Categories: TRAVEL

Philippine Dual Citizenship Requirements

According to Republic Act No. 9225 (RA 9225), also referred to as the Citizenship Retention and Re-Acquisition Act of 2003, a natural-born Filipino (a child born in the Philippines or a child born to a Filipino parent) who lost his/her Filipino citizenship due to naturalization as a citizen of another country can now apply for dual citizenship.

Primary Requirement

The applicant must apply at the Bureau of Immigration (BI), if currently in the Philippines, or at the nearest Philippine embassy or consulate, if in a foreign country.

The applicant, also referred to as the petitioner, must show proof of being a natural-born citizen of the Philippines. The primary requirement is the submission of an NSO-authenticated copy of Philippine birth certificate (if born in the Philippines) or an original copy of a Report of Birth issued by the Philippine Foreign Post and the birth certificate issued by competent foreign authorities (if born in another country). The National Statistics Office (NSO) is the Philippine government’s major statistical agency responsible for carrying out and administering the provision of the Civil Registry Law to collect, compile, classify, produce, publish, and disseminate general-purpose statistics in the country. It is the government agency that releases the following official documents: birth certificates, death certificates, certificates of no marriage, and marriage certificates.

Additional Requirements

The petitioner must provide a copy of his/her Certificate of Naturalization, along with his/her latest foreign passport. If such documents are not available, an affidavit explaining the circumstances of acquisition of foreign citizenship must be presented.

The petitioner must also show additional documents to support his/her claim of being a natural-born Filipino. These documents include: old Philippine passport/s, voter’s affidavit or voter’s identification card; marriage contract indicating the Philippine citizenship; and other legal documents.

Other requirements to provide with the application form include: three recent 2 inches by 2 inches photographs of applicant (front, left side, and right side views over white background); proof of address (utility bills, bank statements, billing statements, and other official correspondences); one-time fees for the application processing and the issuance of the Identification Certificate (IC); and signed Oath of Allegiance to the Republic of the Philippines.

Children of Dual Citizenship Petitioners

Republic Act No. 9225 (RA 9225) also covers a child (legitimate, illegitimate, or adopted) with a foreign passport, as long as one of the parents is Filipino. The child must be below 18 years of age for the petitioner to include him/her on the dual citizenship application. The child must be declared in the petition as a beneficiary. Required documents for this process include the presentation of the child’s birth certificate and foreign passport, along with the basic documents required from the petitioning parent. Additional fees must be paid as well.

Registration at the Bureau of Immigration

For an applicant in the Philippines, the petitioner who is a BI-registered alien files the petition under oath to the Commissioner of Immigration for the cancellation of the Alien Certificate of Registration (ACR) and the issuance of an IC. If not BI-registered, the person only files the petition under oath to the Commissioner of Immigration for the issuance of the IC. For an applicant in a foreign country, the person files the petition under oath to the nearest Philippine Foreign Post for the issuance of the IC.