Hey guys!
So I haven’t had time to write about this properly, but I got my marriage registered in November last year (2019), with my Filipino husband. We had the marriage registered in Malaysia and started planning as early as 2018. It took us over a year to have everything in place.
Getting married in Malaysia is no walk in the park if your spouse is a foreigner. The information available online is not complete, and in some cases policies change – so we ended up running to a lot of different government agencies, having to enter and exit the country multiple times, etc. I hope that by sharing my own experience, it can help other spouses plan their marriage registration better!
Note: This is written from the perspective of a non-Muslim Malaysian spouse and a non-Muslim Filipino spouse (husband). The procedure for Muslims is different.
Note 2: Information is updated as of 2019. Some policies may have changed in the meantime.
WHAT TO GET IN THE PHILIPPINES – FILIPINO SPOUSE
Step 1: NSO Birth Certificate & Certificate Of No Marriage (CENOMAR). You can order copies of these online at psa.gov.ph which should take two business days. They should cost around PHP 350 – 450 each. The CENOMAR is valid for 120 days from the date of issuance. Order two copies of each to be safe.
Step 2: The NSO Birth Cert & CENOMAR has to be authenticated by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in a process called ‘Red Ribbon’. This can be done at any of their satellite branches and will cost around PHP300. Hubs had his done at the branch in SM Megamall Ortigas.
**While you’re here, you’ll need to attend a CFO-organized seminar for Filipinos marrying abroad. Once it’s done they’ll issue you a cert. This is a requirement for registering your marriage here in Malaysia.
WHAT TO DO IN MALAYSIA
So your Filipino spouse is finally in Malaysia. You’re halfway done, congrats! This part will involve lots of running around to different government departments – hopefully this’ll help guide you in your journey. 🙂
STEP 1 : CERTIFICATE OF SINGLE STATUS – FOR THE MALAYSIAN SPOUSE
No one actually told me that I had to get a cert of single status. So when we got to the Philippine embassy (with all the other documents ready for submission) and got asked for it, we had to scramble to the Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara in Putrajaya to have it issued – there goes the day! At JPN, head to the Marriage and Divorce counter and tell them you want to get a cert of single status issued. If there aren’t too many people, you should get it within a couple of hours. PS: I can’t recall exactly but I THINK this needs to be certified by a commissioner of oaths. You can find one within the building.
Important note: After I got the cert of single status, a member of the staff advised for me to get the cert authenticated at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Wisma KLN, Precinct 2, Putrajaya. The reason given was that ‘anything that deals with foreign affairs must be authenticated at the foreign affairs department’. I have not read anything about having to do this step, but we didn’t want to risk going to the Philippine embassy and being turned away again. So we got EVERYTHING (my cert of single status, Hubs’ CENOMAR and birth cert, etc.) authenticated.
STEP 2: Applying for CLCCM (Certificate of Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage)
We returned to the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur the next day with documents in hand:
- Copies of Birth Certificate and CENOMAR by NSO, authenticated (Red Ribbon) in Philippines AND stamped by Ministry of Foreign Affairs Malaysia.
- Malaysian – Certificate of single status
- Photocopy of Malaysian spouse IC
- Photocopy of Philippine Passport (front page + page with date of entry to Malaysia will do but we printed everything to be safe)
- Passport size photos of both parties (2 pieces each)
- Affidavit of Contracting Party (you can get this at the embassy)
- Application for CLCCM (you can get this at the embassy)
- Payment: RM106.25.
Be there early (before 9AM) because it gets pretty crowded. We submitted our documents within the hour, and were told to return after 13 working days.
STEP 3: Waiting
It is a requirement to reside in the state where your spouse lives for at least 7 days. I think this is pretty hard to track because you can be travelling around as a tourist, and it’s not likely they’ll come to check on you – but to be safe, stay at your spouse’s place and go check out their neighbourhood, get used to Malaysian life, etc.
STEP 4: Collecting the CLCCM / Getting It Authenticated
After 13 business days, return to the Philippine Embassy to get your CLCCM. Guess where you’re headed again? The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Putrajaya. We made a return trip to get the CLCCM authenticated. Remember, if you’re not sure (and government staff tend to give you different instructions or “I don’t know”) , just have everything authenticated.
