- Hello attorney Wong! Can a Filipina woman who has dual citizenship and married to an American own more than 5,000 sqm. of urban land and more than 3 hectares of rural land?
Also can the children own more than the said areas ? Since the first child was born before the woman got American citizenship and the other two were born when she had a dual citizenship? Thank you in advance. LH.
Ans: If you are a Filipino citizen ( including Dual citizen) the only limitation in land ownership is with respect to an agricultural land . Under the provisions of the Comprehensive Land Reform Law(CARL) the retention limit of landownership for agricultural land cannot not exceeding 5 hectares.
If the land in question is not agricultural land,there is no limit of landownership for Filipino citizen.
As regards to your children and based on my understanding that at the time of birth of first child, the citizenship of the mother or one of the parents was still Filipino, then the child is considered as Filipino.
With respect to the other children who at the time of their respective birth, where one of the parents was a Filipino(Dual), then it follows that the children are all Filipino citizens. Hence, the children being Filipino citizens have the same right as any other Filipino citizen more particularly in land ownership.
However, considering that the children were born outside the Philippines and where their births were not reported or registered with the Philippine Consular office, there are paper works formalities that has to be complied by them.
The children(if still a minor through their parents or guardian) should apply for RECOGNITION as Filipino citizens with the Bureau of Immigration (BI) in Manila.
Further to the forgoing and for the information of our kababayans who may have related queries , kindly take note that a former natural-born Filipino citizen who is a citizen of another country may still own land under Batas Pambansa Blg. 185, for residential purposes to the extent of 1,000 sq.m. in urban centers and not exceeding 1 hectare in case of rural land.
However, if for other purposes(Investment/business) under Republic Act 7042 as amended by RA 8179, a former natural-born Filipino citizen may own a maximum of 5,000 sq.m. land in urban center and not exceeding three(3) hectares of land in rural areas. One could own several lots or parcels of land in different cities, municipalities or province provided that the aggregate land ownership thereof does not exceed the maximum limit mentioned above.
Looking forward you’ll find the above in order and welcome to the “ Batas Pinoy Global Community”.
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