Applying for dual citizenship
Since I plan to stay for an extended period of time in the Philippines when I next go home (I hope to be able to stay until Mitzi's visa is all sorted out and she can join me in the US, to the readers of our blog please keep this our concern for the timely processing of Mitzi's visa in your prayers) I needed to look into any sticky legal issues that might prevent me from remaining in the Philippines for an extended length of time i.e. several months. What I realized from my research is that citizens from the United States (of which I am a citizen of since I was naturalized in 2005) are allowed to stay in the Philippines for up to 21 days without a visa. For a stay longer than that, I needed to apply for a visa.
But rather than applying for a visa, one alternative for me as someone who was a Philippine citizen by birth (born in Quezon City, Philippines) and by blood (both my parents were Philippine citizens at the time of my birth) is to take advantage of the Republic Act No. 9225 or the Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act of 2003 and hence reacquire my Philippine citizenship. There is an FAQ on the subject available at the website of the Consulate General of the Philippines in San Francisco here:
http://www.philippineconsulate-sf.org/dualcitizenship_faq.htm
In particular, the last sub-item in the 6th question, listing the privileges and entitlements associated with re-acquiring Philippine citizenship, is to be issued a Philippine passport and enjoy visa-free entry and stay in the Philippines for an unlimited period.
The process of re-acquiring Philippine citizenship is quite straightforward. I downloaded and filled out an application form (downloadable from the Philippine Consulate website at
http://www.philippineconsulate-sf.org/pdf/dualcitizen07.pdf) and submitted it at the Philippine Consulate in downtown San Francisco along with copies of supporting documents (in my case it was copies of my Philippine birth certificate, my old Philippine passport, my U.S. naturalization certificate and my current U.S. passport but a full list of required supporting documents and the procedures can be found here: http://www.philippineconsulate-sf.org/pdf/08dualreqs.pdf) and a pair of 2" x 2" photos. Once the officials at the consulate reviewed my paperwork, I signed and dated the application and paid the application fee, and was scheduled for an oath taking ceremony (mine will be next Thursday, 25 - October - 2007, at 3:00 pm). The whole process of applying for reacquisition of my Philippine citizenship was quite straightforward and took less than an hour.
Here's hoping all the other preparations for my travel and stay in the Philippines will go equally smoothly.
But rather than applying for a visa, one alternative for me as someone who was a Philippine citizen by birth (born in Quezon City, Philippines) and by blood (both my parents were Philippine citizens at the time of my birth) is to take advantage of the Republic Act No. 9225 or the Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act of 2003 and hence reacquire my Philippine citizenship. There is an FAQ on the subject available at the website of the Consulate General of the Philippines in San Francisco here:
http://www.philippineconsulate-sf.org/dualcitizenship_faq.htm
In particular, the last sub-item in the 6th question, listing the privileges and entitlements associated with re-acquiring Philippine citizenship, is to be issued a Philippine passport and enjoy visa-free entry and stay in the Philippines for an unlimited period.
The process of re-acquiring Philippine citizenship is quite straightforward. I downloaded and filled out an application form (downloadable from the Philippine Consulate website at
http://www.philippineconsulate-sf.org/pdf/dualcitizen07.pdf) and submitted it at the Philippine Consulate in downtown San Francisco along with copies of supporting documents (in my case it was copies of my Philippine birth certificate, my old Philippine passport, my U.S. naturalization certificate and my current U.S. passport but a full list of required supporting documents and the procedures can be found here: http://www.philippineconsulate-sf.org/pdf/08dualreqs.pdf) and a pair of 2" x 2" photos. Once the officials at the consulate reviewed my paperwork, I signed and dated the application and paid the application fee, and was scheduled for an oath taking ceremony (mine will be next Thursday, 25 - October - 2007, at 3:00 pm). The whole process of applying for reacquisition of my Philippine citizenship was quite straightforward and took less than an hour.
Here's hoping all the other preparations for my travel and stay in the Philippines will go equally smoothly.
posted by Leo Saguisag | 10/17/2007 05:12:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home