Balikbayan Status

[Sora Fon]

I guess I could ask a consular officer but sometimes an online forum yields a more accurate statement of actual practice. Here's the question: J. was born in Ireland to an unmarried Filipina friend; the (third-country national) father is signed the birth record and then disappeared. The child has Irish nationality and will soon reach majority (18 y.o.)

 

Until now, his (very) occasional visits to the Philippines with his mother (who has a British passport, don't ask) have been with derivative Balikbayan status. If he had not (and under current law, enacted in 2004, he would not) been granted Irish citizenship at birth he would presumably be a Philippine citizen, and if he later had secured British nationality along with his mother he would then qualify as a Balikbayan.

 

Well maybe he is a Philippine citizen regardless, but that's only if the Philippines allows dual citizenship at birth. As it happens, if it makes any difference, he speaks Tagalog and has been educated in English.

 

Does J. qualify for Balikbayan status as it is? As a student (at a UK university) could he visit the Philippines for an extended visit to see family and/or study there for a semester without a visa?

[JJReyes]

The answer is, "No." The Balikbayan status is reserved from those born in the Philippines who have changed their citizenship. A minor born in another country can enter on a Balikbayan visa provided  either parents accompanying him/her qualify for the visa. Since J was born in Ireland and a citizen, He does not qualify.

Edited June 19, 2014 by JJReyes

[Thomas]

As a student (at a UK university) could he visit the Philippines for an extended visit to see family and/or study there for a semester without a visa?

I haven't studied student VISA proper   :)   but if I remember corect, he can get student VISA, but I believe it has to be an APPROVED school.  (The biger/better schools are normaly approved.)

[Sora Fon]

Thanks. He wants to study veterinary medicine. I think J. could probably go to a UK university for free, then maybe take a graduate course in Manila. He's frightfully smart. (Under the Ireland Act 1949 an Irish citizen is not an alien in Britain. I know he went to catholic schools in London and the fathers loved him b/c they are all Irish too.)

[Sora Fon]

I'm a research scholar and I've now come up with some possible answers. Thanks to those who helped. 

 

(1) The criterion for balikbayan status is not birth in the Philippines (see next para.). In any case not all persons born in the Philippines are citizens. Under American colonial tutelage and for years thereafter jus soli (birth in the territory) was the basis for nationality. But the Tio Tam case (1957) repudiated that and citizenship is now jus sanguinis: http://www.uniset.ca/phil/ 

 

(2) The criterion for balikbayan is former phillippine citizenship according to a Philippine consulate Web site: http://www.philippineconsulate.com.au/balikbayan-one-year-visa-free-stay.html J is clearly a "former Philippine citizen, even if only for a few months.

 

(2) J. was not an Irish citizen at birth because his mom was not then Irish or British (he was born in N. Ireland): http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1956/en/act/pub/0026/sec0007.html (That's the 1956 law; the option in Art. 7 was abolished for most cases in 2004. As with the Tio Tam case (in real life it served to exclude mostly ethnic Chinese), the 2004 law and a constitutional amendment that enabled it came about after nativist political haranguing that pregnant asylum seekers were targeting Ireland to get citizenship for their babies ("chain migration" something we hear about from the Right Wing here in the USA too but the 14th Amendment won't be so easy to abrogate).

 

(3) Since J. would otherwise have been stateless, I think Art. 4 of the Philippine Constitution made him a Philippine citizen: http://www.chanrobles.com/article4.htm#.U6U4vV6e2nQ When, months later, his mom went to the Irish consular section with his County Antrim birth certificate and filled out a form electing Irish nationality for him it was not retroactive. Under Section 5 of Art. 4 of the Philippine Constitution (and implementing legislation, which I haven't looked at) he presumably lost his Philippine citizenship. At that time his mother was still a Philippine national; she became British later.

 

(4) So as I read the above, J. could go to the Philippines as an Irish national without a visa and stay for a year. Whether he could pay the same university fees that Philippine citizen-residents pay is something I haven't looked at. But J. won't even be starting his undergraduate university study for another year. (England (not Scotland) has greatly raised its university fees even for citizens (not so much for other EU citizens because of EU law). J will benefit as a non-British EU citizen and also receive grants because his mom doesn't earn very much.

 

Thanks to all who expressed interest.

[Steve & Myrlita]

Can he claim Filipino dual citizenship?

[Dave Hounddriver]

I'm a research scholar and I've now come up with some possible answers.

 

Just remember that it is not what is written that counts here, it is how the Philippine bureaucrat who handles his case interprets it that counts.  Best of luck and always have a back-up plan.

[Thomas]

As a student (at a UK university) could he visit the Philippines for an extended visit to see family and/or study there for a semester without a visa?

I think J. could probably go to a UK university for free, then maybe take a graduate course in Manila.

In many countries wouldn't such graduate course be worth much/anything. I don't know about Js subjects, but concerning several subjects the Filipin education is BAD, so several go from FROM ,,,the Philippines TO Europe to get better education...

So, if he don't aim at using his graduation at Philippines, it can be better he concentrate on meeting his Filipin family...  (E g at tourist VISA.)

[JJReyes]

If J. wants to become a Vet, why would he want to study in the Philippines? He would have to pay for his education. No scholarships, no student loans.

Edited June 21, 2014 by JJReyes

[Americano]

Maybe he wants to be a Vet. for goats. There are millions of them all over the Philippines so someone needs to learn how to take care of them.  There was a "Goat Man" here from Canada but I guess he went back home, haven't seen or heard from him in a long time.

 

He had worked for the Canadian government as a goat vet. and then tried doing it here too but the Philippine government and people always screwed him.

Edited June 21, 2014 by Americano