Dual Citizenship, Passport Questions

[Bugs 455]

My wife is a natural-born Philippines citizen. I am a natural-born U.S. citizen.

We got married here in the U.S., and reported the marriage through the LA Philippine Consulate outreach in San Diego. We got a Report of Marriage from them, as well as a new Philippine passport for her in her new married name in the mail.

She is currently here on a green card. Next year, upon 3 year mark, she will apply for U.S. Citizenship.

However, before then, we are expecting our first child. Upon the child's birth, we will Report the birth though the LA Philippine Consulate outreach in San Diego.

Then, after my wife then gets her U.S. Citizenship, my wife will apply for dual citizenship through the LA Philippine Consulate outreach in San Diego.

So, a summary of the order of events:

1. Married in USA

2. Report of Marriage through Philippine Consulate

3. Wife on green card

4. Birth of child

5. Report of Birth of child through Philippine Consulate

6. Wife gets U.S. Citizenship

7. Wife gets dual citizenship

Now the questions:

1. Will this child automatically be a dual citizen upon birth?

2. If #1 is the case, will the child lose this dual citizenship once my wife becomes a U.S. Citizen afterwards?

3. If #2 occurs, does the child need to reapply for dual citizenship as a derivative when my wife applies for dual citizenship?

4. Related to #1-3, when can we apply for a Philippine passport for the child - after birth or after mother applies for dual citizenship?

5. When applying for a Philippines passport for the child, can we do this after obtaining the Report of Birth from the Philippine Consulate, or do we need an actual NSO/PSA birth certificate ordered from the Philippines? The Consulate webpage seems to indicate the latter.

6. Does my wife need to reapply for a Philippine passport after obtaining dual citizenship, regardless of whether or not the passport she has now is still before the expiration date and is in her married name?

Thank you for your time.

Edited June 8, 2016 by Leon & Mylen

[Hank_ 9,174]

My wife is a natural-born Philippines citizen. I am a natural-born U.S. citizen.

We got married here in the U.S., and reported the marriage through the LA Philippine Consulate outreach in San Diego. We got a Report of Marriage from them, as well as a new Philippine passport for her in her new married name in the mail.

She is currently here on a green card. Next year, upon 3 year mark, she will apply for U.S. Citizenship.

However, before then, we are expecting our first child. Upon the child's birth, we will Report the birth though the LA Philippine Consulate outreach in San Diego.

Then, after my wife then gets her U.S. Citizenship, my wife will apply for dual citizenship through the LA Philippine Consulate outreach in San Diego.

So, a summary of the order of events:

1. Married in USA

2. Report of Marriage through Philippine Consulate

3. Wife on green card

4. Birth of child

5. Report of Birth of child through Philippine Consulate

6. Wife gets U.S. Citizenship

7. Wife gets dual citizenship

Now the questions:

1. Will this child automatically be a dual citizen upon birth? YES, CHILD IS A DUAL CITIZEN BY BIRTH

2. If #1 is the case, will the child lose this dual citizenship once my wife becomes a U.S. Citizen afterwards? NOPE CHILD WILL NEVER LOSE DUAL CITIZENSHIP, EVEN IF YOUR WIFE NEVER COMPLETES DUAL CITIZENSHIP

3. If #2 occurs, does the child need to reapply for dual citizenship as a derivative when my wife applies for dual citizenship? - NOPE ...

4. Related to #1-3, when can we apply for a Philippine passport for the child - after birth or after mother applies for dual citizenship? YOU HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE CHILD IS BORN

5. When applying for a Philippines passport for the child, can we do this after obtaining the Report of Birth from the Philippine Consulate, or do we need an actual NSO/PSA birth certificate ordered from the Philippines? The Consulate webpage seems to indicate the latter. YOU WAIT FOR Report Of Birth TO BE RECORDED, YOU WILL GET A RECEIPT FROM THE CONSULATE OF THIS ACTION.

6. Does my wife need to reapply for a Philippine passport after obtaining dual citizenship, regardless of whether or not the passport she has now is still before the expiration date and is in her married name? NOPE, AFTER REAFIRMING PHILIPPINE CITIZENSHIP YOU WIFE DOES NOT NEED TO GET A PHILIPPINE PASSPORT IF SHE DOESN'T CHOOSE TO DO SO.

Thank you for your time.

See my responses above.

Dual Citizenship (RA 9225)

LISTEN TO POST

The Philippine Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Law of 2003 (RA 9225) is a privilege accorded only to those in compliance with the law and existing regulations.

If you cannot comply with requirements of RA 9225, then there are other modes of acquiring Philippine citizenship through the naturalization process under the following laws:

• Commonwealth Act No. 743 as amended
• RA 9139 under the Special Committee on Naturalization [click here]

Please check first with your foreign country of birth/naturalization if it allows dual citizenship.

