Philippines Balikbayan Stamp For Former Filipinos Vacationing In The Philippines
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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[...] in the Philippines up to a year if they will ask for a Balikbayan stamp. I will discuss this Balikbayan stamp requirements probably in another [...]
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
[...] what she asked from me was exactly the same to what I had responded to in my blog (here and here) just a few days before she called to inquire about airline tickets to the [...]