Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of naturalized Filipino Americans reacquiring Filipino citizenship has increased.
According to the Philippine consulate in New York City, this trend manifested in response to the country’s suspension of non-citizens visiting the Philippines.
“We noticed a spike in petitions for requisition of Philippine citizenship during the pandemic because of the Philippine government’s policy that only Filipino citizens would be allowed to the Philippines,” Recarte Abejuela, the head of the Legalization Department and Dual Citizenship Section of the consulate told the Daily Tribune.
According to the Daily Tribune, the ban began through the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging and Infectious Diseases in 2021 when the Filipino government suspended the Balikbayan program. Initially, the program was created in 1989 to encourage overseas travelers to visit the Philippines. However, with the highly infectious disease, the country had to take measures to ensure the health of its citizens.
Abejuela told the Daily Tribune, “Former Filipinos who are now foreigners, in this particular case, US citizens, could not enter the Philippines, It was allowed before under the Balikbayan program but that was suspended.
For naturalized Filipinos, this meant that they had to take certain steps to be allowed to visit their homeland, and for many, this meant applying for dual citizenship.
“So suddenly these former Filipinos realized that they had to be dual citizens in order to be allowed to enter the Philippines,” Abejuela said.
In 2022 the Philippines reopened their borders to visitors, including those from the United States.
According to Travel and Leisure, travelers could visit as long has they showed a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than 48 hours before their departure.
Despite no longer needing dual citizenship, Abejuela noticed that the number of petitions sustained.
He said, “I think this was until 2022. In 2023 it lessened a bit but it was still averaging at least, for New York, around 5,000 a year.”
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