Born in the Philippines but now a US citizen

[J&E2013 10]

Hi guys, I just have a question but I don’t know if it’s the right forum to ask this. Btw I’m from the Philippines and came into the US thru fiance visa in 2013 and became a US citizen in 2019. My question is since now I’m a US citizen does it mean I’m not a Filipino citizen anymore? I know it sounds stupid to ask this question but it bothers me coz I don’t know if I’m still filipino citizen. Thanks, hope someone can enlighten me..

[Chancy 6,241]

*** Moved from US Citizenship General Discussion to the Philippine regional sub-forum -- question is about PH citizenship ***

 

7 minutes ago, J&E2013 said:

My question is since now I’m a US citizen does it mean I’m not a Filipino citizen anymore?

 

You lost your Philippine citizenship when you took the US oath.  But you can easily re-acquire your PH citizenship by applying through the nearest PH consulate.  After that, you will become a dual PH-US citizen.

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by Chancy
typo

[Palawan 131]

2 hours ago, J&E2013 said:

Hi guys, I just have a question but I don’t know if it’s the right forum to ask this. Btw I’m from the Philippines and came into the US thru fiance visa in 2013 and became a US citizen in 2019. My question is since now I’m a US citizen does it mean I’m not a Filipino citizen anymore? I know it sounds stupid to ask this question but it bothers me coz I don’t know if I’m still filipino citizen. Thanks, hope someone can enlighten me..

A few year ago the Philippines Government started allowing people like you to re acquire you citizenship, I highly recommend you do this.

 

You will get screwed in the Philippines if you are a US Citizen and you want to stay past 30 days, dealing with BI and payments. Just recently Philippine was only allowing PI citizens to enter the Philippines for a couple of years. 

[top_secret 2,398]

3 hours ago, J&E2013 said:

Hi guys, I just have a question but I don’t know if it’s the right forum to ask this. Btw I’m from the Philippines and came into the US thru fiance visa in 2013 and became a US citizen in 2019. My question is since now I’m a US citizen does it mean I’m not a Filipino citizen anymore? I know it sounds stupid to ask this question but it bothers me coz I don’t know if I’m still filipino citizen. Thanks, hope someone can enlighten me..

If you are in PA as your profile states you would file to re-acquire Filipino Citizenship through the Philippine Consulate in New York City.  Costs $50.  Well worth the effort.   https://newyorkpcg.org/pcgny/consular-services/dual-citizenship-ra-9225/  

 

You should also apply for a new Philippine Passport after you re-acquire Filipino Citizenship.  Any previous Philippine Passport is invalidated when you naturalized to the US.

Edited September 24, 2022 by top_secret

[JMPM 507]

I've been curious about this. How does the Philippines know you gained citizenship in the United States?

[top_secret 2,398]

2 hours ago, JMPM said:

I've been curious about this. How does the Philippines know you gained citizenship in the United States?

 

They may not have a dedicated team of investigators out to 'catch" people naturalizing and it may not be that difficult to evade Philippine law on the issue.  But the law is the law and when they make it so easy to do it the right way, there is really not much incentive to risk it.  I could imagine it might come up in a variety of circumstances in the Philippines, such as if you claim exemption from travel tax leaving the Philippines or want to stay more than a month without extending a visa.  There is a good chance if you have kids in the US they might want to claim Filipino Citizenship.  If it's $50 and a visit to the consulate to fully comply with Filipino citizenship law, it is wise to do, whether you might "get caught" otherwise or not.

[J&E2013 10]

5 hours ago, top_secret said:

If you are in PA as your profile states you would file to re-acquire Filipino Citizenship through the Philippine Consulate in New York City.  Costs $50.  Well worth the effort.   https://newyorkpcg.org/pcgny/consular-services/dual-citizenship-ra-9225/  

 

You should also apply for a new Philippine Passport after you re-acquire Filipino Citizenship.  Any previous Philippine Passport is invalidated when you naturalized to the US.

We move to NC after the oath taking, I didn’t update my profile yet since then. But I’ll think about it. Thanks for the info 😊

[JMPM 507]

3 hours ago, top_secret said:

 

They may not have a dedicated team of investigators out to 'catch" people naturalizing and it may not be that difficult to evade Philippine law on the issue.  But the law is the law and when they make it so easy to do it the right way, there is really not much incentive to risk it.  I could imagine it might come up in a variety of circumstances in the Philippines, such as if you claim exemption from travel tax leaving the Philippines or want to stay more than a month without extending a visa.  There is a good chance if you have kids in the US they might want to claim Filipino Citizenship.  If it's $50 and a visit to the consulate to fully comply with Filipino citizenship law, it is wise to do, whether you might "get caught" otherwise or not.

I wasn't saying anything about evading. I was just curious how does the country even know. It's a cash grab imo.  Just like CFO. Just an opinion. 

[Palawan 131]

7 hours ago, JMPM said:

I wasn't saying anything about evading. I was just curious how does the country even know. It's a cash grab imo.  Just like CFO. Just an opinion. 

