(Click here to read about my post about a child born in Canada but will stay longer in the Philippines issue. Please leave comment below if ever you have encountered similar situation.)
Couple of times, former Filipino citizens who are now naturalized Canadian citizens ask us about staying in the Philippines for more than 21 days – they wanted to know if they will need a visa if they decide to stay longer.
From what we know about the Philippines Balikbayan Program, we usually tell them that as former Philippine citizens, they are allowed to stay in the Philippines for a year without the need to apply for a visa.
Some of them will counter that the information they get is that the ruling only applies to dual citizens.
Although majority of our customer are from the Filipino community or those buying cheap tickets to the Philippines – we don’t exactly know how to accurately respond to that query except to tell them to phone the Philippine Consulate in Toronto for the info. But, as travel agents specializing in the Philippines, I think its best to learn about the Philippines Balikbayan Program for our and our customers’ benefit.
According to the website of the Philippine Consulate in Toronto, former Filipino citizens and their accompanying family members may avail of the Balikbayan stamp wherein they are allowed to stay in the Philippines for a year without need of a visa. All they have to show the Philippine immigration officer upon their entry is either (a) an old Philippine passport, (b) Philippines birth certificate.
It’s not clear, though, if you need both or just one of each. It is not also specified if the birth certificate need to be authenticated by the National Statistics Office in the Philippines.
Click here to go the Philippines Balikbayan Program webpage of the Philippine Consulate in Toronto.
If the balikbayan is travelling with his/her spouse who is not a natural-born Filipino and wanted to avail also of the Balikbayan privilege, they have to show their marriage certificate to the immigration officer.
Anyway, I noticed that foreign passport holder who were natural-born Filipinos do not even need to show those requirements or ask for the Balikbayan stamp when entering the Philippines. I am one and I noticed that the immigration officer automatically stamps my passport with a BB or Balikbayan stamp.
I’m not so sure though if this is an SOP – so to be sure, just bring along the documents that were specified at the Consulates’ webpage.
Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
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Sounds all correct to me. I’m married to a Filipino/US Dual citizen, and we’ve travel in and out of the Philippines for four years now. The BB privilege program works and works fine.
We travel with just our US passports, our marriage certificate and my wife’s Philippine citizen reacquisition certificate.
This is a really great Philippine program for both former Filipinos and foreigner spouses. One of the few good “free” things you’re going to find these days. Enjoy it.
Dave,
Thanks for the confirming my post about the program. Although it clearly state on the Consulate website all document requirements, former Filipino citizens still double-check it with us to inquire. Probably because the wording on the page is not clear enough. That’s why when I go back to the Philippines, I always bring my old passport and authenticated birth certificate just to be sure and that’s what we advise our clients to bring also.
Thank you for visiting again.
hi! iloveadobo, do you know how long can a baby stay in the philippines? I am a filipino citizen and want to go there with my Son which is born here in canada for 3 months but i am so worried that we might have some hassles :D is there anything that i need???
@Ahyie, thanks for the comment po. By law, your baby is considered a Filipino citizen because he/she was born when you were still a Filipino citizen – so that means, he/she can stay in the Philippines for as long as she/he want. No limit. Kaya, don’t worry about that. What you should be your concern is if you’re bringing him/her with you to anywhere in the world, you should bring with you a letter signed by the father (if he shares custody of the child) with a copy of the father’s passport and a contact number where he can be reached. It would also be of help if you bring copies of the birth documents of the child. Hope that helped.
I want to bring my son(2 years old) back in the philippines. He is born here in Canada, but most of the people I ask said that he is only allowed to stay there for 21 days to 3 months. I am still a philippine citizen, I am wanna know what should I do or get in order to let my son stay in the Philippines for 1-2 years as we really need because of the difficulty working without anyone to help out look after him. Hope to hear from everyone soon.
Hi Liz,
As far as my interpretation of the Philippine Immigration Law on Philippine citizenship, it says if a person is born to a Filipino citizen parent/s, that person is considered a Filipino citizen also. So, if your son was born while you are still a Filipino citizen, your son is also a Filipino citizen – dual citizen because he is considered Canadian and Filipino.
All you have to do is to get him a passport, a written consent of the father if you both have custody of the child, copies of birth certificate and a ticket to the Philippines. If you’re buying him a one way ticket, make sure you print out a copy of the Bureau of Immigration website link – http://immigration.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=206&Itemid=37 or download and print-out here, because the airline company will question you about buying a one way ticket to a Canadian citizen. Only Filipino citizens are allowed to buy a one ticket out of Canada. Filipino citizens can stay in the Philippines as long as they want.
You may also call the Consulate of the Philippines to ask for a certified copy of that Philippine Immigration ruling, as back-up in case questions arise: (604) 685-1619 in Vancouver or (416) 922-7181 in Toronto or (613) 233-1121 in Ottawa. You may also inquire from them if what I’m saying is correct. I might be wrong, you know?
Please do not just believe what other people say, go direct to the source (Philippine Government) if you are in doubt.
Thanks for your comment. Goodluck.
