⌛ Renew a Visa

not standing in the shadow, Shadow !

That's why I like this forum so much.
There is always someone who will react if the information is NOT correct.
We have luckily so many experienced members amongst us that we allways can keep track with what we want.
But sometimes a member comments that 'a foreigner can't know it better than a local'.
The one who takes real effort in getting the facts is the one who knows, not necessarily the one who is born at the spot
If I have trust in someones advices then surely in Larry's.

 

I would get some clarification on her current status as a tourist if she has been here continuously for over 2 years. Fixers can get a passport stamped but it can lead to a lot of confusion at the airport when you go to leave.
A slightly different situation was encountered by my daughter. She was born here and lived here all her life and had dual citizenship. As she had never lived in the States her child had to be born in the States to get US citizenship. She had her US passport and bought a ticket and applied for her Filipino passport. The PI passport was not yet issued on her departure date. No worries she would depart on her US passport. WRONG. They refused to let her board and accused her of overstaying from her birth to 23 years old and calculated a fine based on the number of days that was. She missed her flight had to report to Immigration and a 10,000 peso fine was finally negotiated. She received her PI passport and rebooked a flight. An expensive and nerve wracking hassle.

 

Whatever Larry tells you about visas, immigration, LTO, laws of the land, is golden. Period.

 

Something doesn't ring true about this case.

It is true enough that if she tried to leave on her US passport that immigration would try to collect a fine from her, but the fine would be MUCH more than P10,000 for 23 years!

How did she gain Philippine citizenship? Was she born with at least one parent being Filipino at the time? Or did she gain it through living in the Phils from birth until 18 years of age? There is a BIG difference between the two.

If your daughter was a US citizen, her child would also have the right to claim US citizenship VIA a CRBA (Consular report of birth abroad). No need for the child to be born in the US.

Larry

 

LOL, you guys are making me feel all warm and fuzzy!

It is also nice when someone acknowledges an error, rather than resorting to name calling and flaming when the error is pointed out to them. We all make mistakes, but some people are big enough to research and find the truth, and acknowledge an error when one is made.

Larry

 

Her mother is Filipino and I am a US citizen. As the child of a US citizen who was born overseas and had never lived in the States her child would have to be born in the States to get US citizenship. The 10,000 peso fine was for attempting to leave without her valid Philippine passport. As I said, initially she was charged as being an overstaying alien and the fine would have been astronomical. My point in bringing it up is that normally tourists have to leave after 2 years, he says his wife has been here 5 years continuously on a tourist visa renewing through an agent. I was just cautioning him to check her status before trying to go through an airport or there might be some confusion. Agents can't always be trusted.
And check on that advice about the child of a US citizen who was born abroad and did a counselor report of birth abroad but had never visited the States you might find it is wrong. The reason for the urgency of my daughters travel was brought on by our ignorance of this rule.

 

From the state department website;

Birth Abroad to One Citizen and One Alien Parent in Wedlock: A child born abroad to one U.S. citizen parent and one alien parent acquires U.S. citizenship at birth under Section 301(g) INA provided the citizen parent was physically present in the U.S. for the time period required by the law applicable at the time of the child's birth. (For birth on or after November 14, 1986, a period of five years physical presence, two after the age of fourteen is required. For birth between December 24, 1952 and November 13, 1986, a period of ten years, five after the age of fourteen are required for physical presence in the U.S. to transmit U.S. citizenship to the child.

Birth Abroad Out-of-Wedlock to a U.S. Citizen Father: A child born abroad out-of-wedlock to a U.S. citizen father may acquire U.S. citizenship under Section 301(g) INA, as made applicable by Section 309(a) INA provided:

1) a blood relationship between the applicant and the father is established by clear and convincing evidence;

2) the father had the nationality of the United States at the time of the applicant's birth;

3) the father (unless deceased) has agreed in writing to provide financial support for the person until the applicant reaches the age of 18 years, and

4) while the person is under the age of 18 years --

A) applicant is legitimated under the law of their residence or domicile,

B) father acknowledges paternity of the person in writing under oath, or

C) the paternity of the applicant is established by adjudication court.

Birth Abroad Out-of-Wedlock to a U.S. Citizen Mother: A child born abroad out-of-wedlock to a U.S. citizen mother may acquire U.S. citizenship under Section 301(g) INA, as made applicable by Section 309(c) INA if the mother was a U.S. citizen at the time of the child's birth, and if the mother had previously been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of one year.




You are absolutely right!


As for the 5 years in country his wife has on "some type of visa", immigration is just laughing all the way to the bank because of this statement;

"She was born in Subic to an American Sailor and a filipina mother"

Passport or not, She is Filipina! She was born IN the Philippines, from a Filipino mother. That makes her Filipino ALL THE WAY THROUGH!

A good lawyer might be able to get some money back from Immigration (Joke na lang) but I highly doubt they will make waves over her "overstaying".

Agents can never be trusted. Any agenbt worth talking to would have told her to get dual citizenship.

And you are right to caution Wrye about her trying to leave on her US passport if an "agent" has been helping her for 5 years. However, she SHOULD gain dual citizenship under RA9225, (NO LAWYER OR AGENT NEEDED!!) then all is moot.

Let's see, 5 years worth of extensions, about P100,000? All that money thrown away...

Larry

 

We are in total agreement. In the interest of brevity I didn't fully state my daughters situation. I completely agree that Wrye's wife should get the dual citizenship. In no way does it endanger her US citizenship. I don't know the procedure here but in the States the Philippine consulate makes it very easy.

Using agents to renew for me in the past has caused me problems upon departure. The departure clearance that is a normally paid for as a part of your 6 month renewal was not obtained.

We are lucky in Dumaguete to have an Immigration office that is relatively easy to deal with.

Kenny

 

Yes I still recommend a good lawyer to check her status out. Look at poor Obama he gets flak for being a foreign born person and he was born in Hawaii. As far as government jobs and dual citizenship they would likely only be red flags, not show stoppers. It is her ability to quickly return to the US you may need to be concerned with. The PI may be a paradise now, but you may not want to burn your bridges either.