Filipino Passport or British Passport?

[rands]

Hello guys,

Just a short question, I have just got my British passport and I am travelling to the Philippines in January. My philippine passport does not expire until after a year from now. My question is do I need to apply for dual citizenship now or is it okey to travel with my current British/Filipino passport? Can I use either of them when visiting the Philippines and do I need to pay travel tax if I use my British passport? I'm just a little confused. The Philippine embassy website does not actually state that once you get your foreign passport you lose your Filipino citizenship, so I do not feel I have to apply for citizenship retention or dual citizenship when I have not really lost any. Any thoughts & advice?

Thanks

Rands

[darren-b]

Hello guys,

Just a short question, I have just got my British passport and I am travelling to the Philippines in January. My philippine passport does not expire until after a year from now. My question is do I need to apply for dual citizenship now or is it okey to travel with my current British/Filipino passport? Can I use either of them when visiting the Philippines and do I need to pay travel tax if I use my British passport? I'm just a little confused. The Philippine embassy website does not actually state that once you get your foreign passport you lose your Filipino citizenship, so I do not feel I have to apply for citizenship retention or dual citizenship when I have not really lost any. Any thoughts & advice?

Thanks

Rands

Your understanding isn't totally correct. Try this link from the Philippines Embassy in Australia.

http://www.philippineconsulate.com.au/PDF/CFO.FAQ2.pdf

You may not have totally lost your Philippines citizenship, but you have to take the oath to retain it. And when you take the oath I believe they will cancel your current Philippines passport hence i do not believe your Philippines passport is currently valid, though you would probably get away with using it.

Once you've left the Philippines to settle in another country I don't believe you have to pay the travel tax anyway regardless which passport you use.

[rands]

Thanks for your reply. The link has answered my questions now. Yes I do need to apply for dual citizenship to formally express my intention to retain my Filipino citizenship.