I agree CFO is cash grab, and re acquiring citizenship still requires a airplane flight for most to go to the PI embassy to get it done, My wife had to take a flight from Dallas to Houston

 

It does offer unlimited stay in PHilippines on your PI passport and not having to pay visa extension every 30 days, You get to vote, and you can work in the PHlippines, but this is a country where a lawyer is lucky to make $20K USD and a Registered Nurse makes about $10 per day.   I just don't see working in Philippines as feasible.  

 

 I have seen people who have a sari sari store claim they make $300 per month, but I am sure they worked 80 hours per week.

[J&E2013 10]

Thanks guys for all the information and to all of you who replied to my question. I really appreciate it, I know some of us that live far from the embassy have to book a flight just to go to the Philippine embassy. It’s a hassle especially if your working, I just wish you can just do it by mail. But anyway, thanks again to everyone and God Bless us all..

[top_secret 2,398]

On 9/24/2022 at 9:48 PM, JMPM said:

I wasn't saying anything about evading. I was just curious how does the country even know. It's a cash grab imo.  Just like CFO. Just an opinion. 

 

It probably is somewhat of a cash grab but the Philippines does have a legal point that when people naturalize to the US, they quite literally take a sworn oath renouncing their allegiance to their former country of citizenship.  Philippines kind of takes a middle ground by allowing a former Filipino to take a new oath superseding the one they took for the US to require Filipino Citizenship.  There are a number of other countries in the region and around the world that simply do not recognize duel citizenship at all, period.

 

Unless you intended to put yourself in a situation in the Philippines where being a Filipino citizen was advantageous over being a US Citizen it may not be so important or it may be something you could be put off until some later time when it was convenient if you ever did need to do it.   I imagine it could be critical if you ever bought property there, engaged in business, later decided to retire there or a variety of other circumstances.   

[JMPM 507]

2 hours ago, top_secret said:

 

It probably is somewhat of a cash grab but the Philippines does have a legal point that when people naturalize to the US, they quite literally take a sworn oath renouncing their allegiance to their former country of citizenship.  Philippines kind of takes a middle ground by allowing a former Filipino to take a new oath superseding the one they took for the US to require Filipino Citizenship.  There are a number of other countries in the region and around the world that simply do not recognize duel citizenship at all, period.

 

Unless you intended to put yourself in a situation in the Philippines where being a Filipino citizen was advantageous over being a US Citizen it may not be so important or it may be something you could be put off until some later time when it was convenient if you ever did need to do it.   I imagine it could be critical if you ever bought property there, engaged in business, later decided to retire there or a variety of other circumstances.   

Thanks for the unneeded lesson in the law. When the question was how does the Philippines even know?

 

I'm not asking to break the law either. It was a curious question how do they even know. And the answer is they don't really know. 

 

 

Anyways sorry to hijack the thread. No need to repeat the legal reasons which was already known. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[marriedtomrg 141]

On 9/25/2022 at 10:04 AM, J&E2013 said:

Thanks guys for all the information and to all of you who replied to my question. I really appreciate it, I know some of us that live far from the embassy have to book a flight just to go to the Philippine embassy. It’s a hassle especially if your working, I just wish you can just do it by mail. But anyway, thanks again to everyone and God Bless us all..

I don't know if they have resumed this but the Philippine Embassy offered Consular Services prior to the pandemic. They travel to different cities throughout the year so that they would be accessible to Filipinos living nearby who can't afford to or have the time to go to the embassy. I would check out their website and see if they have resumed that service. Last time I had gone to Jacksonville to get my Philippine passport renewed. I have since become a US citizen, will likely need to attend a service to reacquire my Philippine citizenship.

[Talako 781]

8 hours ago, marriedtomrg said:

I don't know if they have resumed this but the Philippine Embassy offered Consular Services prior to the pandemic. They travel to different cities throughout the year so that they would be accessible to Filipinos living nearby who can't afford to or have the time to go to the embassy. I would check out their website and see if they have resumed that service. Last time I had gone to Jacksonville to get my Philippine passport renewed. I have since become a US citizen, will likely need to attend a service to reacquire my Philippine citizenship.

You are referring to the Outreach Program.  This is the schedule for the DC Embassy:

 

https://philippineembassy-dc.org/2022-outreach-schedule/

[IWander 589]

On 9/25/2022 at 1:05 AM, J&E2013 said:

Hi guys, I just have a question but I don’t know if it’s the right forum to ask this. Btw I’m from the Philippines and came into the US thru fiance visa in 2013 and became a US citizen in 2019. My question is since now I’m a US citizen does it mean I’m not a Filipino citizen anymore? I know it sounds stupid to ask this question but it bothers me coz I don’t know if I’m still filipino citizen. Thanks, hope someone can enlighten me..

You lost your filipino citizenship automatically when you became a USC.  Good news is you can file to get it back if you want.  A few documents, some money and a trip to the nearest consulate.  Information about the proceds is posted on any of the Philippines US consulates or the Philippines embassy websites