| The Philippine Bureau of Immigration
has revised rules for the implementation of the Dual
Citizenship Law.
“Applying for dual citizenship is now easy as 1-2-3,”
said New York Consul General Cecilia B. Rebong.
Under the revised rules, applications for dual
citizenship can now be given due course even if applicants
could not present their authenticated birth certificate from
the National Statistics Office (NSO).
Before the issuance of the revised rules, many qualified
individuals were turned off from applying, especially those
who were born in the 1940s and early 50s because of the
requirement for an NSO birth certificate.
Without an NSO birth certificate, there was no way that
their application for dual citizenship could be processed.
That was then.
Today, even without an NSO birth certificate, qualified
individuals could apply and expect to be granted dual
citizenship just as long as they could present at least one
of the following documents: (1) voters 10 or voters
affidavit; (2) marriage contract of the applicant’s parents;
(3) birth certificate issued by the Local Civil Registrar;
or any other documents showing that the applicant was a
former natural-born Filipino citizen.
Rebong said the Bureau of Immigration relaxed the
implementing rules in response to numerous concerns and
complaints it received from thousands of applicants through
the various foreign service posts.
She said, “The bureau finally realized that the old
implementing rules were discouraging, rather than
encouraging, prospective applicants for dual citizenship.”
She added that under the new rules, “all applicants for dual
citizenship are presumed to be former natural-born Filipino
citizens and the burden of proving otherwise is on the
interviewing consular officer.”
Another positive development is the fact that the revised
rules have authorized the Philippine foreign service posts
to issue Identification Certificates (IC) to successful
applicants for dual citizenship. The old rules stipulated
that dual citizens would have to get their ICs all the way
from the Bureau of Immigration office in Manila.
Under the revised rules, however, dual citizens are given
the option of either getting an IC (which comes with the
total processing fee of $50) or applying for a Philippine
passport (which would entail payment of the passport fee of
$50 separately).
To apply for dual citizenship, one needs only to fill out
a form, which is available at the Consulate General. Copies
of the form may also be downloaded from the Consulate
General’s website http://pconv.net
Applicants can visit the Consulate General anytime
without having to make a prior appointment. The Consulate
General is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday,
except during officially declared Philippine and U.S.
holidays.
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IMMIGRATION
