Philippine nationality law

The Philippine nationality law is based upon the principles of jus sanguinis (Latin for right of blood) and therefore descent from a parent who is a citizen or national of the Republic of the Philippines is the primary method of acquiring Philippine citizenship. This is contrasted with the legal principle of jus soli where being born on the soil of a country, even to foreign parents, grants one citizenship. For those born in the Philippines to non-Filipino parents, the Administrative Naturalization Law of 2000 (R.A. 9139) provides a path for administrative naturalization for those who qualify.

As of 2010^[update], with no significant changes expected, Philippine nationality law provides that a person becomes a Philippine citizen by birth if

Commonwealth Act No. 473, approved June 17, 1939, provided that persons having certain specified qualifications may become a citizen of the Philippines by naturalization.

Republic Act No. 9139, approved June 8, 2001, provided that aliens under the age of 18 who were born in the Philippines, who have resided in the Philippines and have resided therein since birth, and who possess other specified qualifications may be granted Philippines citizenship by administrative proceeding subject to certain requirements.

Under Section 2 of the Revised Naturalization Law the applicant must possess the following qualifications:

Commonwealth Act No. 63, dated 20 October 1936, provides that Philippine citizens may lose citizenship in any of the following ways or events:

Republic Act No. 8171, approved 23 October 1995, provided a mechanism allowing Filipino women who have lost their Philippine citizenship by marriage to aliens and natural-born Filipinos who have lost their Philippine citizenship, including their minor children, on account of political or economic necessity, to reacquire Philippine citizenship.

Republic Act No. 9225, approved 29 August 2003, provided that natural-born citizens of the Philippines who had lost their Philippine citizenship by reason of their naturalization as citizens of a foreign country would be deemed to have re-acquired Philippine citizenship upon taking an oath of allegiance to the Republic, and that their children whether legitimate, illegitimate or adopted, below eighteen (18) years of age, shall be deemed citizens of the Philippines.

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