Effect of Marriage of Filipino with an Alien

Sec. 4. Citizens of the Philippines who marry aliens shall retain their citizenship, unless by their act or omission they are deemed, under the law, to have renounced it. (1987 Philippine Constitution)

 What is the effect of marriage of a Filipino citizen to an alien?

Under Commonwealth Act 63, a Filipino woman loses her Philippine citizenship “upon her marriage to a foreigner if, by virtue of the laws in force in her husband’s country, she acquires his nationality.” But the 1973 Constitution repealed this statutory rule and the 1987 Constitution made it applicable not just to female citizens. Art. IV, Sec. 4 of the 1987 Constitution now provides that:

"Citizens of the Philippines who marry aliens shall retain their citizenship, unless by their act or omission they are deemed, under the law, to have renounced it."

Under Section 4, a Filipino citizen who marries an alien does not automatically lose his or her citizenship, even if his or her nationality was granted by his or her husband’s or wife’s country. Only by their act or omission are they deemed under the law to have renounced their citizenship such as taking an oath of allegiance to a foreign country. If a Filipino woman marries an alien and acquires her husband’s citizenship, she will possess two citizenships, Philippine citizenship and that of her husband.


Marriage of Filipino with an alien

General Rule: The Filipino RETAINS Philippine citizenship

Exception: If, by their act or omission they are deemed, under the law, to have renounced it.

Case:

Sps. Williams vs. Atty. Rudy T. Enriquez, A.C. No. 6353, February 27, 2006

But what of the reverse of the situation? Suppose it is the alien woman who marries a Filipino?

Sec. 15 of CA 473 provides that "any woman who is now or may hereafter be married to a citizen of the Philippines., and who might herself be naturalized, shall be deemed a citizen of the Philippines."

In its latest pronouncement on this question, the clause "who might herself be lawfully naturalized" was interpreted to mean only that the alien woman must not be laboring under any of the disqualifications prescribed by law for naturalization in her own right as a Filipino citizen.  Moreover, she can establish her claim to Philippine citizenship in administrative proceedings before the immigration authorities only and will not have to file a judicial action for this purpose.  

Recapitulating, J. Barredo declared in Moya Lim Yao v. Commissioner of Immigration, 41 SCRA 292:

xxx We now hold xxx that under Sec. 15 of CA 473, an alien woman marrying a Filipino, native-born or naturalized, becomes ipso facto a Filipina provided she is not disqualified to be a citizen of the Philippines under Sec. 4 of the same law.  Likewise, an alien woman married to an alien who is subsequently naturalized here follows the Phil. citizenship of her husband the moment he takes his oath as Filipino citizen, provided that she does not suffer from any of the disqualifications under said Sec. 4.