Dual Citizenship Or Balikbayan Visa

[Tom in Texas]

As a Dual Citizen, you can do as many 'Frequent Trips' as you like without any restrictions. Perfect if you want to visit Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand etc . Risky to do as a Balikbayan, as you may not get another on re-entry (it is a gift & may not be given )...

If by "gift' you mean the immigration officers may not follow the law and arbitrarily refuse to provide a balikbayan, or their foreign passport holder spouse who is entering with them, the visa-free entry for a period of one (1) year to which they are legally entitled upon each re-entry... then you may be correct... but then again, that could be said with respect to any legal right you may have in the Philippines... or the USA... or the UK... etc.Nevertheless, I agree with your thought that dual citizenship for the wife and 13g for the husband is likely to be the best long term solution if you are going to be popping in and out of the PI for visits all over Asia... as the Mafia Don in Casino said when deciding whether to whack a guy who was probably not even a risk to squeal... "why take a chance?"I would note that my wife prefers to simply enter on her US passport as she feels she is treated more respectfully. Tom in Texas

[Mr Lee]

Member JohnB was once refused the BB stamp upon entry after a short trip out with his wife and all he did was go to the BI office in Cebu and tell them what happened and they stamped his passport. Most BI officers are taught to give it to everyone who enters and qualifies by showing they are married so I really feel that worrying would be unfounded under most circumstances and easily handled at a local office if that should become necessary. It is always best to just be nice and ask for the BB stamp and provide the necessary papers such as marriage license and especially if the passports are not in the exact same last name. I usually have my wife ask for it and I always smile and act friendly and say good morning or good evening or whatever to them. Otherwise IMO, don't worry and just be happy and have positive thoughts because we must have somewhere between 20 and 30 BB stamps in our passports and once you have one then the next one is more or less automatically a given, but with that said both my wife and I are US citizens yet I know many who get it whose wife is still a Filipino citizen and who live within the Philippines.  As we all know, nothing is a given in the Philippines and laws are often interpreted at the discretion of the person doing so, so always best to be prepared and pray for the best and if it does not go your way because your wife has never been out of the Philippines for one year or had a job outside the Philippines, then time to regroup and get a visa while in the Philippines. 

[Art2ro]

As a Dual Citizen, you can do as many 'Frequent Trips' as you like without any restrictions. Perfect if you want to visit Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand etc . Risky to do as a Balikbayan, as you may not get another on re-entry (it is a gift & may not be given )...

If by "gift' you mean the immigration officers may not follow the law and arbitrarily refuse to provide a balikbayan, or their foreign passport holder spouse who is entering with them, the visa-free entry for a period of one (1) year to which they are legally entitled upon each re-entry... then you may be correct... but then again, that could be said with respect to any legal right you may have in the Philippines... or the USA... or the UK... etc.Nevertheless, I agree with your thought that dual citizenship for the wife and 13g for the husband is likely to be the best long term solution if you are going to be popping in and out of the PI for visits all over Asia... as the Mafia Don in Casino said when deciding whether to whack a guy who was probably not even a risk to squeal... "why take a chance?"I would note that my wife prefers to simply enter on her US passport as she feels she is treated more respectfully. Tom in Texas

Where's the risk that a Balikbayan will be denied a BB stamp upon return to the Philippines within a year?4 years ago, my wife and I took a 5 day turn-around promo vacation trip to Thailand and didn't have any problems, because we had a follow-on (cheap $75 for two, throw away tickets). All the airlines know about the follow-on ticket rule, but there have been cases that some of the airlines didn't enforce their own follow-on ticket rule, where by a Balikbayan without a follow-on ticket slid by unnoticed by the people behind the check-in ticket counter and got away with it! In other words, no follow-on ticket, no boarding on the plane to return to the Philippines until the requirement has been met prior boarding one's return flight back to the Philippines! It's just as simple as that and no cause to worry about it! My wife and I have been doing it for the past 12 years and not once were ever denied a BB stamp and we didn't have to have a big smiling grin on our faces! We just looked around for a Customs official that looked to have a good behavior or attitude! And as Lee mentioned, if the Customs official denys one a BB stamp upon return, just go to the nearest BI office and request for it showing proof that one is allowed to avail the BB stamp!

[Mr Lee]

As a Dual Citizen, you can do as many 'Frequent Trips' as you like without any restrictions. Perfect if you want to visit Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand etc . Risky to do as a Balikbayan, as you may not get another on re-entry (it is a gift & may not be given )...