RA 9225 Brochure (click here)

Benefits of Dual Citizenship – PRIMER (click here).

Dual Citizenship Application Form (click here).

Learn the Dual Citizenship Process under RA 9225 in a nutshell (click here).

A dual citizen by birth is a natural born Filipino born in the foreign country; thus all that person (or parent/s of the person) needs to do is report the birth. If the person was born under this Consulate’s jurisdiction (you check it here) click here for requirements. Otherwise, please check here the Philippine Embassy or Consulate that has jurisdiction over the place of birth.

http://www.philippineconsulatela.org/consular-services-2/dual-citizenship-ra-9225

[Bugs 455]

Awesome, thanks for your question specific and timely replies. And good to hear from you again.

I do want to clarify my last question, however. I do know that my wife does not NEED a new Philippines passport after dual citizenship, but if she still wanted a valid passport, is her current one still valid after getting dual citizenship, or does she have to get a new one afterwards?

We are thinking it would be good to still have one to avoid certain travel fees there.

[Bugs 455]

Hank, I also wanted to edit my question #5.

I went back to the consulate page - it seems that, when applying for a new Philippine passport for the child, one document they want is "Original and Photocopy of PSA Marriage Certificate of Parents." (http://www.philippineconsulatela.org/consular-services-2/passport/first-time-or-dual-citizen-ra-9225-applicant). Does this mean I need to order such from the Philippines, or will our US marriage certificate and/or Report of Marriage filed through the consulate suffice for this?

I mistakenly was thinking of the birth certificate when making my original post.

[Hank_ 9,174]

Hank, I also wanted to edit my question #5.

I went back to the consulate page - it seems that, when applying for a new Philippine passport for the child, one document they want is "Original and Photocopy of PSA Marriage Certificate of Parents." (http://www.philippineconsulatela.org/consular-services-2/passport/first-time-or-dual-citizen-ra-9225-applicant). Does this mean I need to order such from the Philippines, or will our US marriage certificate and/or Report of Marriage filed through the consulate suffice for this?

I mistakenly was thinking of the birth certificate when making my original post.

If you did Report of Marriage you should be able to go to e-census and order the PSA marriage certificate. https://www.ecensus.com.ph/Secure/OnlineApplication.aspx

https://www.ecensus.com.ph/Secure/FAQs.aspx#D17

[Hank_ 9,174]

Awesome, thanks for your question specific and timely replies. And good to hear from you again.

I do want to clarify my last question, however. I do know that my wife does not NEED a new Philippines passport after dual citizenship, but if she still wanted a valid passport, is her current one still valid after getting dual citizenship, or does she have to get a new one afterwards?

We are thinking it would be good to still have one to avoid certain travel fees there.

Nope. Her original passport "dies" upon taking the U.S. citizenship oath.

Not sure what travel fees you avoid with the Philippine passport, unless you decide to stay in the Philippines over a year.

[Bugs 455]

If you did Report of Marriage you should be able to go to e-census and order the PSA marriage certificate. https://www.ecensus.com.ph/Secure/OnlineApplication.aspx

https://www.ecensus.com.ph/Secure/FAQs.aspx#D17

So you don't think they would be okay with our US marriage certificate and consulate-signed/sealed Report of Marriage? I'm just trying to find out if I need to go through the hassle of getting a document from the Philippines when it isn't necessary.

Anyone else with recent experience regarding this?

Edited June 9, 2016 by Leon & Mylen

[Hank_ 9,174]

So you don't think they would be okay with our US marriage certificate and consulate-signed/sealed Report of Marriage? I'm just trying to find out if I need to go through the hassle of getting a document from the Philippines when it isn't necessary.

Anyone else with recent experience regarding this?

Requirements does state PSA marriage certificate

http://www.philippineconsulatela.org/consular-services-2/passport/first-time-or-dual-citizen-ra-9225-applicant

You will be asked to enter the following information online:

• Your name

• Your delivery address (with zip code)

• Your telephone number

• Your valid email address

• Required information for marriage certificate requests (click to view)

  * Number of copies you are requesting

  * Name of husband

  * Maiden name of wife

  * Place of marriage

  * Date of marriage

  * Date of registration, if the marriage certificate was late registered

  * Purpose of your request

... not a major deal to go to e-census and order it. https://www.ecensus.com.ph/Secure/Terms.aspx

[Bugs 455]

Requirements does state PSA marriage certificate

http://www.philippineconsulatela.org/consular-services-2/passport/first-time-or-dual-citizen-ra-9225-applicant

You will be asked to enter the following information online:

• Your name
• Your delivery address (with zip code)
• Your telephone number
• Your valid email address
• Required information for marriage certificate requests (click to view)

  * Number of copies you are requesting

  * Name of husband

  * Maiden name of wife

  * Place of marriage

  * Date of marriage

  * Date of registration, if the marriage certificate was late registered

  * Purpose of your request

... not a major deal to go to e-census and order it. https://www.ecensus.com.ph/Secure/Terms.aspx

I hope you're right. The FAQ you posted earlier from the eCensus seemed to indicate that civil registry documents formed from foreign births/marriages/deaths must first be fished through the DFA, which required tracking information given to them. Seemed like a hassle.

