What you need for the Philippines
Why people send Canadian documents to the Philippines
Each situation has its own requirements. Here are the ones we see most often, with the detail that avoids a refusal.
Getting married in the Philippines
The Philippine Family Code asks a foreigner for a certificate of legal capacity to contract marriage, issued by their embassy. Canada does not issue this certificate: instead, the Embassy of Canada in Manila prepares a statement in its place, based on a notarized statutory declaration from each Canadian. The local civil registrar also asks for your birth certificate and, if you were married before, the divorce or the former spouse's death certificate.
Getting a Canadian divorce recognized
A divorce granted in Canada is not automatically recognized in the Philippines. For the Filipino spouse to remarry or update their civil status, a petition for recognition must go before a Regional Trial Court, followed by annotation of the judgment by the civil registry and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The court asks for official copies of the divorce and a certified copy of Canada's divorce law, apostilled.
Resident visa for the spouse of a Filipino, known as 13(a)
The foreign spouse of a Filipino citizen can apply for a non-quota immigrant visa. For an applicant in Canada, the Philippine consulate in Vancouver's checklist requires the RCMP police certificate, the provincial birth certificate and, if the marriage took place in Canada, the provincial marriage certificate, each apostilled in Canada.
Special power of attorney for property, a bank or an estate
A special power of attorney lets a relative sell land, claim a deposit or settle an estate for you. You can sign it before a Canadian notary and have it apostilled, or sign it in person at the Philippine consulate, which then acts as the notary itself.
Which Canadian authority apostilles your document
The authority depends on where in Canada the document was issued or notarized, never on where you live now or where the document is going. We confirm it at the free pre-check, before you send anything.
| Document | Canadian authority | Notary first? |
|---|---|---|
| Birth, marriage or death certificate | The province that issued it (Québec, Ontario, BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan), or Global Affairs Canada for all others | No |
| RCMP criminal record check | Global Affairs Canada | No |
| Degree, diploma, transcript | The province of the institution | Often, depending on the province |
| Power of attorney, statutory declaration, affidavit | The province of the notary or lawyer | Yes, the notarial act is what gets apostilled |
| Corporate documents | The province of the registry, or Global Affairs Canada for Corporations Canada | Sometimes, depending on the document |
Do you need a translation for the Philippines?
English is an official language of the Philippines and the language of government, the courts and the civil registry. Your Canadian documents in English are therefore accepted without translation. Québec documents in French (birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce judgment) will generally need to be translated into English. The Embassy of Canada in Manila notes that Philippine authorities may require an official English translation of a divorce judgment.
Our advice: have the translation done in Canada by a certified translator, and ask the Philippine authority whether it must be notarized and apostilled along with the document. If your apostille is in French only, check whether it needs translating too. The authority receiving your document decides; we confirm these points at the pre-check.
Three mistakes that delay a file for the Philippines
Avoid this
Remarrying before the divorce is recognized
If a first marriage was celebrated or registered in the Philippines and then ended by a Canadian divorce, the Philippine civil registry still treats it as existing until a court recognizes the divorce. A new marriage can then be blocked. The Embassy of Canada advises consulting a lawyer or the PSA before planning the wedding.
Avoid this
Counting on the Canadian statement without checking
Canada does not issue a certificate of legal capacity to marry, only a statement issued in its place. Some registrars refuse it. A call to the local registrar before you leave saves you from showing up without the right document when you apply for the marriage licence.
Avoid this
Having a document witnessed by a commissioner
In Canada, a commissioner of oaths can take a declaration, but an apostille generally requires a notary's signature, as the Philippine consulate in Calgary points out. A special power of attorney or statutory declaration signed before a commissioner will be refused for apostille and will have to be signed again.
Useful guides: RCMP fingerprints from abroad · Marrying abroad · Divorce certificates · RCMP criminal record check · Powers of attorney
Does the Philippines accept Canadian apostilles?
Does the Philippine embassy or consulate still need to authenticate my document?
Can I sign my special power of attorney at the consulate instead of with a notary?
Is my Canadian divorce valid in the Philippines?
Which documents need an apostille for a 13(a) visa?
My Québec birth certificate is in French. Does it need to be translated?
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