STEP 5: Verification of Marital Status Letter
One final hurdle before you can apply to get married. Foreign marriages can only be registered at the district where the Malaysian spouse resides. It cannot be done in JPN Putrajaya if the Malaysian spouse’s IC is not registered in Putrajaya (excluding special cases like Chinese or Nigerian nationals).
My IC is in Puchong, which falls under the purview of Daerah Petaling. Puchong has a JPN but it’s very small so for all major happenings /registrations/whatnot = JPN Petaling (in Petaling Jaya). BUT. I cannot go directly there. I had to get a Verification of Marital Status Letter issued by JPN Putrajaya, which I would have to bring to JPN Petaling. It’s basically an approval letter stating that you’re intending to marry this person and have already gotten your certificate of single status and are therefore allowed to marry.
STEP 6 : Application for marriage
We finally went to JPN Petaling for our marriage application. Documents needed:
- Verification of Marital Status Letter
- Form JPN.KC02 (can be obtained at JPN Petaling)
- One (1) colour passport-sized photograph per applicant.
- Malaysian spouse’s MYKAD
- Photocopies of Malaysian spouse’s MYKAD (photocopying services are available but it costs RM1)
- Filipino spouse’s passport
- Photocopies of Filipino spouse’s passport
- CLCCM (authenticated)
- CENOMAR (original and photocopy)
- Filipino Birth Cert (original and photocopy)
Again, to be safe, bring every single document listed in the procedures from above. You don’t want to be running to another department to get some thing or other.
Our JPN officer guided us through the forms that we had to fill up. She could speak English so we didn’t require translation services from a commissioner of oath. If you or your spouse can’t speak English or Malay, you might have to get the forms translated (I think there is a commissioner of oath available inside the JPN building)
Once you’ve submitted and filled out everything, they’ll put up a notice for 21 days, and anyone (jealous exes?) who wants to raise an objection can do so in this period. You can also set a date for the swearing in.
We had a hiccup here because even though we had a 2-month SEV for him to stay in Malaysia (mid August – mid October) the dates available for the swearing in were full until November. We went to immigration to ask if we could extend but they didn’t allow it. He ended up flying back to the Philippines (additional cost ;__;), then flew back here in November on a tourist pass lol. Which sucked because we wasted a lot of money applying for the SEV, not to mention plane tickets back and forth.
In most cases, two months should suffice. To give you a breakdown of the timeline that we followed:
- Verify Filipino spouse’s CENOMAR, Birth Cert and Malaysian spouse’s Certificate of Single Status at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Putrajaya – 1 day
- Apply for CLCCM at Philippine Embassy KL – 1 day
- Wait 13 business days for the CLCCM (does not include weekends – so we’re looking at almost 3 weeks here. It may be earlier; they will call you if it is)
- Collect CLCCM. Go to Ministry of Foreign Affairs Putrajaya to authenticate. – 1 day
- The Malaysian spouse has to get their Verification of Marital Status Letter if you’re marrying anywhere other than Putrajaya. We got this on the same day we verified the CLCCM at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Head to the JPN Branch of the district where your Malaysian spouse is residing and apply for marriage. They’ll put up a notice for 21 days. – 21 days
- Total: About 40 days, give or take.
Step 7 : Swearing in !
After all that hullabaloo, our swearing in date was finally set. The process is on a first come first served basis, so be there early ! (we were at JPN Petaling around 7.30AM). Bring:
- 2 witnesses (if they’re Malaysians, have MYKADS ready, if they’re non-Malaysians then passports)
- Malaysian spouse IC
- Foreign spouse passport
Casual wear is not allowed so no flip flops or tees. You don’t have to wear your gown though – a dress for the girl and a formal shirt for the guy should be good enough.
We were called into the room where the officer read a bunch of stuff and we had to sign some forms. We also did a symbolic ring exchange.
Getting married in Malaysia is not easy and couples should be ready to face a tonne of bureaucracy and challenges that require lots of patience and perseverance. If your foreign spouse is planning to stay here in Malaysia for the long term, it’s a whole new set of hurdles, like applying for a long term spouse visa and work permit. We haven’t gotten to that point yet, but we’ll face it when the time comes.
I hope this guide will be helpful to future couples. Good luck!
