“Laws relating to family rights and duties,or to the status, condition and legal capacity of persons are binding upon Filipino citizens, even though living abroad.” (Article 15 Civil Code of the Philippines)
Q. Hi Atty Wong. I read your 2016 post about dual citizenship and recognition and had a question. Last month I was traveling to Europe with my 4 year old son, who has a Taiwan and Philippine passport. I presented both passports as usual, but this time the immigration officer here in the Philippines was asking for some type of document as proof of recognition of dual citizenship for my child. I wasn’t aware of such requirement and he refused to stamp my son’s Taiwan passport and accused me of not disclosing his Taiwanese citizenship at the time of my son’s passport renewal. (I reviewed the application for renewal for minors and there is nowhere that asks for this information.)
Long story short, I was able to convince him to stamp my son’s Taiwan passport so we can use it to enter Europe, but he told us we needed to take care of it when we got back. I’m not sure what document my son needs to prove his dual citizenship. He was born here and I am Filipino. His dad is Taiwanese and got him a Taiwan passport sometime after he got his Philippine passport.
If you can shed light on this, that would be greatly appreciated as I cannot find any material online. Thanks, Karen
ANS: Hello Karen, the best evidence that your son is a Filipino citizen is his Philippine passport and his birth certificate issued by the Philippine government. As you said, you are a Filipino citizen. The reckoning and determinative legal basis of one’s citizenship in so far as the Philippine law is concerned is the citizenship of the parent(s) of the child when he/she was born.
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Hence, if at the time of the birth of child where one or both parents are citizens of the Philippines then it follows that the child is Filipino at the time of his/her birth. This fact of the child’s citizenship is reflected in the birth of records/birth certificate of the child.
Recognition on the other hand is issued by the Bureau of Immigration(BI) may be usually required for children born outside the Philippines with a Filipino parent(s). And by operation of the laws of that foreign country the child is considered also as its citizens as well. Thus, clothing the child with a dual citizenship at the time of his/her birth and whose record of birth was not registered with the Philippine Statistic Authority(PSA) formerly the NSO.
However, if you are also a holder of foreign passport other than your Philippine passport and considering the child is still a minor, this could imply that the child’s citizenship during his/her minority follows of that of his/her parents. In this particular situation and if your are considered as a natural-born Filipino citizen, you may avail of Republic Act No. 9225 otherwise known as the Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act of 2003. Under this law, a natural-born citizens of the Philippines who become citizens of another country shall be deemed not to have lost their Philippine citizenship and for such purposes, one is just required to take an oath of allegiance before the Philippine Consulate abroad and pay the corresponding administrative fees thereof or taking such of oath of allegiance in the Philippines before any officer authorized to administer oath.
This could be the basis for the BI Immigration Officer in insisting you need a certificate of recognition issued by the BI showing that the child is a recognized Filipino citizen. This is not a really a serious concern as this issue could be addressed upon compliance certain documents, pursuant to RA 9225 and by making representation with the BI and file your application for the recognition of Filipino citizenship. All you have to do is the present proof of your Filipino citizenship at the time of the birth of your son. These proof, among others are:
a) Authenticated PSA copy of the birth certificate of the child; b) Your Authenticated copy of your PSA birth certificate showing that you are Filipino citizen; c) the Child valid Philippine passport; d) Your valid Philippine passport as well; d) Copy of your PSA authenticated Marriage Contract; e) Baptismal Certificate(if available) ; f) the Oath of allegiance referred to above ; and such other documents that may be required by the BI.
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Should the BI gives you hard time in the process, you may confer with your lawyer for further professional assistance for administrative and judicial remedies against the BI personnel if warranted.
Looking forward you’ll find the above in order and welcome to the Batas Pinoy Global Community.
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