Re-acquisition of Philippine Citizenship

Republic Act 8171 was enacted to allow the repatriation of Filipino women who lost their citizenship by marriage to aliens and natural-born Filipinos who lost their citizenship on account of political or economic necessity.

I. Procedure in Re-acquisition of Citizenship

II.Overseas Application

I. Procedure in Re-acquisition of Citizenship

The following are the procedures for the re-acquisition of Philippine citizenship:

1. An applicant files a petition for repatriation to reacquire Philippine citizenship with the Special Committee on Naturalization at the Office of the Solicitor-General (OSG). The petition must be in 5 copies. The applicant must attach duplicate originals of the following documents to each copy of the petition:

• Alien Certificate of Registration and his/her Native-born Certificate of Residence and Arrival or Re-entry Permit into the Philippines
• Immigration Certificate of Residence
• Medical Certificate
• NBI Clearance
• Birth Certificate, the Alien Certificate of Registration, and the Immigrant’s Certificate of Residence or Native-born Certificate of Residence (if any) of petitioner’s minor children whenever applicable
• Marriage contract/ Death Certificate of Spouse/ Divorce or Annulment Decree
• Birth certificate or other evidences of his/her former Filipino citizenship
• Signed passport size photograph

2. Upon submission of the application and documents, the applicant must pay a docketing fee P15,000.00

3. The Committee on Naturalization may call the applicant for interview. The Committee is composed of the Solicitor-General, as chairman, and the Undersecretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, as members

4. Within ninety (90) days after being notified of the approval of his/her petition, the applicant will take his/her oath of allegiance before the Committee or any of its duly designated representatives. An oath-taking fee of P25,000.00 will be collected. If the petitioner fails to take the oath within the prescribe time, the approval of the petition is deemed withdrawn.

5. After taking the oath, the Committee issues a Certificate of Repatriation and a copy of the oath. Copies of said documents will also be forwarded to the proper Local Civil Registrar for registration and to the Bureau of Immigration (BI). Upon receipt of these documents, BI will cancel the Alien Certificate of Registration of the repatriated citizen.

II. Overseas Application

If the petitioner is a natural-born Filipino and is presently residing outside of the Philippines, he/she may file his/her application and pay the corresponding docketing fee at the Philippine Embassy or Consulate having jurisdiction over his/her place of residence. On request of the Special Committee on Naturalization, an official of the Embassy or Consulate will interview petitioner. The application, docketing fee, and report interview will be forwarded to the Committee, which will determine whether or no the petitioner is qualified for repatriation. If he/she is found to be qualified, he/she then takes the oath of allegiance before designated officials of the Philippine Embassy or Consulate of his/her place of residence, after which said oath will be forwarded to the Special Committee on Naturalization.

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