Helpful sources:
Congratulations! 🙂 Pretty comprehensive guide, by the way; reminds me of a relative on my dad’s side who’s based in KL now; she married a Malaysian national, but aside from that – I’ve got no news about her (not really close with extended relatives.)
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Thanks Monch! It’s pretty hard to get comprehensive info on this which was why we were running around like headless chickens – so I hope this’ll help other couples prepare. But then again, governments are always changing policies so there might be changes to the process. Getting married anywhere, especially if it involves a local and a foreigner, isn’t an easy task but I think it’s necessary to prevent fake marriages too.
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Many congrats on your nuptials.
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Thank you Shah! 🙂
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Congrats!😊
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Thank you 🙂
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Wow congrats. There goes still the Filipino connection.
How did you meet anyway?
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Hi Cheesecake, thanks ! We met on a language learning website. 🙂
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Thank You Eris for this guide. It does truly help me understand what needs to be done. Congratulations!!!
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May I ask if the philipino spouse who married to malaysian and got her PR, is she allowed to work in a accounting sector in malaysia?
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Hi Lydia! As I understand, Malaysian PR holders are allowed to work, as long as companies are willing to hire them. But please check with the immigration website on the requirements, as they change from time to time.
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may i ask, is it possible to marry a malaysian muslim man, and to a non muslim, but we going to marry in philippines?
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Hi! I’m not sure how the law works in the Philippines, but marriages between Muslims and non-Muslims are not allowed in Malaysia. As far as I know, the non-Muslim spouse will have to convert to Islam in order for the marriage to be recognised legally here.
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Hi I hope you can read this, is your husband living with you and working? If yes, what’s the step you all take and what’s the documents you needed and also how much money you use and how many days it takes? Thank you.
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After marriage, how can we apply the extended stay for foreign spouse? Many thanks
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is there an updated version of this? 💖
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Hi guys,
I am plan to get married to a Philipino. She is currently on a work visa in Malaysia. I was told it has to be cancel and return back to Philippines and come back with visit visa only then we can get registered here. My questions is will we be allowed to leave Philippines when we wanna leave there?
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Hi,
This is very helpful, but would you know if it’s mandatory for him to stay during the 21 days notice? (Filipina here as we are also planning the same thing) hope you notice this.. thanks in advance
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Hi. Thank you for your post, it’s been helpful.
I hope you’ll get to see this. May I know if for the application of CLCCM in the Philippine Embassy, is there a need for both the parties to be present? Or can it be just one to submit the documents? Thank you.
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Hi Net! If I remember correctly, they required me to be present. My husband went in alone but I was asked to enter as well when he was getting the documents. Hope this helps!
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Where was your red ribbon made at that time? Philippine Embassy? Because I heard that the Philippines did not come out. Hope you can see it. Thank you
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As far as I know, the embassy does not do the Red Ribbon; you’ll probably have to return to the Philippines to get it done for your documents. My husband did it in Manila.
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Hello Eris! Thank you for your reply on my inquiry last time.
I just want to have a follow up question, please.
There’s this part in your post where you said: “We went to immigration to ask if we could extend but they didn’t allow it.” May I know if what steps you did to go and ask immigration to extend? Did you go to the office personally to inquire or via phone only?
Thank you so so much for your time in replying.
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We went personally to immigration to request for a special pass (it’s a pass that allows foreigners to stay in Malaysia to settle pending matters, such as registering your marriage, or applying for a spouse visa.) Unfortunately at the time, immigration did not allow him to get a special pass, as he had entered the country on a SEV (single entry visa), which is why he had to fly back to the Philippines. Hope that gives you a clearer picture 🙂
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Hi Eris,
Thank you so much again for your reply. Really appreciate it!
Will be requesting for a special pass tomorrow. I came without SEV and I’m just short of a few days for the 7 days required stay of NRD for the registration. Praying they will understand and grant me one. 🙏🏻
Thanks once again!
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You’re most welcome. All the best!
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Hello Eris, I would like to congratulate you! I am also on the same road now and I wonder how your partner gets his SEV. I am also from the Philippines and plan to get married early next year. I wish you could share the link for the SEV application blog, I will highly appreciate that. Thank you!
