Dual citizenship - ok ba?

[twentysomething gal]

^ palabas ng Pilipinas. Pag dumadating ko, walang fees, walang problema. Pumipila pa nga ako sa balikbayan lanes kasi nga Filipino naman ako kahit foreign ang passport ko. Pag depart ko ng Pinas, dun ako nagkakaproblema. Everytime nasa immigration counter na ako bago magboard ng plane, pinapapunta nila ako dun sa may window(parang bank window) sa may left side at the back of the room, tapos dun lagi sinasabi na may babayaran daw akong ECC fees.

Di pa talaga ako nakalusot umalis ng pinas na walang binabayaran. Nakakainis minsan. Baka rin kasi may ginagawa akong mali...or something.

[rheagirl]

okey

[^kaedee^]

makikitanong na din ako.

my kids are born here in the Philippines, pero what they have are Swiss passports.  E kung aalis kame for good na, mag apply pa ba ako ng Philippine passport nila? Hahanapin ba yun sa airport?

[jipsywiksy]

^ palabas ng Pilipinas. Pag dumadating ko, walang fees, walang problema. Pumipila pa nga ako sa balikbayan lanes kasi nga Filipino naman ako kahit foreign ang passport ko. Pag depart ko ng Pinas, dun ako nagkakaproblema. Everytime nasa immigration counter na ako bago magboard ng plane, pinapapunta nila ako dun sa may window(parang bank window) sa may left side at the back of the room, tapos dun lagi sinasabi na may babayaran daw akong ECC fees.

Di pa talaga ako nakalusot umalis ng pinas na walang binabayaran. Nakakainis minsan. Baka rin kasi may ginagawa akong mali...or something.

sis,

^ palabas ng Pilipinas. Pag dumadating ko, walang fees, walang problema. Pumipila pa nga ako sa balikbayan lanes kasi nga Filipino naman ako kahit foreign ang passport ko. Pag depart ko ng Pinas, dun ako nagkakaproblema. Everytime nasa immigration counter na ako bago magboard ng plane, pinapapunta nila ako dun sa may window(parang bank window) sa may left side at the back of the room, tapos dun lagi sinasabi na may babayaran daw akong ECC fees.

Di pa talaga ako nakalusot umalis ng pinas na walang binabayaran. Nakakainis minsan. Baka rin kasi may ginagawa akong mali...or something.

sis, para makaiwas ka dito sa ECC fee na ito, kuha ka ng philippine passport.  if you still have your old one, renew mo lang.
tapos pag lalabas ka ng pinas, pakita mo lang 2 of the passports. ur good to go!

[jipsywiksy]

makikitanong na din ako.

my kids are born here in the Philippines, pero what they have are Swiss passports.  E kung aalis kame for good na, mag apply pa ba ako ng Philippine passport nila? Hahanapin ba yun sa airport?

yup!  you have to get philippine passports for the kids.... not sure kung hahanapin nila iyun sa airport pero may babayaran ka rin ECC fee if you don't. 

[twentysomething gal]

^you're right, I think I need to get one. Thanks sis!

[twelve5]

i recently applied for dual citizenship (DC) but did not renew my phil passport. the girl at the phil embassy in LA said i need not get one.

when i came home, i just presented my foreign passport to the immigration officer at the naia. he did not ask for any other documentation.

i heard kasi na pag foreigner ka, its either you have a visa or a return ticket to show naia people. i had neither.

i had my DC cert with me then but the officer did not ask for it, so i did not bother show it.

would that post any problems when i leave the country later?  its fine with me to pay the ECC fees, if those really apply to me... takot lang ako baka naman ma-hold pa ako sa naia at ma-miss ko pa flight out ko. 

[jipsywiksy]

i recently applied for dual citizenship (DC) but did not renew my phil passport. the girl at the phil embassy in LA said i need not get one.

when i came home, i just presented my foreign passport to the immigration officer at the naia. he did not ask for any other documentation.

i heard kasi na pag foreigner ka, its either you have a visa or a return ticket to show naia people. i had neither.

i had my DC cert with me then but the officer did not ask for it, so i did not bother show it.

would that post any problems when i leave the country later?  its fine with me to pay the ECC fees, if those really apply to me... takot lang ako baka naman ma-hold pa ako sa naia at ma-miss ko pa flight out ko. 

pag umuwi ka pinas talaga, they won't look for that.  only when you leave the philippines and stayed here for more than a year..... if you satisfy both conditions and you don't have a philippine passport, that's when they charge you with the ECC fee.  but if you have the phil passport, no ECC fee na. . . . just show both passports to the immigration officer when you depart.

[twelve5]

thanks for the info, jipsywiksy! 

clarification lang, pag less than a yr stay tapos no phil passport, no ECC fees?

[excessive baggage]

I'll be expressing opinion based on personal experience...

