In the Philippines, a marriage license is required for couples who are planning to get married regardless of religion and nationality – be it Christian or Catholic, Filipino or foreign. I am Protestant and my fiancé is Catholic, and we are both Filipino-Chinese.
Nonetheless, application for marriage license is a standard process done at the city hall based on your registered place of residence. Thank goodness Klentz and I both live in Quezon City so we just need to go to one city hall!
Here is the list of requirements when applying for a marriage license at the Quezon City Hall. Take note that the marriage license is different from marriage certificate, which is issued by the church after the wedding ceremony rites.
According to the QC Civil Registry website, here are the requirements needed for application. We just submitted ours last Sept 28, 2018 so these information are still fresh.
| Requirement | Remarks | |
| 1 | Marriage License Application Form (download link) | Make 4 copies of the registration to be distributed as follows: 1st copy – Local Civil Registry 2nd copy – OCRG-PSA 3rd copy – Solemnizing Officer / Church 4th copy – Couple |
| 2 | Certified True Copy of Birth Certificate | NSO/PSA photocopy should be fine. You may opt to order from PSA online for Php 365. |
| 3 | Community Tax Certificate or cedula | You can get this from your local barangay. In my case, our barangay follows an interest penalty scheme if you apply after the month of March. Interest rate increases as the month approaches the end of the year (6%, 8%, 10%, 12%, and so on). And the total amount you have to pay is a function of your declared income. |
| 4 | One ID photo of each applicant | 1×1″ or 2×2″ size is acceptable |
| 5 | CENOMAR from the PSA (aka NSO) | Apply online (Link) and have it delivered to your doorstep in just 4-7 days! As of Aug 2018, I paid Php 465 for online application. |
| 6 | Certificate of Family Planning and Marriage Counseling | Yes you have to attend this even if you’ve had your pre-cana at the church or attended the Discovery Weekend. This is conducted by the Health Department everyday, Monday to Friday, 1-4pm and costs Php250 as of Sept 2018. |
Insider Tip: If you know someone who works at the City Hall they can get Requirement 6 waived for you, but it comes with a price 😉
Fees
- Application Form – PHP 50
- Filing Fee – PHP 100
- Marriage License Fee – PHP 100
- Registration of Marriage Certificate – PHP 70
Reminders
- Marriage license will be issued on the 11th day after the 10-day posting period upon submission of the marriage license application. License validity is 120 days from date of issuance. So make sure to time this wisely.
- Marriage licenses are released daily until 4PM
- Family planning and seminar sessions are scheduled for one-half day within the premises of the City Hall (Health Department). Inquire at counters 8, 9, and 10 for the complete details.
- Couples below 21 years old need parental consent.
Contact:
Call the QC Civil Registry Office at this number 02-9884242 loc 1516 if you have special cases or points for clarification.
This post was last modified on July 23, 2019 10:54 PM
View Comments (27)
Hi Ms. Gella! Ask lang po sana if need ba talaga na kasama si fiance during the process of application? or okay naman po if ako lang po muna btw. complete na po requirements. Sana po mabasa.
Thank you so much!
No need naman po. Ang alam ko pwede naman sign na nila in advance yung forms because for me I did not have to appear physically na sa city hall..
This is a great article! Thank you! So much better than the governement websites!
Good afternoon ano PO Ang license number na sinasabi ung na itaas o nasa baba po ung registry number?
Hi Gella,
Can we just download the marriage license application that you shared? no need to visit the cityhall to get the printed copies? Thankyou forposting this!
I lost my annulment papers. What should indo
Hi Kiko! Would recommend for you to call QC city hall instead to ask about the steps and requirements
Hi Ms. Gella, since the City Hall’s landline is always busy whenever I call them, humbly asking for your reco based on your own experience how we can apply for the family planning seminar so that we could get a certificate since that is one of the requirements need to be submitted? Are we the one to choose the schedule between the available sched indicated (mon-fri 1pm), how about walk-in? Can we attend the seminar on the same day? Any fees to pay? Please, your reply asap is highly appreciated, thanks!
Hope this helps! Let me know if you have other questions or clarifications :)
Hi Janice! I understand your concern. You need to present complete license application docs first before scheduling the seminar. Since it tends to be filled easily, best to pre-book para hindi sayang punta niyo.
The seminar is about 2 hrs long and it’s free of charge.
Hi! Does this mean that we won't get our marriage license on the same day that we applied for it? "Marriage license will be issued on the 11th day after the 10-day posting period upon submission of the marriage license application. License validity is 120 days from date of issuance. So make sure to time this wisely."
Yes it’s not same day. One of you will have to go back to claim it
mam, paano if US citizen ang groom? ano reqts for him?
Hi Elaisa, I am not familiar with US citizen requirements. Para sure you may ask the city hall for foreign citizen. I think may additional docs lang need to submit
Good
Hi Ms. Gela, is Marriage License valid anywhere in the Philippines?
Were both working in metro manila and my fiance is residing in QC. Pwede ba kami magapply sa QC ng Marriage license since taga QC naman fiance ko. Were planning to get married kasi sa lugar namin sa Cagayan para di na namin kelangan umuwi para sa License and para sa Church na lang aasikaushin namin paguwi.
Hi Nympha. Yes, marriage license application should be valid in the Philippines. For my case, we applied in QC but got married in Manila. Then the church helped us submit the marriage contract to the Manila city hall for processing.