As you may already know, the marriage license application requires the personal appearance of both parties. OFWs, immigrants, and interracial couples abroad with limited vacation leaves are in a tricky situation because of two reasons: a. The marriage license is issued ten days from the time of application. Most couples unaware of this usually set their wedding dates in advance, with their paid leaves reserved only for the ceremony and the honeymoon. b. Even if they can schedule a time to go back to the Philippines for the license application (e.g., during special holidays), there are instances when these leaves and the actual wedding date are months apart. It renders the license useless since it only has a 120-day validity period.  If your jobs abroad are preventing both of you from personally applying for a marriage license in the Philippines at the right time, you can try one of the following suggestions: a. If you can move your vacation leave closer to your wedding date, please do so. Doing this means you can secure the marriage license and use it within the 120-day validity period to get married anywhere in the Philippines. If this isn’t possible, try the next two alternatives. b. Go to the nearest Philippine Embassy in your host country and have a civil union there. By doing so, you and your partner can legally marry (Consuls are allowed to officiate civil weddings abroad) without flying back to the Philippines to apply for a license. After the ceremony, you can tie the knot in a church anytime using your marriage certificate. Alternatively, you can also have a civil wedding abroad and then file a Report of Marriage at the Philippine Embassy so the Philippines will recognize your marital union. You can then use the PSA-authenticated Report of Marriage for a church wedding in the Philippines. 3. If your vacation leave and your actual wedding date are several weeks or a few months apart, you can also try a civil wedding, this time doing it on Philippine soil. For example, let’s assume your wedding date is set in December, and the only time you and your partner can visit the Philippines is during your vacation in June. Assuming again that your vacation in June lasts for only two weeks, I recommend applying for the license as soon as you arrive. Then, use that marriage license to officiate a civil wedding by a mayor or judge in your city/municipality. This way, you can be legally married and proceed with the church wedding later on without needing the license. Although some places allegedly offer under-the-table negotiations for those who can’t personally apply for the license, I will never recommend it as an alternative. By having a civil wedding before the church wedding, not only will your union be protected by both the law and the Church, but you’ll also get a workaround for the stringent rules of the marriage license application.