Short answer. No. The Family Code says so expressly: applicants, their parents or guardians shall not be required to exhibit their residence certificates in any formality connected with securing the marriage license. What the law does require is a sworn application from each party stating the personal details Article 11 lists.
What the law says
The applicants, their parents or guardians shall not be required to exhibit their residence certificates in any formality in connection with the securing of the marriage license.
Family Code, Article 11 — Contents of the Marriage License Application. Read the full provision →
The law answers this one directly
Article 11 of the Family Code closes with a sentence written for exactly this situation: the applicants, their parents or guardians shall not be required to exhibit their residence certificates in any formality in connection with the securing of the marriage license. The prohibition is broad on every axis — it covers the applicants and their parents or guardians, and it covers any formality in the licensing process, not just the filing of the application itself. A cedula is simply not among the legal prerequisites of a marriage license.
What the application actually requires
What Article 11 does demand is information, sworn to. Each of the contracting parties files separately a sworn application for the license with the proper local civil registrar, stating the particulars the article enumerates: full name, place of birth, age and date of birth, civil status, how any previous marriage was dissolved or annulled, present residence and citizenship, the parties' degree of relationship, and the full names, residences and citizenship of each party's father and mother — plus the guardian's details where a party under twenty-one has neither parent. Note that residence is declared in the sworn application; that is how the law learns where you live, without a cedula.
If the civil registrar's window asks for one anyway
Local offices sometimes keep checklists that outlive the law behind them, and a clerk may ask for a cedula out of habit — it is a cheap document, and many couples simply buy one rather than argue. Knowing the provision changes the conversation: the requirement the clerk is applying is one the Family Code forbids in terms. Politely pointing to the final sentence of Article 11 usually suffices. Keep the objection in proportion, though — the registrar can still require what the law does require, such as the sworn applications and the documents other provisions call for, so make sure the rest of your papers are in order before standing on this point.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Rommel Genio y Santos vs. People of the Philippines, G.R. No. 261666, January 24, 2024 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Jinkie Christie A. De Jesus, et al., vs. The Estate of Decedent Juan Gamboa Dizon, et al, G.R. No. 142877, October 2, 2001 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Grace J. Garcia, a.k.a. Grace J. Garcia-Recio, vs. Rederick A. Recio, G.R. No. 138322, October 2, 2001 — read the decision on LawPhil →