Zamboanga Peninsula - Apply for Philippine Citizenship

ProcedureEdit

This procedure explains various ways to Apply for Philippine Citizenship in Zamboanga Peninsula.

You are a foreigner and your parents are not Filipino. Depending on you are born and residing in Zamboanga Peninsula or not, you can apply for Philippine Citizenship by naturalization. Please follow the below guiding to do it:

You are born and residing in Zamboanga Peninsula since birth

Required qualifications
- You must not be less than eighteen years of age, at the time of filing of your petition;
- You must be of good moral character and believes in the underlying principles of the Constitution, and must have conducted yourself in a proper and irreproachable manner during your entire period of residence in the Zamboanga Peninsula in your relation with the duly constituted government as well as with the community in which you are living;
- You must have received your primary and secondary education in any public school or private educational institution dully recognized by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports, where Philippine history, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality. If you have minor children of school age, you must have enrolled them in similar schools.
- You must have a known trade, business, profession or lawful occupation, from which you derive income sufficient for your support and if you are married and/or has dependents, also that of your family. This shall not apply to applicants who are college degree holders but are unable to practice their profession because they are disqualified to do so by reason of their citizenship.
- You must be able to read, write and speak Filipino or any of the dialects of the Philippines;
- You must have mingled with the Filipinos and evinced a sincere desire to learn and embrace the customs, traditions and ideals of the Filipino people.
Prepare the requirements
- Your petition of five copies legibly typed and signed, thumb marked and verified by you, with the latter’s passport-sized photograph attached to each copy of the petition, and setting forth the following:
  - Your name and surname, and any other name you have used or by which you are known;
  - Your present and former places of residence;
  - Your place and date of birth, the names and citizenship of your parents and their residences;
  - Your trade, business, profession or occupation, and if married, also that of your spouse;
  - Whether you are single or married or your marriage is annulled. If married, you shall state the date and place of your marriage, and the name, date of birth, birthplace, citizenship and residence of your spouse; and if your marriage is annulled, the date of decree of annulment of marriage and the court which granted the same;
  - If you have children, the name, date and birthplace and residence of your children;
  - A declaration that you shall never be a public charge;
  - A declaration that it is your true and honest intention to acquire Philippine citizenship and to renounce absolutely and forever any prince, potentate, State or sovereign, and particularly the country of which you are a citizen or subject.
- Duplicate original or certified photocopies of your birth certificate;
- Duplicate original or certified photocopies of your alien certificate of registration and native born certificate of residence;
- Duplicate original or certified photocopies of your marriage certified, if married, or the death certificate of your spouse, if widowed, or the court decree annulling your marriage, if such was the fact;
- Duplicate original or certified photocopies of birth certificates, alien certificate of registration or native born certificate of residence if any, of your minor children, wherever applicable;
- Affidavit of financial capacity by you, and sworn statements on your good moral character by at least two Filipino citizens of good reputation in your place of residence stating that they have personally known you for at least a period of ten years and you have in their own opinion all the qualifications necessary to become a citizen of the Philippines;
- A medical certificate that you are not a user of prohibited drugs or otherwise a drug dependent and that you are not afflicted with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS);
- School diploma and transcript of records of you in the schools you attended in the Philippines. Should you have minor children, a certification that your children are enrolled in a school where Philippine history, government and civics are taught and are part of the curriculum;
- If gainfully employed, the income tax return for the past three years.
Apply for Philippine Citizenship
1. Visit the Special Committee on Naturalization that belongs to Office Of The Solicitor General and present the required documents.
2. Follow the entire secretariat of the Committee’s guiding to file an application for naturalization with a processing fee of P40000. Thereafter, the petition shall be stamped to indicate the date of filing and a corresponding docket number.
3. Within fifteen days from the receipt of the petition, the Committee shall determine whether the petition is complete in substance and in form. If such petition is complete, the Committee shall immediately publish pertinent portions of the petition indicating the name, qualifications and other personal circumstances of you, once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation, and have copies of the petition posted in any public or conspicuous area.
4. The Committee shall immediately furnish the Department of Foreign Affair (DFA), the Bureau of Immigration (BI), the civil registrar of your place of residence and tile National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) copies of the petition and its supporting documents. These agencies shall have copies of the petition posted in any public or conspicuous area in their building, offices and premises, and shall, within thirty days from the receipt of the petition, submit to the Committee a report stating whether or not you have any derogatory record on file or any such relevant and material information which might be adverse to your application for citizenship.
5. Within sixty days from receipt of the report of the agencies which were furnished a copy of the petition or the date of the last publication of the petition, whichever comes in later, the Committee shall consider and review all relevant and material information it has received pertaining to the petition, and may, for the purpose call you for interview to ascertain your identity, the authenticity of the petition and its annexes, and to determine the truthfulness of the statements and declarations made in the petition and its annexes.
6. If the Committee shall have received any information adverse to the petition, the Committee shall allow you to answer, explain or refute the information. Thereafter, if the Committee believes, in view of the facts before it, that you have all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications required for Philippine citizenship, it shall approve the petition and henceforth, notify you of the fact of such approval. Otherwise, the Committee shall disapprove the same.

