Let’s just say it.
There is ‘no divorce allowed in the Philippines’, but a marriage between a Filipino and a foreigner (e.g. an Australian) is a special case.
The Philippines will recognize the divorce of a Filipino or Australian citizen obtained back in Australia by the Australian spouse.
Their Australian divorce can be recognized in the Philippines whether it was obtained by the Filipino or by the Australian, as long as at least one of them was a non-Filipino at the time of the divorce. (This is crucial for the Filipino citizen seeking to remarry in the Philippines, in the future).
This follows from the second paragraph of Article 26 of the Family Code of the Philippines: “Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner (in this case and Australian) is validly celebrated and a divorce is thereafter validly obtained abroad (in an Australian Court) by the alien (Australian citizen) spouse capacitating him or her to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall have capacity to remarry under Philippine law.”
Now, lets just STOP here and understand the rules governing every step and who they apply to.
If you are the Australian citizen at the time of your marriage in the Philippines and you then applied for a divorce in Australia and want to remarry in the Philippines, it is fairly straight forward.
However, if you are the Filipino citizen who married your Australian spouse, there are a set of rules and guidelines you need to properly understand and comply with otherwise your next marriage in the Philippines will be deemed unlawful and will definitely trigger Public Interest Criteria 4020 (‘providing false and/or misleading information and bogus documents in your possible future spouse visa application to Australia from the Philippines’).
Applying For A Spouse Visa To Australia From The Philippines under normal conditions is difficult enough as it is but Migration During Pandemics, is a whole new set of scenarios to consider all together.
If you have been married in the Philippines before and organised a divorce in Australia and you want to get re-married in the Philippines again, I suggest you read the following links below and talk to a reputable Philippines lawyer that can handle the former Philippine citizens re-marriage application process appropriately.
As they say, ‘Filipinos are hopeless romantics’ and for many former Filipinos rushing into re-marrying someone in the Philippines, can spell a lot of unnecessary trouble for them when they lodge any future spouse visa application from the Philippines to Australia. Please slow down and send us an email to info@respall.com regarding your intentions to re-marry in the Philippines as we can assist further in explaining how to properly structure yourselves for your future partner visa application to Australia from the Philippines. MABUHAY!
https://lawyerphilippines.org/2017/04/11/recognition-of-foreign-divorce-in-the-philippines-process/
