Dual citizenship for wife, US born children and Philippines born step son

[jg121783 3,921]

As the title suggests I have some questions about dual Philippines US citizenship. Our situation has a few variables at play here so I'll lay out all the details then ask my specific questions.

 

So my wife and step son came to the US on a CR1 visa and since then we had 2 more kids who are 7 years and 18 months old. My wife became a naturalized citizen in December of last year and my step son turned 18 in April meaning he derived citizenship from my wife but we still have to file his N600 (which were starting on this weekend). My wife and I did not file a "report of birth" (think thats what it is called) with the Philippines consulate for our US born children as we were unaware at the time it had to be done before they turned one year old. So our end goal here is for my wife and all the children to have dual citizenship. Here are my questions:

 

Wife:

 

I think the process is fairly straightforward for her. Simply submit the requirements on the (Chicago) consulate website and schedule an appointment. Am I missing anything here? Does she need a US passport before applying?

 

Step son:

 

As I mentioned we are getting ready to file his N600. Does he qualify to apply for dual citizenship now by just using a US passport or will he need to complete the N600 process first. My understanding is he is already technically a US citizen. He just doesn't have the certificate yet. Can he apply for dual citizenship on my wife's application or will he have to do it separately? The end goal would be to only have to take a trip to Chicago once to complete everything but I don't know if that's possible.

 

US born children:

 

It was my understanding that my wife and I were supposed to report their birth to the Philippines consulate before they turned one year old which we failed to do. It was also my understanding we could fill out a form explaining why we didn't do so. I was not sure what a valid reason would be on that form. I thought a "report of birth" was the only way to get their dual citizenship until I saw this on the dual citizenship website for the Chicago consulate:

 

"Under the principle of derivative citizenship, unmarried children below eighteen (18) years of age, whether legitimate, illegitimate, or adopted, of former Filipino parents who retained/reacquired their Philippine citizenship under this law, may also be deemed Filipino citizens, if they are included in the parent’s application for retention/reacquisition of Philippine citizenship." 

 

Does this mean we can simply include them in my wife's dual citizenship application and bypass the "report of birth" process entirely? I'm a bit confused here. Hopefully someone can clear this up for me. If the "report of birth" process is still nessasary some clarification on what I could use as a reason for not reporting them in time would be helpful.

 

General questions:

 

We are planning a trip to the Philippines at the end of next year. We are planning on staying for a couple months. Assuming my wife and none of the kids have dual citizenship by then would they all qualify for balikbayan visas? Would I qualify for one via my wife even if she didn't have dual citizenship yet? I assume my wife and step son would qualify based on their former Philippines citizenship.

 

Anyways those are the questions I have in order to get this process started. I'm sure I'll have more as I dig into it deeper. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[RO_AH 1,684]

I think you are way over thinking this and your questions are overlapping. Have your wife re-acquire her citizen and that pretty solves everything. The children you have together will get theirs when she goes through the process I don't think being a late registration will be much of a problem, you may just need to jump through some hoops. The consulate will advise you. When she became a US citizen your stepson should have acquired his US citizenship. This would make everyone dual citizens except you. Yes you would all get BB visa's. You will should also get both passports for each person.

[jg121783 3,921]

1 hour ago, RO_AH said:

I think you are way over thinking this and your questions are overlapping. Have your wife re-acquire her citizen and that pretty solves everything. The children you have together will get theirs when she goes through the process I don't think being a late registration will be much of a problem, you may just need to jump through some hoops. The consulate will advise you. When she became a US citizen your stepson should have acquired his US citizenship. This would make everyone dual citizens except you. Yes you would all get BB visa's. You will should also get both passports for each person.

You just basically answered all of my questions except for one. How does my step son apply for dual citizenship while waiting for his naturalization certificate? Is a US passport enough?

[RO_AH 1,684]

1 hour ago, jg121783 said:

You just basically answered all of my questions except for one. How does my step son apply for dual citizenship while waiting for his naturalization certificate? Is a US passport enough?

If he has US passport he is all set. They do not give US passports to non citizens. If you are waiting on paperwork, it's just to keep. Example: my 2 boys were born in Philippines. I filed a CRBA for both so they have US citizenship and passports. When we travel I do not need to bring their CRBA certificates, just their passports.

Edited June 15 by RO_AH

[jg121783 3,921]

So I emailed the Chicago consulate on Monday asking some questions about the dual citizenship process such as if my step son only having a US passport and not a naturalization certificate would be an issue among other questions. I have yet to receive a response. This is the same email address their website tells you to email the application to so they can review it and schedule an appointment. Has anyone gone through this process and actually got a response via email? It appears that you can also send the application through the mail. I'm wondering if this is the best option as it appears they don't respond to emails.