Hi Everybody/Brit Citizenship

[bc052]

Hello to everyone. I am so glad we got this kind of forum where we can ask and get advice. I got my british citizenship last Nov. 30, 2009 and I was booked for holiday in Phil. this coming 31st of Dec. I got only Filipino passport which is still valid until 2013 with my ILR. (I did not apply for British Passport since it will take 6 weeks to process and I was concerned that i might not have my passport back before my flight.) Is it alright to travel with my Phil. passport though I got certificate of British Naturalization? Is there anything I need to do before going back to Phil. Will I find problem coming back/going with Phil passport? Please help.......Thanks

BC052

[vbkelly]

Hello to everyone. I am so glad we got this kind of forum where we can ask and get advice. I got my british citizenship last Nov. 30, 2009 and I was booked for holiday in Phil. this coming 31st of Dec. I got only Filipino passport which is still valid until 2013 with my ILR. (I did not apply for British Passport since it will take 6 weeks to process and I was concerned that i might not have my passport back before my flight.) Is it alright to travel with my Phil. passport though I got certificate of British Naturalization? Is there anything I need to do before going back to Phil. Will I find problem coming back/going with Phil passport? Please help.......Thanks

BC052

yes still you can use your philippine passport as long as your passport still valid.

[aphrodite78]

yup i agree. although i have applied for my british passport 4 weeks ago, i got it within 2 1/2 weeks of filing my passport app. maybe i was just really lucky.

[Arthur Little]

Like the other members who've already responded to your query, I do not envisage any problems with your Filipino passport ... since it is valid up until 2013; indeed MY wife is in the same position as yourself in that respect!

to the forum ... and may you enjoy your forthcoming return visit to your homeland!

[darren-b]

Hello to everyone. I am so glad we got this kind of forum where we can ask and get advice. I got my british citizenship last Nov. 30, 2009 and I was booked for holiday in Phil. this coming 31st of Dec. I got only Filipino passport which is still valid until 2013 with my ILR. (I did not apply for British Passport since it will take 6 weeks to process and I was concerned that i might not have my passport back before my flight.) Is it alright to travel with my Phil. passport though I got certificate of British Naturalization? Is there anything I need to do before going back to Phil. Will I find problem coming back/going with Phil passport? Please help.......Thanks

BC052

Legally you shouldn't now use your Philippines passport as you are no longer Filipino - you lost your Philippines citizenship when you became British. If you attend a Citizenship ceremony at the Philippines embassy in London they will actually cancel your existing Philippines passport. In fact your ILR visa is no longer valid either.

But you are unlikely to have any problems if you use it.

[LadyJ]

Legally you shouldn't now use your Philippines passport as you are no longer Filipino - you lost your Philippines citizenship when you became British. If you attend a Citizenship ceremony at the Philippines embassy in London they will actually cancel your existing Philippines passport. In fact your ILR visa is no longer valid either.

But you are unlikely to have any problems if you use it.

In my knowledge you'll only lost your Philippine Citizenship after the expiration of the current passport because as long you've had your Philippine passport before you became a British Citizen but ofcourse now Im not sure since I read your post..

But I agreed on your last sentence

[walesrob]

In my knowledge you'll only lost your Philippine Citizenship after the expiration of the current passport because as long you've had your Philippine passport before you became a British Citizen but ofcourse now Im not sure since I read your post..

I think we need clarification on this as this question pops up a few times on the forum. I'm sure someone on forum did email the Philippine Embassy in London about this, but I can't find it.

Lets say for example a person has just acquired British Citizenship and has a British Passport, but has a Philippines passport valid until, lets say January 2011. If the said person travels to Philippines by air to Manila airport before that date (and intends leaving before Jan 2011) and tries to enter the country with the Philippine passport, would immigration regard the person as a Philippine national or not, EVEN if the Philippine passport is still valid? Or would a "hot list" of some description flag this up and they would be refused entry?