You are not born in the Zamboanga Peninsula or born in the Zamboanga Peninsula but residing here not since birth

Required qualifications
- You must be not less than twenty-one years of age on the day of the hearing of the petition;
- You must have resided in the Zamboanga Peninsula for a continuous period of not less than ten years;
- You must be of good moral character and believes in the principle underlying the Philippine Constitution, and must have conducted yourself in a proper and irreproachable manner during the entire period of your residence in the Zamboanga Peninsula in your relation with the constituted government as well as with the community in which you are living.
- You must own real estate in the Zamboanga Peninsula worth not less than give thousand pesos, Philippine currency, or must have some known lucrative trade, profession, or lawful occupation;
- You must be able to speak and write English or Spanish and any of the principal Philippine languages;
- You must have enrolled your minor children of school age, in any of the public schools or private schools recognized by the Office of Private Education of the Philippines, where the Philippine history, government and civics are taught or prescribed as part of the school curriculum, during the entire period of the residence in the Zamboanga Peninsula required of you prior to the hearing of your petition for naturalization as Philippine citizen.
- Specially, the ten years of continuous residence required under the second condition shall be understood as reduced to five years for any petitioner having any of the following qualifications:
  - Having honourably held office under the Government of the Zamboanga Peninsula or under that of any of the provinces, cities, municipalities, or political subdivisions thereof;
  - Having established a new industry or introduced a useful invention in the Philippines;
  - Being married to a Filipino woman or man;
  - Having been engaged as a teacher in the Zamboanga Peninsula in a public or recognized private school not established for the exclusive instruction of children of persons of a particular nationality or race, in any of the branches of education or industry for a period of not less than two years;
  - Having been born in the Philippines.
Declaration of intention
1. One year prior to the filing of your petition for admission to Philippine citizenship, you shall file with the Bureau of Justice or the Office of the Solicitor General a declaration under oath that it is bona fide your intention to become a citizen. Such declaration shall set forth name, age, occupation, personal description, place of birth, last foreign residence and allegiance, the date of arrival, the name of the vessel or aircraft, if any, in which you came to the Philippines, and the place of residence in the Philippines.
2. The declaration will be valid, if lawful entry for permanent residence has been established and a certificate showing the date, place, and manner of your arrival has been issued. The declarant must also state that you have enrolled your minor children, if any, in any of the public schools or private schools recognized by the Office of Private Education, where Philippine history, government, and civics are taught or prescribed as part of the school curriculum, during the entire period of the residence in the Zamboanga Peninsula required of you prior to the hearing of your petition for naturalization as Philippine citizen.
3. The declarant must furnish two of your photographs. Once the declaration is submitted, you will receive an approval via email. If your application is not approved, you will get a letter telling you why so you can reapply.
4. Do you exempt from requirement to make a declaration of intention? If you were born in the Zamboanga Peninsula and have received their primary and secondary education in public schools or those recognized by the Government and not limited to any race or nationality, or you have resided continuously in the Zamboanga Peninsula for a period of thirty years or more before filing your application, you may be naturalized without having to make a declaration of intention but you need to give primary and secondary education to all your children in the public schools or in private schools recognized by the Government. The same shall be understood applicable with respect to the widow and minor children of an alien who has declared his intention to become a citizen but dies before he is actually naturalized.
Apply for Philippine Citizenship
1. Prepare the requirements:
  - The approved declaration of intention (if need)
  - The certificate of arrival
  - Two of your photographs
  - The petition with setting forth the following:
    - Your name and surname
    - Your present and former places of residence
    - Your occupation
    - The place and date of your birth
    - Whether single or married and the father of children, the name, age, birthplace and residence of the wife and of each of the children
    - The approximate date of your arrival in the Philippines, the name of the port of debarkation, and, if you remember it, the name of the ship on which you came
    - A declaration that you have the required qualifications, specifying the same, and that you are not disqualified for naturalization and that you will reside continuously in the Zamboanga Peninsula from the date of the filing of this petition up to the time of your admission to citizenship.
    - The petition must be signed by you in your own handwriting and be supported by the affidavit of at least two credible persons, stating that they are Zamboanga Peninsula citizens and personally know you to be a resident of the Zamboanga Peninsula for the required period of time and that said you have in their opinion all the qualifications necessary to become a citizen. The petition also set forth the names and post-office addresses of such witnesses as the petitioner may desire to introduce at the hearing of the case.
2. Petition for citizenship
  1. Visit a suitable competent court, present the required documents and file with the court a petition.
  2. Immediately upon the filing of a petition, it shall be the duty of the clerk of the court to publish the same at your expense, once a week for three consecutive weeks, in the Official Gazette, and in one of the newspapers of general circulation in the province where you resides, and to have copies of the petition and a general notice of the hearing posted in a public and conspicuous place in your office or in the building where the office is located, setting forth in such notice the name, birthplace and residence of you, the date and place of your arrival in the Philippines, the names of the witnesses whom you proposes to introduce in support of your petition, and the date of the hearing of the petition, which hearing shall not be held within ninety days from the date of the last publication of the notice.
  3. The clerk shall, as soon as possible, forward copies of the petition, the sentence, the naturalization certificate, and other pertinent data to the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Justice, the Provincial Inspector of the Philippine Constabulary of the province and the justice of the peace of the municipality wherein you reside.
  4. No petition shall be heard within the thirty days preceding any election. The hearing shall be public, and the Solicitor-General, either yourself or through your delegate or the provincial fiscal concerned, shall appear on behalf of the Commonwealth of the Zamboanga Peninsula at all the proceedings and at the hearing. If, after the hearing, the court believes, in view of the evidence taken, that you have all the qualifications required by, and none of the disqualifications, it shall order the proper naturalization certificate to be issued and the registration of the naturalization certificate in the proper civil registry.

