Filipino parents in foreign land give birth to Filipinos

Filipino parents in foreign land give birth to Filipinos "I have some questions about dual citizenship/recognition as a Filipino citizen. My son was born in the USA in 2006. We went home here in the Philippines and I only presented his US passport to the airport immigration officers. Someone told me that I might have a problem leaving the country with my son because he is a USA citizen when he entered here and he is already overstaying for four years and we might need to pay penalties. I once called the Bureau of Immigration to inquire about it and the employee who answered told me to get recognition of Philippine citizenship to waive all penalties for his overstaying. But another employee told me that if I can secure a Philippine passport, I don’t need to apply for Recognition. Here are my questions: if I can get a Philippine passport for my son at DFA, do I still need to secure Recognition certificate? Is Recognition the only way to waive all the penalties incurred for overstaying? Is it necessary to bring my son to the Bureau of Immigration when applying for recognition? Mrs. VillegasDear Mrs. Villegas, A person is considered a Filipino citizen if he is a citizen of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of the 1987 Constitution, if he is born of Filipino mother or father, if he elected Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of majority in case he was born before January 17, 1973, or if he is naturalized as a Filipino (Section 1, Article IV, 1987 Constitution). Thus, a child born in a foreign country of Filipino parent is considered a Filipino. On the other hand, there are foreign countries wherein citizenship thereof is acquired if a child is born therein, such as the United States of America (USA) where your son was born. As a consequence of your son’s birth in the USA, he acquired US citizenship. Likewise, he is considered a Filipino by reason of his Filipino parentage. Being a Filipino, he is entitled to all the rights and privileges of a Philippine citizen including the right to acquire Philippine passport and to stay here in the Philippines without paying any fees relative thereto.In the Philippines, passports are being applied at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). It has been the procedure at the DFA that applicants who have foreign passports are required to present dual citizenship certificate which is issued upon application of dual citizenship at the Bureau of Immigration (BI). An application for dual citizenship may either be based on Republic Act (RA) No. 9225 otherwise known as the “Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act of 2003” or Recognition as Filipino citizen. An applicant for R.A. No. 9225 should be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines who lost his Philippine citizenship by reason of his naturalization as citizen of a foreign country. As to those born in a foreign country who acquired foreign citizenship by virtue of being born therein, such person may file his application for Recognition as Philippine Citizen. An application for Recognition as Philippine citizen does not actually confer upon the applicant Philippine citizenship, which is already vested in him by virtue of our Constitution. The application serves as a manner of registering those who are recognized Philippine citizen and is evidenced by the Identification Certificate issued by the BI. For immigration purposes, a person holding an Identification Certificate can stay in the Philippines for as long as he wants without paying any fees for his stay here. Concomitantly, the fees incurred for overstaying shall be waived because the effect of Recognition retroacts from the date of birth of the applicant. However, Recognition as Filipino citizen is not the only way in order for the fines and penalties of an overstaying foreigner to be waived. He may request the Commissioner of the BI for the waiver and if the latter finds the request meritorious, he shall issue an order to that effect.Your son does not need to go to the Bureau of Immigration for the filing of the application. However, the hearing officer may require the appearance of your son during the hearing to verify the existence of the person applying for recognition. Please be reminded that the above legal opinion is solely based on our appreciation of the problem that you have stated. The opinion may vary when other facts are stated.Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net." - https://www.affordablecebu.com/