How to get a CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage Record) and Advisory on Marriages

A CENOMAR is a paper from the PSA that says you have no marriage on record in the Philippines, so you are free to marry. If the PSA does find a marriage under your name, it sends you an Advisory on Marriages instead, which lists every marriage it has on file for you, with the dates, the places, and the names of the spouses.

The three ways to get it

Online

Yes

You cannot choose which document you get. The PSA system automatically searches the national marriage records when it processes your CENOMAR request.

If it finds nothing you get the CENOMAR. If it finds one or more marriages, it prints an Advisory on Marriages in place of the CENOMAR, and that still counts as service given, so there is no refund. This is worth knowing before you order, because an Advisory arriving instead of a CENOMAR shocks people who believed they were single on paper.

The most common innocent reasons are a marriage you did know about but thought was annulled (an annulment does not erase the record, it adds a note to it), and a same-name mix-up.

Go to PSA Serbilis at www.psaserbilis.com.ph or PSAHelpline at psahelpline.ph.
Pick 'CENOMAR'. You do not choose 'Advisory on Marriages' - there is no separate button for it.
Type your complete name, sex, date of birth, and place of birth.
Type your father's complete name and your mother's complete maiden name.
Say your purpose. If you are marrying, say so, because some offices need the purpose printed on the certificate.
Choose delivery, LBC pickup, PSA outlet pickup, viewable online, or delivery abroad.
Type your complete delivery address, mobile number, and email address.
Save your Reference Number.
Pay through any accepted channel.
Track the order. When it arrives, show your valid ID to the courier.
For a digitally signed PDF, e-cert.psahelpline.ph also covers CENOMAR and cenodeath. Download the PDF within 60 days.

Walk-in

Yes

A CENOMAR is a national record held only by the PSA, so unlike a birth or marriage certificate there is no Local Civil Registry Office copy you can fall back on. The PSA is the only source.

If you need it for a marriage licence, ask your Local Civil Registrar how recent the copy must be before you pay, because you may need to reorder if your wedding date slips.

Book a free slot at appointment.psa.gov.ph.
Choose 'CENOMAR' and fill in your details.
Enter the One-Time Password sent to your mobile number.
Pick the PSA outlet, the date, and a morning or afternoon slot.
Confirm and save the emailed appointment slip with its QR code.
On the day, bring the appointment slip, your original valid ID, and cash.
Fill out the application form at the outlet, including your parents' names.
Pay PHP 210.00 per copy and keep the receipt.
Wait to be called and claim the certificate.

Representative

Partly

Same rule as the other PSA documents under PSA Memorandum Circular No. 2019-15A, and the same two exceptions: no representative is allowed for the Serbilis 'Viewable Online' and 'Pick up at PSA outlet' options, where the owner must pay and claim in person. Be careful who you send.

A CENOMAR or an Advisory on Marriages reveals your whole marital history, including former spouses' names, so treat it as private.

You, the owner, sign an authorisation letter or have an SPA made, saying it is for a CENOMAR, how many copies, and the purpose.
Give the representative the original or a photocopy of your valid ID with photo and signature.
The representative brings their own valid ID with photo and signature.
The representative shows the authorisation letter or SPA, your ID, and their own ID at the PSA outlet or to the courier on delivery.
On PSAHelpline, use the online Letter of Authorization instead: tick the LOA option before submitting, then after payment upload your ID, take a live selfie, and enter the representative's full name and date of birth. Only one representative per order, and only at the registered delivery address.

What to bring

Your complete name: first name, middle name, last name
Your sex
Your date of birth
Your place of birth: city or municipality, and province
Complete name of your father
Complete maiden name of your mother
Your civil status and, if you are asking for a spouse, proof that you are married or widowed
One valid government ID with your photo and signature
Your purpose for asking (marriage licence, work abroad, visa, and so on) - the purpose is a required field
Complete delivery address, mobile number, and email address, if you want it delivered
Payment

The details

Who can apply

The same PSA rule:

the owner, or a duly authorised representative
the owner's spouse, parent, direct descendant, guardian, or the institution legally in charge if the owner is a minor
a court or proper public official when needed in a legal or administrative case
the nearest of kin, if the owner has died. Two specific catches on the online channels: on PSA Serbilis, to request a CENOMAR for your spouse, your own civil status must be Married or Widowed - a single person cannot request a 'spouse' CENOMAR. On PSAHelpline you may order only for yourself, your child, or your parents; for anyone else you must go to a PSA outlet

Cost

A CENOMAR costs more than a birth or marriage certificate because the PSA has to search the whole national marriage database. PSA document fee: PHP 210.00 per copy.

