Hello all. I have a very unusual case. I am an EU citizen, my wife is Filipino. 2.5 years ago, we got married in the Philippines in accordance with Filipino law. We brought all the required documents to the Registry Office. After about 3 weeks, after being checked by the Office, we received a Married License. Then, under Filipino law, we get married in the Registry Office. Then, after a waiting period, we received the marriage certificate. After that, my wife got a Filipino passport with my surname on it and then a British family member's visa as I live permanently in the UK. Wife in the UK was granted resident status. All documents have been checked many times by the Philippines offices. There has never been a problem until today. We applied for a British passport for our newborn baby. Our surprise was great when an officer from the passport office called us. He said that our child could not receive British citizenship because my wife, in 2013, got married to another man. This information was sent by the Philippine Statistic Authority. Our marriage contracted in 2018 is illegal according to the Passport Office. How is it possible that the wife before our wedding received a certificate from the same PSA office? This certificate confirms that my wife is not married from 1945 to 2018. My wife has not been married before, but she suspects that it may be fraudulent and the preparation of documents by an unfriendly person. What can we do about it? We cannot fly to the Philippines and clarify the matter, because our passports are at the British Emigration Office. We got married in 2018, documents were checked many times and there was never any information that the wife was previously married. Now it's probably bigamy, the wife has two husbands. Help, please
Oopps.......... That is a new one even for me............ I don't know what to suggest apart from appointing someone honest and loyal with Power of Attorney to indagate and report. Some of the other guys may be able to give a better kind of insight. Welcome aboard.
firstly--welcome to the forum. a question: did you know your wife in 2013--when this first marriage allegedly took place ?
How is it possible that the Philippine Statistics Authority certified my wife in 2018 that she was not married. Then this document was checked by other offices.
They transcibed my name wrong on the marriage scertificate........ Last year we went to Pinas with the express intention to get the right stuff to present to the Italian Embassy for my wife's application for Italian Citizenship. Suffice to say that the application was refused until all necessary changes to my name are done by the NSO. In the next few years, I will have my wife apply for British Nationality, much easier and cheaper than having to go back to Pinas and start all over again.
have you had any paper or online confirmation of this refusal from the UK office ? or just a phonecall ?
No. Only from the UK Passport Office, I received an email saying that my son cannot get a British passport because the UK office considers our marriage illegal.
If you are named as the father on the Birth Certificate, I do not see a relevance to marriage. Because lots of children are born out of wedlock, and still entitled to have the father's surname on the certificate.
Only a lawyer in the Philippines can help me. Nobody in the UK. I can't fly to the Philippines because I don't have a passport.
I think the angle they are coming from is If the lady was (and I say was) in their view married to the first chap when baby was born, that chap would be the father not the biological father because they havent recognised in their view the 2nd marriage even though from the OP it is genuine regardless of the name on the Birth Certificate (the registrar wouldnt check marriage records). The OP needs to get the bogus marriage sorted before a British Passport will be issued
Welcome Not sure if its relevant but NSO became PSA in 2013 (perhaps a bungling or mix up of records) As you say you cant get to the Philippines so you need to try and do it electronically, this link might help as a start point https://www.moneymax.ph/government-services/articles/nso-psa-online-services