If you'll be staying in the Philippines for a long period of time but don't want to pay tax for foreigners, and would want to hold on to both your Philippine and foreign passport then applying for dual citizenship is the best.

In the airport:
When leaving the Philippines, I present both passport so the officer wouldn't charge the tax for foreigners who stayed long in the Philippines (don't know exactly how many months allowed for non-tax). Then upon arrival to the country of destination (e.g. USA), present the US passport but not the Philippine passport because US law does not allow sworn loyalty to two countries.

When going back to the Philippines from (e.g. US), present the US passport. And upon arrival in the Philippines present both passport.

Advantage of holding a dual citizenship:
* Retain your being Filipino legally and therefore retain all rights given to Filipinos in the Philippines i.e. land acquisition

Disadvantage:
* Putting your citizenship status at the foreign country in danger if the foreign country does not allow dual citizenship.

Try researching about laws in your country of residence regarding their view of dual citizenship

 

[twelve5]

^ where does the philippine immigration officer put your arrival and departure stamps - on both passports?

[excessive baggage]

^ where does the philippine immigration officer put your arrival and departure stamps - on both passports?

Yup, on both the Philippine and the foreign passport.

[twelve5]

^ and does the officer put PP or IC stamp on both? meaning you presented your philippine passport or id certificate, di ba?

if thats the case, then US immig would see those stamps... which means you cant really hide that fact?

ugh, i wish there's a book out there about DC to educate us all.

[excessive baggage]

^ and does the officer put PP or IC stamp on both? meaning you presented your philippine passport or id certificate, di ba?

if thats the case, then US immig would see those stamps... which means you cant really hide that fact?

ugh, i wish there's a book out there about DC to educate us all.

When I present both passports to the immigration officer in the Philippines, they'd just stamp "Philippine immigration [date] & [flight]" on both passports (Philippine & foreign) on both events: arrival and departure.

No need to present the certificate / id as a proof of dual citizenship. Just both passports. Unless if they ask for it I suppose. But I've just been presenting my two passports ever since the implementation of dual citizenship in the Philippines. And every year since then I've not encountered any problems with it. No questions or supporting documents asked.

 

[twelve5]

thanks for the info, excessive baggage. 
 
now its getting clearer to me.

[twentysomething gal]

I'll admit it's really hard for me to let go of those ECC fees everytime I exit the phils mainly because I see no improvement in the immigration process and NAIA terminal (the old one), then I found out that they increased the terminal fee to 750! So I try to avoid it as much as I can. (that's another story)

BTW, I just visited the consulate's website and found out that the application fee for a new passport will cost you $75 (Php 3525). So, I guess it's cost beneficial to get a Phil passport as it will then only cost you $75 for the passport over the course of 5 years (by then it would expire) vs Php 1,210 ECC fee everytime you fly out of the Phils. For me, since I visit the Phils at least once a year, I'd be better off paying $75 (Php 3523) than Php 6,050 (1210 x 5). And that's not even considering the effect of any increase in the fees in the future.

But if you rarely visit the Philippines, I guess you don't want to get tied up with paying $75 every 5 years for passport renewals. You'd be better off paying the freaking ECC fees.

kelangan lang umabsent kasi matagal daw ang hintayan sa Phil. consulate- maghapon!

[twentysomething gal]

thanks for the info, jipsywiksy! 

clarification lang, pag less than a yr stay tapos no phil passport, no ECC fees?

kahit 2 weeks lang ako, I they still charged me Php1,210

710 ECC Fee
500 EXPRESS LANE FEE (WTH is this???)
1210

[twelve5]

^ yup, thats what i've been thinking nga - renew my phil passport... pag sinipag nalang ako. hehe

thanks.

[lyn]

Hi peeps, I'm thinking of applying for US citizenship but also having doubts about the dual thingy. I'm really confuse right now, I'm eligible to apply but I've been postponing it. Now the fees are a little higher and I want to go ahead and apply. Maybe this month or next 2 months. Anyway, what to do about the dual thing. Like it's been said here, once you take the oath you renounce your Phils. ties so after taking the US oath I have to apply at the same time for Phils. citizenship to be DC? I do have my Phils Passport but it will expired 2011 and I'm not sure if everything will be done for my US citizenship by 2011. I'm really confuse, it seems like there's a contradicting stories here. Especially if that ID thing don't work, if the Phils immigration dont recognize you even if you have the ID.... Hayyy, I also wish there's a book on this I could read.

[twelve5]

^ if my memory serves me right, my application for US citizenship took about 8 months, from submission of form... to exam/interview... to oath-taking. so if you act now or within the year, you'll be able to get your US citizenship before the end of 2010.

re ECC fees, im not thinking about it right now. bahala na when i leave the country. basta i have my IC card to present to immigration as proof of my DC.