Document #1039248
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa
According to the website of the Embassy of India in Manila, the Constitution of India does not permit dual citizenship (India n.d.a). The website of the High Commission of India in Ottawa indicates that "Indian citizens acquiring any foreign citizenship on or after 1 June, 2010 must formally renounce Indian citizenship" [1] (ibid. n.d.b).
According to the Citizenship Rules of 2009, formulated by the Central Government to outline the implementation of the Citizenship Act of 1955 (ibid. 2009, 1,), an individual married to a citizen of India, who would like to acquire Indian citizenship, must renounce his or her previous citizenship (ibid., Sec. 5).
The website of the Philippines Bureau of Immigration indicates that an individual who wants to acquire Philippine citizenship must renounce his or her "former nationality" (Philippines n.d.a). The website of the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles notes that, according to the Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act No. 9225 of 2003, "only natural-born [2] citizens of the Philippines" who acquired citizenship of another country "shall be deemed not to have lost their Philippine citizenship" (Philippines n.d.b).
According to the 1955 Citizenship Act of India, Indian citizenship can be acquired by registration by
c. a person who is married to a citizen of India and is ordinarily resident in India for seven years before making an application for registration. (India 1955, Art. 5(1)(c))
The same source states that an applicant is considered to be an ordinary resident of India if
The Citizenship Rules indicate that
Explanation.- In computing the period of seven years, any broken period of residence and service under sub-clauses (i) and (ii) of clause (c) shall be included in the period specified therein.
The applicant must submit the application for citizenship to the "Collector/Deputy Commissioner/District Magistrate within whose jurisdiction the applicant is ordinarily resident for transmission to the Central Government through the State Government or the Union territory administration" (ibid., Part II). The applicant must also provide the following documents with his or her application for citizenship:
According to the Citizenship Rules, an individual who is registered as a citizen of India will be issued a certificate of registration in Form X "signed by an officer not below the rank of Under Secretary to the Government of India" (ibid., Sec. 14). A copy of Form X is attached to this Response (Attachment 2).
According to the website of the Bureau of Immigration, Philippine citizenship can be acquired by birth or through naturalization (Philippines n.d.a). An article published by the Manila Times indicates that, according to the Public Attorney's Office, an individual, who was born in India, and who is married to a Filipino woman, "may only acquire Philippine citizenship through the process of naturalization," in accordance with the Commonwealth Act 473 (Manila Times 30 Apr. 2015). The Commonwealth Act 473 of 1939 states that in order to become a citizen of the Philippines through naturalization, an individual
Section 3 of the Act indicates that the ten years of continuous residency required under condition 2 of the previous section, will be reduced to five years for a person who is married to a Filipino woman (ibid., Sec. 3 (3)).
Section 5 of the Commonwealth Act states that
[o]ne year prior to the filing of his petition for admission to Philippine citizenship, the applicant for Philippine citizenship shall file with the Bureau of Justice a declaration under oath that is bona fide his intention to become a citizen of the Philippines. Such declaration shall set forth the 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 he came to the Philippines, and the place of residence in the Philippines at the time of making the declaration. No declaration-shall be valid until lawful entry for permanent residence [has] been established and a certificate showing the date, place, and manner of his arrival has been issued. (ibid., Sec. 5)
According to the Commonwealth Act, a person who wants to acquire Philippine citizenship should submit his or her application to the Court of First Instance of the province in which the applicant has resided for at least one year prior to applying for citizenship (ibid., Sec. 7-8). The Manila Times quotes the Public Attorney's Office as stating that the application may be submitted to the Regional Trial Court of the city or province where the applicant has been residing (The Manila Times 30 Apr. 2015).
According to the Commonwealth Act, the applicant has to attend a hearing and
[i]f, after the hearing, the court believes, in view of the evidence taken, that the petitioner has all the qualifications required by, and none of the disqualifications specified in this Act and has complied with all requisites herein established, it shall order the proper naturalization certificate to be issued (Philippines 1939, Sec. 10).
The Commonwealth Act states under Section 4 that the following persons are not eligible to be naturalized as citizens of Philippines:
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
Notes
[1] In order to renounce Indian citizenship, an individual must surrender his or her Indian passport for cancellation and obtain a "'Surrender Certificate' endorsement on the cancelled passport" (India n.d.b). According to the website of the High Commission of India, an individual can obtain the Surrender Certificate in Canada by submitting an application form and the required documents to the "outsourcing agent," BLS International (ibid.). BLS International is an organization that provides services for "administrative and non-judgmental tasks of outsourcing of Visas, Passports and Attestation Applications" in India and abroad (BLS International n.d.a). According to the website of BLS International, the applicant must provide the following documents:
The website of the High Commission of India in Ottawa indicates that the Indian passport will be cancelled and returned to the applicant along with the issued Surrender Certificate (India n.d.b).
[2] The website of the Embassy of the Philippines in Brussels indicates that, according to the Philippine Constitution, a natural-born citizen is an individual born to "one or both parents who are Filipino citizens at the time of birth" (Philippines n.d.c).
BLS International. N.d.a. "About Us."
_____. N.d.b. "General Information - Surrender of Nationality."
India. 2009. The Citizenship Rules, 2009.
_____. 1955 (amended 2005). The Citizenship Act, 1955.
_____. N.d.a. Embassy of India in Manila, Philippines. "Overseas Citizenship of India."
_____. N.d.b. High Commission of India in Ottawa, Canada. "Persons of Indian Origin to Obtain Surrender Certificate on Renunciation of Indian Citizenship."
The Manila Times. 30 April 2015. Persida Acosta. "Foreigner Can Become Filipino Citizen Through Naturalization."
Philippines. 1939. Commonwealth Act No. 473, June 17, 1939.
_____. N.d.a. Bureau of Immigration. "Citizenship."
_____. N.d.b. Consulate General in Los Angeles. "Dual Citizenship: Citizenship Retention and Re-acquisition Act of 2003 (R.A. 9225)."
_____. N.d.c. Embassy of the Philippines in Brussels. "Reacquisition of Filipino Citizenship."
Oral sources: Immigration lawyers in India and Philippines; India – High Commission of India in Ottawa; International Organization for Migration in the Philippines; Philippines – Bureau of Immigration, Embassy in Ottawa.
Internet sites, including: Amnesty International; The Daily Tribune; ecoi.net; Factiva; Freedom House; Helplinelaw; Human Rights Watch; The Filipino Express; India – Consulate General in Toronto, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs; India Times; LawPhil Project; The News India; Nolo Networks; Philippines – Commission on Filipinos Overseas, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Justice, embassies in New Delhi, Ottawa, Washington D.C., Supreme Court, Supreme Court E-Library; United Nations – Refworld; United States – Department of State, Embassy of the United States in Manila; University of Southeastern Philippines.
1. India. 2009. Ministry of Home Affairs. "Form III."
2. India. 2009. Ministry of Home Affairs. "Form X."