If by "gift' you mean the immigration officers may not follow the law and arbitrarily refuse to provide a balikbayan, or their foreign passport holder spouse who is entering with them, the visa-free entry for a period of one (1) year to which they are legally entitled upon each re-entry... then you may be correct... but then again, that could be said with respect to any legal right you may have in the Philippines... or the USA... or the UK... etc.Nevertheless, I agree with your thought that dual citizenship for the wife and 13g for the husband is likely to be the best long term solution if you are going to be popping in and out of the PI for visits all over Asia... as the Mafia Don in Casino said when deciding whether to whack a guy who was probably not even a risk to squeal... "why take a chance?"I would note that my wife prefers to simply enter on her US passport as she feels she is treated more respectfully. Tom in Texas

Where's the risk that a Balikbayan will be denied a BB stamp upon return to the Philippines within a year?4 years ago, my wife and I took a 5 day turn-around promo vacation trip to Thailand and didn't have any problems, because we had a follow-on (cheap $75 for two, throw away tickets). All the airlines know about the follow-on ticket rule, but there have been cases that some of the airlines didn't enforce their own follow-on ticket rule, where by a Balikbayan without a follow-on ticket slid by unnoticed by the people behind the check-in ticket counter and got away with it! In other words, no follow-on ticket, no boarding on the plane to return to the Philippines until the requirement has been met prior boarding one's return flight back to the Philippines! It's just as simple as that and no cause to worry about it! My wife and I have been doing it for the past 12 years and not once were ever denied a BB stamp and we didn't have to have a big smiling grin on our faces! We just looked around for a Customs official that looked to have a good behavior or attitude! And as Lee mentioned, if the Customs official denys one a BB stamp upon return, just go to the nearest BI office and request for it showing proof that one is allowed to avail the BB stamp!

Art and others, the problem as I see it is not with those of us who have been out of the Philippines for at least one year, worked outside the country or those of us who have citizenship in another country, the problem might be for those Filipinos who have never been out of the country for the one year or worked outside the country, but with that said, I know of many who get the BB stamp anyway, even if their wives have never been outside the Philippines before. After all, (hint, hint) passports get renewed and old passports might have the stamps in them and not the new passports, but in this computer age, it is going to get harder for the BI to not know if a person has ever been outside the country or not.  This is really a non issue for most of us who have lived outside the Philippines but could be an issue for those who go to the Philippines and marry a Philippine citizen and then go on vacation and then come back with their wives and hope to get the BB stamp, but probably would not be a problem as many have told me it was not, and if so then can usually be dealt with at the BOI local office.This post should end the discussion unless someone has new information and not rehash old information. Let us all try to get back to the topic.

[Jollygoodfellow]

Does anyone know what are the pros and cons of dual citizenship or the BB stamp visa

This is the topic, lets stick to it and lets not carry on from the last one.

[displacedsoul]

This topic and the one almost the same sounds like a broken record,or would that be a CD these days   :cool_beans:

[Mr Lee]

This topic and the one almost the same sounds like a broken record,or would that be a CD these days    :cool_beans:

Thank you sir, point taken and that is why myself and the owner has already dealt with it and maybe while you were typing. Member, please let the moderators deal with issues and just use the report icon or pm one of us when you have an issue such as this. Thank you. Now let us all read the title of this and every topic and only post accordingly.

[Tom in Texas]

If you and your wife are US citizens, I know of no downside to her reacquiring her Philippine citizenship. There are certainly a lot of upsides... not the least of which is making you eligible for a 13g visa.However, if you are going to travel back and forth to the States a time or two a year, the balikbayan visa-free entry to the Philippines for a period of one year as foreign passport holders may work just as well for you.Tom in Texas

Yes... back to "this" topic - We have obtained my wife's US citizenship. We plan to split time between Cebu and Texas. We plan to initially rely on the balikbayan visa-free benefit. I am planning to have my wife (re-acquire, affirm, ??) her Philippine citizenship. Does anyone know of any downside? (I do not - see above)Does anyone know of any upside? (I do - see above)Tom in Texas

[UZI]

If you and your wife are US citizens, I know of no downside to her reacquiring her Philippine citizenship. There are certainly a lot of upsides... not the least of which is making you eligible for a 13g visa.However, if you are going to travel back and forth to the States a time or two a year, the balikbayan visa-free entry to the Philippines for a period of one year as foreign passport holders may work just as well for you.Tom in Texas

Yes... back to "this" topic - We have obtained my wife's US citizenship. We plan to split time between Cebu and Texas. We plan to initially rely on the balikbayan visa-free benefit. I am planning to have my wife (re-acquire, affirm, ??) her Philippine citizenship. Does anyone know of any downside? (I do not - see above)Does anyone know of any upside? (I do - see above)Tom in Texas

I think a point is worth noting, while discussing this topic is that Art AND his wife a BOTH Fil Am's. They will have different experiences IMHO to the Filipino and Expat couple. For the majority of us here our only options are via our SPOUSE. We as the Expat, will get the BB stamp because of that or get a 13a or g residence.So for most (Jake excluded of course) reading here, the question is, should our partner get their Philippine Citizenship so that the foreigner can get their resisence or continue with both using the BB stamp. I think the answer lies in whether you are like Lee, who shares his time between Florida & Cebu or if you wish to live here permanently.Uzi.

[oldutot]

thanks for all the replies