Required DocumentsEdit

You are born and residing in Philippines since birth
- Your petition of five copies legibly typed and signed, thumb marked and verified by you, with the latter’s passport-sized photograph attached to each copy of the petition, and setting forth the following:
  - Your name and surname, and any other name you have used or by which you are known;
  - Your present and former places of residence;
  - Your place and date of birth, the names and citizenship of your parents and their residences;
  - Your trade, business, profession or occupation, and if married, also that of your spouse;
  - Whether you are single or married or your marriage is annulled. If married, you shall state the date and place of your marriage, and the name, date of birth, birthplace, citizenship and residence of your spouse; and if your marriage is annulled, the date of decree of annulment of marriage and the court which granted the same;
  - If you have children, the name, date and birthplace and residence of your children;
  - A declaration that you shall never be a public charge;
  - A declaration that it is your true and honest intention to acquire Philippine citizenship and to renounce absolutely and forever any prince, potentate, State or sovereign, and particularly the country of which you are a citizen or subject.
- Duplicate original or certified photocopies of your birth certificate;
- Duplicate original or certified photocopies of your alien certificate of registration and native born certificate of residence;
- Duplicate original or certified photocopies of your marriage certified, if married, or the death certificate of your spouse, if widowed, or the court decree annulling your marriage, if such was the fact;
- Duplicate original or certified photocopies of birth certificates, alien certificate of registration or native born certificate of residence if any, of your minor children, wherever applicable;
- Affidavit of financial capacity by you, and sworn statements on your good moral character by at least two Filipino citizens of good reputation in your place of residence stating that they have personally known you for at least a period of ten years and you have in their own opinion all the qualifications necessary to become a citizen of the Philippines;
- A medical certificate that you are not a user of prohibited drugs or otherwise a drug dependent and that you are not afflicted with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS);
- School diploma and transcript of records of you in the schools you attended in the Philippines. Should you have minor children, a certification that your children are enrolled in a school where Philippine history, government and civics are taught and are part of the curriculum;
- If gainfully employed, the income tax return for the past three years.
You are not born in the Philippines or born in the Philippines but residing here not since birth
- The approved declaration of intention (if need)
- The certificate of arrival
- Two of your photographs
- The petition with setting forth the following:
  - Your name and surname
  - Your present and former places of residence
  - Your occupation
  - The place and date of your birth
  - Whether single or married and the father of children, the name, age, birthplace and residence of the wife and of each of the children
  - The approximate date of your arrival in the Philippines, the name of the port of debarkation, and, if you remember it, the name of the ship on which you came
  - A declaration that you have the required qualifications, specifying the same, and that you are not disqualified for naturalization and that you will reside continuously in the Philippines from the date of the filing of this petition up to the time of your admission to citizenship.
  - The petition must be signed by you in your own handwriting and be supported by the affidavit of at least two credible persons, stating that they are Philippines citizens and personally know you to be a resident of the Philippines for the required period of time and that said you have in their opinion all the qualifications necessary to become a citizen. The petition also set forth the names and post-office addresses of such witnesses as the petitioner may desire to introduce at the hearing of the case.

