Fil-Ams welcome easing of dual citizenship requirements

Filipino-Americans welcomed yesterday the easing of requirements under the Dual Citizens Act, as they vowed to invest their retirement dollars back in the Philippines.

Loida Nicolas-Lewis, chairwoman of the National Federation of Filipino-American Associations, said the number of Fil-Ams who will seek dual citizenship would now likely increase with the relaxation of the terms.

The relaxation of requirements was contained in Bureau of Immigration (BI) Memorandum Circular No. AFF-O5002 signed by Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez and Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez last month. It took effect on Nov. 1.

Prior to the circular, Fil-Ams who wished to apply for dual citizenship were required to secure a certification from the National Statistics Office as proof that they are natural-born Filipinos.

Lewis said this was the primary reason why very few Fil-Ams had previously sought dual citizenship.

As of January this year, only 2,500 out of some two million Fil-Ams signed up for dual citizenship.

With the issuance of the circular, Fil-Ams seeking to avail of the benefits of Republic Act 9225 or the Dual Citizenship Act "shall now be presumed to be natural-born Filipino citizens unless proven otherwise."

Under the revised rules, they are now required to present only their Philippine birth certificate, old Philippine passport, voter’s affidavit and identification card, marriage contract indicating Philippine citizenship, or any other document showing former natural-born citizenship as acceptable evidence to the evaluating officer.

The revised rules also authorize Philippine foreign posts to issue Identification Certificates or Philippine passports as against the former practice in which the posts merely accepted the application forms and forwarded these to the BI office in Manila.

Lewis said the new rules would be beneficial to the Philippines as many professionals, like those from her generation who left the country from the 1960s to the 1980s, have now reached retirement age and are considering where to retire.

Prior to the Dual Citizenship Act, Lewis lamented that Fil-Ams were discouraged from investing in the Philippines because of existing laws that set limitations on foreign exposure in domestic businesses or industries.

As an example, she cited the Lewis College in her home province of Sorsogon which she founded and funded, but which she could not own a single share of because of her foreigner status.

"So thanks to these new requirements more people like myself can start thinking about coming back to the Philippines," she said.

Lewis said each of the Fil-Am retirees would bring with them at least $1,000 (P55,000) a month in social security pension benefits which they could invest in the country.

She said Fil-Ams were well aware of the developments in the political front but maintained this would not be a deterrent for them to return home as investors.

RA 9225 was principally authored by Senate President Franklin Drilon and was enacted into law by President Arroyo on Aug. 30, 2003.

Lewis had previously met with Drilon to express the complaints of Fil-Ams about the long and tedious process of securing dual citizenship.

Drilon then met with Fernandez to discuss the amendments to the implementing guidelines consistent with the intention of Congress to make the process as simple as possible.