Planning to settle down and get married? Then you must ready your marriage license. Marriage license is a requirement for both civil and church wedding here in Davao. This piece of document is your ultimate ticket to walk the aisle. My wife and I processed our marriage license effortlessly, and this is how we did it.
The most basic rule of thumb in dealing with local Philippine government office is to arrive early morning, or right after lunch break, this is to avoid long queue of people.
We drove to our city’s Local Civil Registrar and secured the application form for marriage license. We filed a sworn application separately for the license. I filled out the left sheet, while my partner signed the right sheet.
Sworn applications for such license shall specific the following:
• Full name of the contracting party
• Place of birth
• Age and date of birth
• Age and date of birth
• Civil status
• If previously married, how, when and where the previous marriage was dissolved or annulled
• Present residence and citizenship
• Degree of relationship of the contracting parties
• Full name, residence and citizenship of the father
• Full name, residence and citizenship of the mother and
• Full name, residence and citizenship of the guardian or person having charge, in case the contracting party has neither father nor mother and is under the age of twenty-one (21) years.
We were lucky we have our parents helping us with the process; we were able to relieve ourselves from extra stress by completing all requirements before heading to the registrar’s office. Also, we were advised to bring the original and clear photocopies of the required documents just to make sure.
We then sworn for our applications and submit the following documents:
• Original birth certificate or baptismal certificate issued by NSO, Certified True Copy
• Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR), this is issued by the NSO
• Community Tax Certificate or Cedula
• 1 x 1 ID picture, both colored and black and white
• For applicants below 18 to 21 years old, the registrar required Affidavit ot Parent’s Consent or Affidavit of Parent’s Advice for 21 to 25 years old. This document is a written indication that the parents of the involved parties are aware of the couple’s intent to tie the knot.
After submitting all these documents, we were then handed a slip of paper that required us to attend a scheduled seminar on pre-marital counseling and family planning at our City Hall. From there we obtained our Certificate of Attendance, which is also a requirement for the marriage license.
Our presence was required for the claiming of marriage license. The Philippine law gives 10-days waiting period from the day the application is filed to the day of license issuance. Marriage license issued by the Local Civil Registrar is valid for 120 days from the date of issuance, including the actual wedding date, and can be used anywhere in the country.
