12 November 2019, LONDON—Petitioners for the reacquisition or retention of Philippine citizenship can now expect a shorter waiting time at the Philippine Embassy with the latest developments on the Embassy’s method of processing Philippine citizenship applications taking effect on 06 December 2019.

Upon arrival at the Embassy on their confirmed oath-taking schedule, petitioners will only need to sign their Philippine Citizenship documents and attend the Oath-Taking Ceremony. Prior to their visit, the Embassy will pre-check all documentary requirements sent by post. Upon verification that all documents are in order, the Embassy will inform all petitioners their confirmed oath-taking schedule. The Oath Taking Ceremony for Philippine citizenship petitioners will take place at the Embassy every Friday at 11:00 a.m.

This new method intends to make the process faster and more convenient for all petitioners as it is expected to greatly reduce the petitioner’s waiting time at the Embassy. The new processing method will also enable petitioners to plan their trips to the Embassy ahead of time and to ensure that all their documents are sorted prior to visiting the Embassy.

Petitioners with incomplete applications will be given 30 working days to sort their petitions by submitting the relevant documentary requirements.

The reacquisition or retention of Philippine citizenship is pursuant to Republic Act 9225 or the Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act of 2003, which gives all natural-born Filipino citizens who lost their Philippine citizenship through the process of naturalisation in a foreign country the chance to reacquire their Philippine citizenship.

The process and requirements for filing a petition to retain or reacquire one’s Philippine citizenship can be viewed through this link. END