Q. Good afternoon Atty. Wong! I am presently engaged and planning to get married . My boyfriend is a Filipino-Canadian citizen for almost 18years. Never been married po siya at ganoon din ako.
The problem is ano po bang dapat namin gawin kasi yong birthday na nakalagay sa birth certificate niya is 1976 pero doon sa record niya sa Canada at pati doon sa passport niya ay 1969, so lahat po nang documents niya sa Canada ay 1969 na ang ginamit niya.
Ngayon po pag nag pakasal po kmi sa Pilipinas makikita po na mag-kaiba ang birth year. Takot po ako na magka problema pa siya. Give me an advice kung ano pong dapat naming gawin.
Maraming salamat po kung mabigyan ng pansin itong letter ko.Hihintayin ko po ang inyong sagot. Maraming Salamat po. Itago ninyo ako sa pangalang… “Necy”.
Ans: It is my view that the discrepancy of your boyfriend’s birth year as appearing in his birth Certificate(1976) and the one in his passport(1969) will NOT be a serious issue of your forthcoming marriage in the Philippines. Whether your boyfriend’s birth year is 1976 or 1969, the discrepancy is immaterial as in both years of purported birth, he is already more than 30 years old as such the age of the contracting parties requiring parental advice or consent is no longer an issue.
Normally the purpose of perusing the birth certificates of the contracting parties is primarily to assess the legal capacity of the contracting parties to marry and whether or not there is a need to seek parental advice or consent, if the parties are below 25 years old, respectively.
Moreover, considering that your boyfriend is already a Canadian citizen, this corner is of the view that he will not be required to submit his birth Certificate. Instead as Canadian citizen, your boyfriend will be required to submit the so called CERTIFICATE OF CAPACITY TO MARRY and a copy of his Canadian citizenship certificate and his valid Canadian passport showing the details of his person.
This certificate can be secured by your boyfriend from the Canadian Consulate in the Philippines. Furthermore, considering that your boyfriend is now Canadian citizen and his official birth year is 1969 as appearing in his passport and his Citizenship Card, it would be best to use 1969 as his birthday for consistency.
In case the said discrepancy will be questioned later in the Philippines, your boyfriend and two(2) disinterested persons, may just execute an Affidavit attesting to the fact that your boyfriend was borne in 1969 and that the 1976 birth year in his birth certificate was a mistake or error only.
But as Canadian citizen and considering that he is already over 30 years old, whether based on 1976 or 1969 birth years, his birth certificate will no longer be an issue. Your boyfriend can just use his Canadian passport and his Canadian Citizenship card where his birthday also appears as supporting documents concerning his identity, nationality and capacity to marry. Just be sure to have your boyfriend secure the CERTIFICATE OF CAPACITY TO MARRY from the Canadian Consulate or Canadian Embassy in the Makati City, as this said certificate is an essential requirement in the application of Marriage License. Thank you for writing and good luck.
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