[joebloggs]

one of the problems is that once your a British citizen your ILR in your Filipino passport is cancelled, as a British citizen doesn't need ILR !!

so maybe you could be questioned when entering the UK, but i don't think they will refuse you entry as you're a British citizen, so maybe you could carry a copy of British citizenship cert, so if they do question you, you'll not be there for a long time

I would have thought that your Filipino passport is invalid as soon as you become a British citizen and not when your passport expires ( i don't know what the actual Filipino law states) but other countries like India which do not allow dual citizenship, their passport becomes invalid as soon as you become a British citizen. as you can be a citizen of a country and never have a passport.

chances of being stopped or questioned by British immigration or Filipino ones look very small. (for now anyway !)

[darren-b]

Here's the post when pennybarry emailed the Philippines embassy

http://filipinaroses.com/showpost.ph...2&postcount=57

"Yes, your Philippine passport becomes invalid when you obtain UK citizenship."

If you carry your British citizenship certificate and you didn't renew your Philippines citizenship make sure the Philippines immigration, etc don't see it.

If ever the UK immigration get their systems sorted and realise that you have British citizenship and therefore your ILR is no longer valid you may well have a problem trying to get back into (or even leaving..) the UK.

Not sure what the impact of the E-Borders programme will be as I believe that is already partially activated.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/ma...logy/eborders/

"The aim of e-Borders is to electronically collect and analyse information from carriers (including airlines, ferries and rail companies) about everyone who intends to travel to or from the United Kingdom before they travel."

[Arturo]

In my knowledge you'll only lost your Philippine Citizenship after the expiration of the current passport because as long you've had your Philippine passport before you became a British Citizen but ofcourse now Im not sure since I read your post..

But I agreed on your last sentence

Citizenship granted maybe. but if no UK passport is yet applied for or issued then surely the Filipino passport is still valid.

And I doubt anything is recorded yet with the Phils immigration offices.

[Arthur Little]

The following quotation immediately springs to mind:

"Oh ... what a complicated web we weave ... !"

- If only life were simpler!

[joebloggs]

Citizenship granted maybe. but if no UK passport is yet applied for or issued then surely the Filipino passport is still valid.

And I doubt anything is recorded yet with the Phils immigration offices.

i don't think having or not having a UK passport has anything to do with it, if a person never applies for a British passport are they still Filipino then? i don't think so, if the countries involved don't allow dual citizenship then as soon as you're a citizen of a new country you lose your citizenship of the old country, and i don't think you should be using their passport any more.

but uk and phils does allow dual citizenship,

[darren-b]

i don't think having or not having a UK passport has anything to do with it, if a person never applies for a British passport are they still Filipino then? i don't think so , if the countries involved don't allow dual citizenship then as soon as you're a citizen of a new country you lose your citizenship of the old country, and i don't think you should be using their passport any more.

but uk and phils does allow dual citizenship,

Totally agree, it's absolutely irrelevant whether you get a British passport or not.

The Philippines does allow dual citizenship now (it never used to..), but you have to re-aquire it, you don't automatically keep Philippines citizenship if you become a citizen of another country.

[joebloggs]

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

some info here,

you don't actually lose your Filipino citizenship when you become a British citizen, but you need to express the intention of retaining your Filipino citizenship by taking the oath of allegiance to the philippines.

[darren-b]

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

some info here,

you don't actually lose your Filipino citizenship when you become a British citizen, but you need to express the intention of retaining your Filipino citizenship by taking the oath of allegiance to the philippines.

I think they've got a slightly different definition of retaining to me....

"Republic Act No. 9225 or the Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act of 2003 is a law passed on 29 August 2003 which grants natural-born Filipinos who have lost their Filipino citizenship through naturalization in a foreign country, the opportunity to retain or re-acquire their Filipino citizenship."

What they seem to mean is anyone who has only just lost their Filipino citizenship is 'retaining' it, and anyone who lost their Filipino citizenship a while back (ie before this law was granted) is 're-acquiring' it. In either case though the Filipino citizenship would be lost for a period of time.

[joebloggs]

http://www.senate.gov.ph/republic_acts/ra%209225.pdf the actual act

yes i think your right, those before the act re-acquire citizenship and those after the act retain citizenship