ON JUDICIAL NATURALIZATION

More on naturalization aside from judicial: ON ADMINISTRATIVE NATURALIZATION

• A foreigner applicant for judicial naturalization must be able to speak and write any of the principal languages of the Philippines

• The applicant must be at least 21 years old on the day of the hearing

• A Notice of Intent to acquire Philippine citizenship is also a requirement

May a foreigner, who is not born in the Philippines, allowed to acquire Philippine Citizenship?

In our previous article, we have discussed that an administrative naturalization is allowed where a foreigner is born and is residing in the Philippines since birth. If administrative naturalization is not possible, an applicant may consider judicial naturalization.

Judicial naturalization is governed by Commonwealth Act 473, otherwise known as the “Revised Naturalization Law” as amended. The judicial naturalization may be filed by a foreigner applicant in the Regional Trial Court where he has resided for at least one year before the filing of his petition.

What are the qualifications for judicial naturalization?

The law says:

Any person having the following qualifications may become a citizen of the Philippines by naturalization:

1. He must be at least 21 years of age at the date of hearing;
2. He must have resided in the Philippines for a continuous period of not less than 10 years;
3. He must be of good moral character and believes in the principles underlying the Philippine Constitution, and must have conducted himself in a proper and irreproachable manner during the entire period of his residence in the Philippines in relation with the constituted government as well as with the community in which he is living;
4. He must own a real estate in the Philippines or must have some known lucrative trade, profession, or lawful occupation;
5. He must be able to speak and write English or Spanish and any of the principal Philippine languages; and
6. He must have enrolled his minor children in schools where Philippine history, government and civics are part of the curriculum

However, the requirement of ten (10) years of continuous residence as mentioned above may be reduced to five (5) years for any applicant or petitioner having any of the following qualifications:

1. Having honorably held office under the Government of the Philippines;
2. Having established a new industry or introduced a useful invention in the Philippines;
3. Being married to a Filipino woman;
4. Having been engaged as a teacher in the Philippines in a public or recognized private school for not less than two (2) years. Take note that the school must not have been established for the exclusive instruction of children of persons of a particular nationality or race;
5. Having been born in the Philippines.

In addition, the applicant must, one year prior to the filing of the petition before the court, file a Notice of Intent to acquire Philippine Citizenship with the Office of the Solicitor General. Said Notice of Intent may be dispensed with, if the applicant was born or studied his primary and secondary education in the country or resided in the Philippines continuously for thirty (30) years.

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Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries, you may reach us at info@alburolaw.com, or dial us at (02)7745-4391/0917-5772207.

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