Manuel
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hi there, i just have a question?
if you become a canadian citizen does that mean you are no longer a filipino citizen?
i still have a valid philippine passport and wanting to use it for traveling to Vietnam which allows filipinos to stay for 21 days visa free
any infos about this matter would be greatly appreciated.
thank you!
@Bella, if you are a naturalized Canadian already, that means you are no longer a citizen of the Philippines – unless you apply for dual citizenship with the Philippines. If you are ONLY a Canadian citizen, you are not allowed to use the Philippine passport as your travel document because you will be committing fraudulent representation of nationality. That’s just my interpretation, though. You should ask Canadian immigration or the Philippine Consulate about this because they are more qualified to give you a correct response. Goodluck.
Manuel
Hello po!
I’m wondering if I have the rights to a balikbayan-stamp.
Former filipino citizen po ung mama ko, Swedish citizen sya ngayon. I have dual citizenship and are traveling alone this time.
My father is swedish and my mother is pinay (now swedish citizen).
Hi Lisa, if you are dual Filipino-Swedish citizen, you can stay as long as you like in the Philippine and don’t need the balikbayan stamp, even if you’re traveling alone. If you were born in the Philippines, you are also considered a Filipino, so I don’t see any problem with your stay in the country. Have fun in the Philippines.
Hello po,
I am a Filipino citizen and a permanent resident of Canada and I am planning to travel to the Philippines for a 1 week vacation( to attend my parents’ 50th anniversary).i’m planning to travel on January 16 2013 but my passport will expire on March 11 2013.will this be a problem?madami po nagsasabi na di pwede kasi dapat daw with 6 months validity daw ang passport ko.
thanks po.
@lyn – yes, the airline staff may not allow you to board if that is the case. If you’re leaving Jan. 16 and coming back Jan. 24, your passport must be valid until July 24.
We are Fil/Cdn citizens and traveling to PI by March/13 with granddaughter, she was born here in Canada,5 years old and she is under the full custody of her Mom who is my daughter. My concern, what are the requirements of Philippine immigration? Pls let me know Thanks.
@Mira, please see if this is applicable to your situation: http://adoborepublic.net/live-local-philippines/living-in-the-philippines-children-born-in-canada-of-filipino-citizen-parents-issue/
I have a friend who is travelling tomorrow bound to PI and she will be back to her country of origin on Feb. 28,2013 but her Philippine passport will expire on April 30,2013. She has 2 valid passport, one foreign passport and one Philippine passport. (im not sure if she apply for dual citizenship)she told me she will use her Philippine passport to go in and out of Philippine, with her foreign passport standby. My question is, can she go out from Philippine knowing that her passport will expire on April 30,2013?
@Lala, even before she leaves her country of origin, an airline staff MIGHT NOT let her board because of the expiration of her Philippine passport. So, why complicate things? Just use the passport that is still valid for 6 months or more until her return and she’ll be fine.
hi kabayan,
I am a Filipino-Canadian with Dual-Citizenship – recently divorced in Canada and have remarried a Filipina (in the Philippines) . question is .. she is due to give birth to our first baby in the Philippines …will the baby adapt my Natural ‘Canadian’ Citizenship or Fiipino Citizenship?
Thank you for your time ..
Kabayan, congrats on your new baby! She or he, when born is both a Canadian and Filipino citizen, so, nothing to be concerned about on that issue. Hope that answer your question.
Hi, I came to the philippines on dec of 2011 using a us passport with my children. i went back to the us feb of 2012 to apply for dual citizen for myself and the children they advised me that the children are already considered dual by birth because there father is stii fil/ citizen. I was then given a certificate as dualcitizen. I then traveled back to PI. Now the problem is that my kids passport were stamped BB and mine says stay until 3/4/13. We want to leave and go back to the us but am afraid that they might think we overstayed since our passport were stamped as BB. I have all the necessary paper works to prove we are dual citizen. What shall I do?
Valerie, don’t worry too much. Just show the immigration officer on your exit your documents to show proof that you are a dual citizen.
Next time you go back to the Philippines, show your documents immediately to the officer at the immigration stamping booth so you get a resident stamp.
What I did with mine was I had it photocopied to a smaller size and then have it laminated at the same time it in a photocopy shop in the Philippines. It only cost me 50 pesos and it’s much easier to show at immigration upon entry in the Philippines.
Or, get yourself a Philippine passport that you can use when traveling around the Philippines and Southeast Asia. There are some advantage in using a Philippine passport when used around the region, you know?
So in other words they won’t ask me to pay tax nor penalty charges since I’m dual even though our passport says BB?
Valerie, that I cannot guarantee. If I were the immigration officer, I would understand that you must have forgotten to show me your documents when you arrived, unfortunately – I’m not.
What I’m saying is, the decision to penalize you or not is up to the discretion of the immigration officer who will stamp you upon your exit. If you want to be sure, go to the nearest Philippine immigration office and ask for a note or waiver (sort of) to prove that you truly are a dual citizen and must not be penalized for overstaying over the maximum allowed. But that’s only my suggestion. There has to be other ways and you can contact an immigration office to learn of other options.
Goodluck.