Dual citizenship in the Philippines: re-acquisition for former Filipinos, recognition for their children
A Filipino who naturalised abroad did not lose the country for good. The law lets natural-born citizens re-acquire their citizenship by an oath, keeps it for their minor children, and recognises the citizenship of anyone born to a Filipino parent. It is the route that ends the visa question. Asia Relocation Philippines checks it first for anyone with Filipino ancestry, and files it.
Every other page in this silo answers how a foreign national may stay in the Philippines. This one removes the question. The Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act provides that a natural-born Filipino who became a citizen of another country is deemed to have re-acquired Philippine citizenship upon taking the oath of allegiance, and that their unmarried children under eighteen are deemed citizens with them.
A second route serves those never registered as Filipinos: a person born to a father or mother who was a Filipino citizen at the time of the birth may apply to be recognised as a citizen, and receives an identification certificate. Neither route asks you to give up the other passport; whether the other country accepts that is its own law.
Asia Relocation Philippines has filed these applications since 2011, for former Filipinos coming home to Manila, Cebu and Clark and for their children born abroad. The consultant who reads the family history chooses the route, assembles the certificates, and takes you to the oath.
What the citizenship file carries, and the visas it makes unnecessary
The right-hand column lists the routes a former Filipino is often sold instead.
Carried by the service
- The eligibility read: natural-born citizen who naturalised abroad, or child of a Filipino parent at birth, against the two routes, and the children who come with the application.
- The certificates: your birth certificate from the statistics authority or apostilled abroad, the parent's certificate where the claim runs through them, the naturalisation certificate, the marriage certificate where the name changed, photographs.
- Filing and the oath at the Bureau of Immigration in Manila, or at a Philippine consulate abroad where that is faster, and the oath of allegiance taken before the officer.
- The papers that prove it: the certificate of retention or re-acquisition, the order of approval and the oath, or the identification certificate for recognition, claimed once approved.
- The dependants: unmarried children under eighteen included on the application with their own certificates, and adult children directed to recognition where it applies.
The route is written down with the certificate list before anything is apostilled.
A different page
- Retiring as a former Filipino without re-acquiring. The retirement authority's courtesy option exists for exactly that case: the Special Resident Retiree's Visa, with a deposit to keep.
- The foreign spouse of a Filipino. Their residence is by marriage, on the 13A visa or its temporary resident equivalent; your own citizenship changes what they file.
- Practising a profession here. The law asks a re-acquired citizen to obtain the licence of the relevant regulator, a matter for that body rather than immigration.
- Closing the old registration. A foreign national who becomes a citizen cancels the registration card they held: our other immigration services.
One coordinator, and the citizenship question asked before any visa is quoted.
Re-acquisition by oath, or recognition by descent
The law provides both; the family history decides which one you are on.
Re-acquisition, for the naturalised former Filipino
A natural-born citizen who took another nationality, deemed to have re-acquired Philippine citizenship upon the oath of allegiance. The commonest file, and the shortest once the naturalisation certificate is in hand.
Retention, for those naturalising now
A natural-born Filipino who becomes a citizen of another country after the law took effect keeps Philippine citizenship by taking the same oath. The same file, entered before the loss rather than after it.
Recognition, for the child of a Filipino parent
Born abroad, or naturalised as a minor, to a father or mother who was a Filipino citizen at the time of the birth. A finding that the citizenship existed from birth, with the parent's records in the file.
Dependants included
The unmarried children under eighteen of someone who re-acquires are deemed citizens with them and filed on the same application. Adult children are directed to recognition where the facts support it.
Family history, certificates, filing, the oath, the papers
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The family history
Where you were born, when and how you took the other nationality, who your parents were and what their citizenship was at your birth. This decides the route.
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The certificates, before you fly
Birth certificates from the statistics authority requested here, foreign birth and naturalisation certificates apostilled in the issuing country, the marriage certificate where the name changed. Slower from Manila than from home.
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Filing at the Bureau, or at a consulate
The application lodged at the main office in Manila with the checklist and the supplement for dependants, or at a Philippine consulate abroad where that is faster for your family.
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The oath
The oath of allegiance taken before the officer, for you and for the children the law deems citizens with you.
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The papers
The certificate of retention or re-acquisition, the order of approval and the oath, or the identification certificate for recognition, claimed once approved; then a Philippine passport, and the registration card you held cancelled.
The families the law was written for
Former Filipinos coming home
Naturalised abroad, returning to Manila, Cebu or Clark to retire, invest or be near family. The oath replaces every visa they were about to file for.
Children born abroad to a Filipino parent
Adults today, foreign on paper, Filipino by descent. Recognition gives them what the law says they always had.
Parents re-acquiring with minor children
Children under eighteen deemed citizens with the parent and filed on the same application. The household mapped before filing so nobody is left on a visitor stay.
Holders of a visa they no longer need
A retirement or spouse visa held by someone eligible for citizenship. The first thing we check for anyone with Filipino ancestry.
The Bureau in Manila, or a consulate abroad, for families settling anywhere in the country
Filed at the Bureau of Immigration in Manila or at a Philippine consulate abroad; the families we serve settle in Metro Manila, Cebu and Clark.
The Bureau's main office in Manila receives the application and administers the oath; a family already in Cebu or Clark travels for that step. A family still abroad may find the consulate the shorter road, and we say so when the certificates are gathered.
The certificates from the statistics authority are requested here; the foreign ones are apostilled where they were issued. Starting both before the flight keeps the oath close to the arrival.
What former Filipinos and their children ask before filing
Who can re-acquire Philippine citizenship?
What is recognition, and how is it different?
Are my children covered?
What rights come with it?
What documents does the file need?
Where is it filed?
I hold a retirement or spouse visa. Should I still do this?
Does taking the oath affect my other citizenship?
The retirement route for those who do not re-acquire, and the silo above
You would rather keep a single nationality and retire on a visa
The retirement authority's courtesy option for former Filipinos, at the programme's lowest deposit.
Special Resident Retiree's Visa →Every route into the Philippines, on one page
Employment, marriage, retirement, investment, citizenship, and what comes after the first visa.
Visa and immigration services in the Philippines →Tell us where you were born and who your parents were, and we say whether a visa is even the question
One coordinator from the family history to the oath, for you and the children the law counts with you.
Check my eligibility →