PSA outlet walk-in or Serbilis 'pick up at PSA outlet': PHP 210.00 per copy
PSA Serbilis door-to-door inside the Philippines, LBC branch pickup, or embassy delivery: PHP 430.00 for the first copy, then PHP 50.00 less for each extra copy (a 2nd copy is PHP 380.00)
PSAHelpline door-to-door: PHP 420.00 per copy, service fee and nationwide courier already included
PSA Serbilis delivery outside the Philippines by PHLPost: USD 25.30 per copy; DHL Express shipping is billed to you separately by DHL. Note that PSAHelpline's international orders do not include shipping in the PHP 420
Viewable Online for 60 days: PHP 185.00, paid in person at a PSA CRS outlet
DocPrint on security paper within those 60 days: PHP 80.00 per printed copy
Government agency E-Copy: PHP 360.00 per copy
Appointment booking is free
PSA E-Certificate PDF: There is no separate fee for an Advisory on Marriages - you pay the CENOMAR fee and the PSA decides which of the two to print

How long it takes

The same schedule as the other PSA documents, but expect the manual-search delay more often, because a CENOMAR searches the whole country. PSA Serbilis, from the day payment is received: Metro Manila 3 to 4 working days; other provinces 6 to 8 working days; add 5 to 7 more days outside the courier's normal service area; overseas 6 to 8 weeks by PHLPost.

Government agency E-Copy in 2 to 3 working days. PSAHelpline: next day for Metro Manila after PSA release, 3 to 8 working days elsewhere in the country.

Walk-in is usually same day at a large outlet. Add 10 to 15 working days if the PSA has to search its microfilm and paper archives by hand.

How long it lasts

This is the one PSA document that people really do need fresh, and it is important to understand why. Republic Act 11909 gives permanent validity only to certificates of live birth, death, and marriage.

A CENOMAR is not on that list, and it was deliberately left out: a CENOMAR only says 'no marriage was found as of the day this was printed', and you could marry the very next day. So a CENOMAR printed years ago proves nothing about today.

In practice, offices treat a CENOMAR as good for about 6 months. For a marriage licence, the Local Civil Registrar will normally require one issued within the last 6 months, and embassies and immigration offices usually say 3 to 6 months.

Tips

Getting an Advisory on Marriages instead of a CENOMAR is not an error, and you cannot ask the PSA to reissue it as a CENOMAR. It means the PSA found a marriage under your name. If you believe it is wrong, get a copy of that marriage certificate first to see whose record it actually is, then take it to the Local Civil Registry Office of the place of marriage. Correcting or cancelling a wrongly recorded marriage usually needs a court order, not just a form, so give it months.
An annulment or a declaration of nullity does not turn an Advisory back into a CENOMAR. The marriage record stays, and the court decision is added to it as an annotation. What you present to a Local Civil Registrar for a new marriage licence is the annotated PSA marriage certificate, not a CENOMAR.
Order it late, not early. A CENOMAR is the one PSA document with a short useful life, so getting it months before your marriage licence appointment or embassy interview can mean paying twice. Ask the office for its exact age limit, then order to fit that window - but still leave 2 to 3 weeks for delivery outside Metro Manila.
Use your name exactly as it appears on your PSA birth certificate, and give your parents' names correctly. The search runs on those fields, and a wrong middle name or a mother's married surname instead of her maiden name can produce a wrong result. There is no refund, so a typing mistake costs you the whole fee.
Do not confuse the three documents. A CENOMAR says you have never married. An Advisory on Marriages lists all your marriages. A Marriage Certificate is the record of one specific marriage. Offices ask for different ones, so read the requirement carefully before you pay.

Not verified

The research could not confirm these against an official 2026 source. Phone the office before you travel.

no official price list published as of 31 July 2026.
the PSA does not print an expiry date on the CENOMAR itself and does not publish a single nationwide validity rule - the 6-month figure comes from the offices that ask for it, so confirm the window with the specific office before you order.