means that the foreign spouse does not need to comply with this provision and if he was validly divorced in a foreign country, UK laws shall legally consider this divorce and he may remarry anytime anywhere in the UK.
In the same article, ECO-Friendly also pointed out that as long as the foreign divorce is established by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) as valid after a Petition for Judicial Recognition of the Foreign Divorce is heard and resolved, the divorce made outside the country will be recognized in the Philippines and both parties to the former marriage shall now be allowed to remarry even here in the Philippines.
In the case that was mentioned in the blog, Beth asked one of our ECO-Friendly consultants whether the foreign divorce of her partner who was a former Filipino can be held valid even if the Petition for Judicial Recognition thereof was still pending in the RTC.
According to Beth, they could not wait for the decision of the RTC because the minimum income requirement for the UK Fiancée Visa was set to be increased in May 2024 which was only a few months away. From the then MIR of GBP18,600, the new MIR was scheduled to be increased to GBP29,000 by May 2025.
Although the law on foreign divorce mandates that it be judicially recognized by the RTC in order for the former spouses to be permitted to remarry in the Philippines, this is with respect to the Filipino spouse left behind here in the Philippines. This means that the foreign spouse does not need to comply with this provision and if he was validly divorced in a foreign country, UK laws shall legally consider this divorce and he may remarry anytime anywhere in the UK.
Thus, once the divorce decree is issued by the Thai court, the British divorcee shall be allowed under British law to remarry in the UK even if he was a former citizen of the Philippines.
The only issue, under this scenario, where the foreign divorce needs to be judicially recognized in the Philippines is if there are properties involved which are situated in the Philippines. Under this situation, the foreign divorce needs to be established as valid so that the properties of the former spouses when they were still married can be subject to settlement by the Philippine courts.
Under the case of Beth and Mark, there were no Philippine properties involved in the previous marriage so there was no problem with the fact that they did not wait for the court to rule on the Petition for Judicial Recognition of the Foreign Divorce.
The only issue, under this scenario, where the foreign divorce needs to be judicially recognized in the Philippines is if there are properties involved which are situated in the Philippines. Under this situation, the foreign divorce needs to be established as valid so that the properties of the former spouses when they were still married can be subject to settlement by the Philippine courts.
Under the case of Beth and Mark, there were no Philippine properties involved in the previous marriage so there was no problem with the fact that they did not wait for the court to rule on the Petition for Judicial Recognition of the Foreign Divorce.
RSS Feed