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Thank you Bianca! Unfortunately I never got down to posting about the SEV application, and I kind of forgot what the procedures were like because it was so long ago. But feel free to reach out to me via email (in my About section) and I can ask my husband if he recalls what he did for it 🙂
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Thank you for sharing your experience getting married in Malaysia. We are also planning to get married come 2023. I’m a Filipino and my gf is a malaysian chinese from Pulau Pinang. Hopefully, we can arrange everything on time.
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You are welcome! All the best to you and your partner 🙂
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How if my husband is Malaysian it’s vise versa?
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Hi Danica, the procedure should be the same 🙂
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Hi, i want to ask for Jpn requirements is 1 single status which is cenomar & original Birth Certificate means they want the Authenticated Birth & Cenomar from DFA? Or its the normal one that is original copy only. Thanks
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Yes, it needs to be authenticated at the DFA in a process called “Red Ribbon”. Otherwise the document will not be accepted by the Philippine embassy in Malaysia when you register your marriage here. You can find a list of places where the DFA does this process here: https://www.philippine-embassy.org.sg/consular/consular-services-authenticationnotarialscertification/authentication-of-documents-issued-in-the-philippines/
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I already have the cenomar & PSA Birth that already Authenticate to send to Phil Embassy. Im just abit confused on the requirements from Jpn if its like the same as Phil Embassy dat need to be Authenticated the cenomar & Original Birth Certificate. Thank you so much!
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Hi, may I ask if he needs to have cooling off period? Thank you.
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If your foreign partner is male, yes a 6-month cooling period applies. If they are female, I believe you can apply directly after you’ve registered your marriage. But this is also subject to the immigration where you’re applying, as different states may have different rules.
If your foreign partner is currently working in Malaysia under a temporary working permit, then it doesn’t matter if they are male or female, they will still have to exit Malaysia and do the cooling off period for six months.
Hope this helps!
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Hi congratulations, I just wan to know is need to red ribbon my psa birth certificate
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Hi thank you for sharing this.
May I ask what kind of visa (I am a Filipino) is needed in order to get married in a Malaysia (Fiancé is a Non-Muslim Filipino Citizen) ? I was looking into the CFO seminar you mentioned and they’re requiring me to show a visa to get the certificate.
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Hi,
According to my husband, he went to the CFO seminar first, and showed proof that he was coming to Malaysia with the intention to marry (CFO wanted to see the online conversations between me and him, they also did an interview, etc.). They then issued the cert within the day, so he wasn’t required to show any visa. The process might be different now.
The only visa I can think of is the 60-day single entry visa issued by the Malaysian embassy. This will let you stay in Malaysia longer to complete your marriage registration, as the usual tourist visa is only 30 days. You might want to inquire with the Malaysian embassy to see what requirements are needed.
Sorry couldn’t be of much help!
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Thank you for taking the time to answer! No worries, your post has been very helpful to us.
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Hi, thank you for sharing your story. I am also married to Philippines, my husband is currently in Malaysia under tourist pass. Can I ask on how to apply for social visit pass from the Malaysian Embassy? I already read the required documents but I don’t understand about the invitation letter (need to obtain from Philippines embassy or self write) and also the entry approval (do not know how to get this). If you have any experience on getting those documents, please share. Thank you very much for your time.
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Hi Dianah,
I don’t quite understand your question. If your husband is here on a tourist pass, you won’t need to apply for a social visit pass from the Malaysian embassy.
Do you mean you would like to extend the period of his tourist visa? Or are you planning to apply for a long term social visit pass (LTSVP) so that he can stay here permanently?
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Hi Eris,
How can we apply the extended stay for foreign spouse after our marriage registration is completed? Thanks
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Hey Vincent!
Are you intending to apply for a long term social visit pass (LTSVP) for your spouse? If yes, you should be starting the process ASAP, as appointments are hard to come by and you may have to book up to three months in advance from the immigration website: https://sto.imi.gov.my/STO/home.php.
If you can’t secure a date anytime soon, you might have to apply for a Special Pass from immigration (this can be done by walk-in at the Selangor branch, I’m not sure about other branches). This Special pass lets your foreign spouse stay for an additional 30 days, subject to two times renewal. You must show proof that you’re in the process of applying for the LTSVP though (such as a confirmed appointment date).
Hope this helps!
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