[Hank_ 9,174]

I hope you're right. The FAQ you posted earlier from the eCensus seemed to indicate that civil registry documents formed from foreign births/marriages/deaths must first be fished through the DFA, which required tracking information given to them. Seemed like a hassle.

If that is what is required, I would do a request on e-census so you have it.

I have used e-census, but we were living in the Phils at the time so everything was delivered to our home there.

[Bugs 455]

Nope. Her original passport "dies" upon taking the U.S. citizenship oath.

Not sure what travel fees you avoid with the Philippine passport, unless you decide to stay in the Philippines over a year.

I thought I read that certain travel fees only apply to foreigners and that they require a Philippine passport to avoid such fees, but now I can't find where I read that. So if you say it makes no difference, then perhaps a Philippine passport is not necessary.

That being said, then, is there any advantage of my wife or child having a Philippine passport along with their dual citizenships? Will we have sufficient proof of such dual citizenships without them (Record of Birth, 9225 document, etc), that all citizenship benefits, now or in the future, can be obtained with such proof?

[Hank_ 9,174]

I thought I read that certain travel fees only apply to foreigners and that they require a Philippine passport to avoid such fees, but now I can't find where I read that. So if you say it makes no difference, then perhaps a Philippine passport is not necessary.

That being said, then, is there any advantage of my wife or child having a Philippine passport along with their dual citizenships? Will we have sufficient proof of such dual citizenships without them (Record of Birth, 9225 document, etc), that all citizenship benefits, now or in the future, can be obtained with such proof?

Yes that is true, sort of, but it applies to foreigners who can't use the balikbayan privilege , or stay longer than a year (with the balikbayan), it is an Exit Clearance fee, not all that spendy, about $25. But your wife would not be a foreigner, she would have her certificate from re-affirmation.

http://www.immigration.gov.ph/services/certification/bi-clearance-certification

http://www.immigration.gov.ph/faqs/emigration-clearance-certificate-ecc

All this is moot if you do not stay in the Phils for a year or more.

[Bugs 455]

Yes that is true, sort of, but it applies to foreigners who can't use the balikbayan privilege , or stay longer than a year (with the balikbayan), it is an Exit Clearance fee, not all that spendy, about $25. But your wife would not be a foreigner, she would have her certificate from re-affirmation.

http://www.immigration.gov.ph/services/certification/bi-clearance-certification

http://www.immigration.gov.ph/faqs/emigration-clearance-certificate-ecc

All this is moot if you do not stay in the Phils for a year or more.

Okay, I see. Then I suppose there is really no point of getting a Philippine passport since we will all have our US Passports when traveling, especially since they expire every few years anyways. If her dual citizenship document and the baby's Record of Birth can prove their Philippine citizenships in the Philippines, then that'll do. Thanks for your help.

[AKteacher 104]

My wife and kids are all dual citizens. I went ahead and got PHL passports for all of them. You should be able to apply for a PHL passport at the same time as you report your child's birth abroad.

The only real advantage I can see to having a PHL passport is that they can travel to other ASEAN countries and get a better visa than I can (me being only a US citizen). Maybe less hassle opening bank accounts in Philippines, etc. Not really huge advantages. We got passports for all just because we wanted to, and to have good local ID over there if some situation arose where they might need it.

http://www.philsite.net/visa-free-countries.htm

[Hank_ 9,174]

Citizens don't need a passport for ID or to open a bank account in the Philippines, many IDs are available to Philippine citizens, starting with the simple/easy to acquire Postal ID.

US passport seems to trump the Philippine passport more so than the other way around:

When you pick up your US Passport, you are holding the world’s most powerful travel document in your hand. With your valid US Passport, you can visit approximately 145 countries either completely visa-free or by easily obtaining a visa on arrival. The most popular destination countries that allow US citizens to enter without a visa are outlined below.

https://passportinfo.com/entry-without-visa/

http://www.globalallianz.org/visa-free-countries-for-us-citizens/

https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country.html

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/visit/visa-waiver-program.html