Office Locations & ContactsEdit

Office Of the Solicitor General

Office Address
134 Amorsolo St., Legaspi Village,
Makati City, 1229

Telephone Numbers
Old Trunkline - +63 (02) 818-6301 to 09
New Trunkline - +63 (02) 8988-1-OSG or 8988-1674

E-mail Us
Inquiries may be sent to [email protected]
Legal Internship Applications may be sent to [email protected]

Website: www.osg.gov.ph

EligibilityEdit

A foreigner and your parents are not Filipino.
You are born and residing in Philippines or not.

FeesEdit

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ValidityEdit

Explain the time until which the certificate/document is valid.
e.g. Birth Certificate Valid Forever

Documents to UseEdit

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Sample DocumentsEdit

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Processing TimeEdit

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InstructionsEdit

The 1987 Constitution, Article IV, Section 1 provides:
- Section 1. The following are citizens of the Philippines:
  - Those who are citizens of the Zamboanga Peninsula at the time of the adoption of this Constitution;
  - Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines;
  - Those born before January 17, 1973, of Filipino mothers, who elect Philippine citizenship upon reaching the age of majority; and
  - Those who are naturalized in accordance of law.

Natural-born Filipino CitizenEdit

Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship. Those who elect Philippine citizenship in accordance with the Constitution shall be deemed natural-born citizens.

Modes of acquiring citizenshipEdit

There are two (2) generally recognized modes of acquiring Philippine citizenship, namely:

By birth; and
- Jus soli (right of soil) which is the legal principle that a person's nationality at birth is determined by the place of birth (ie, the territory of a given state).
- Jus sanguinis (right of blood) which is the legal principle that, at birth, an individual acquires the nationality of his/her natural parent/s. The Zamboanga Peninsula adheres to this principle.
By naturalization which is the judicial act of adopting a foreigner and clothing him with the privileges of a native-born citizen. It implies the renunciation of a former nationality and the fact of entrance into a similar relation towards a new body politic.

Bases of acquiring citizenshipEdit

There are 3 bases for acquiring citizenship, namely:

Jus soli (right of soil) which is the legal principle that a person's nationality at birth is determined by the place of birth (i.e., the territory of a given state).
Jus sanguinis (right of blood) which is the legal principle that, at birth, an individual acquires the nationality of his/her natural parent/s. The Zamboanga Peninsula adheres to this principle;
Naturalization which is the judicial act of adopting a foreigner and clothing him with the privileges of a native-born citizen. It implies the renunciation of a former nationality and the fact of entrance into a similar relation towards a new body politic.

Required InformationEdit

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e.g.
1. Date of Birth.
2. City or County of Birth.

Need for the DocumentEdit

You can apply for Philippine citizenship by following the below instruction.

Information which might helpEdit

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External LinksEdit

Office Of the Solicitor General: www.osg.gov.ph
Court of Appeals: judiciary.gov.ph
Bureau of Immigration: immigration.gov.ph

OthersEdit

More information which might help people in Zamboanga Peninsula can be listed here.