Naturalization Naturalization is a process by which a foreigner acquires, voluntarily or by operation of law, the citizenship of another state.

Naturalization may be direct or derivative. Under current and existing laws, there are three (3) ways by which an alien may become a citizen of the Philippines by naturalization. 1. judicial naturalization under Commonwealth Act No. 473, as amended 2. administrative naturalization under R.A. No. 9139; and 3. legislative naturalization in the form of law enacted by Congress bestowing Philippine citizenship to an alien.

Naturalization under C.A. No. 473 The qualifications are the following: 1. not be less than twenty-one (21) years of age on the day of the hearing of the petition; 2. resided in the Philippines for a continuous period of not less than ten (10) years ; but may be reduced to five (5) years if he honourably held office in Government, establish a new industry or introduced a useful invention in the Philippines, married to a Filipino woman, been engaged as a teacher in the Philippines (in a public or private school not established for the exclusive for instruction of persons of a particular nationality or race) or in any of the branches of education or industry for a period of not less than two (2) years or born in the Philippines; 3. good moral character; believe in the principles underlying the Philippine Constitution; must have conducted himself in a proper and irreproachable manner during the entire period of his residence in the Philippines in his relation with the constituted government as well as with the community in which he is living; 4. own real estate in the Philippines worth not less than five thousand (P 5,000.00) pesos, or must have some known lucrative trade, profession, or lawful occupation; 5. speak and write English or Spanish and any one of the principal Philippine language; and 6. enrolled his minor children of school age, in any of the public or private schools recognized by the Bureau of Private Schools of the Philippines, where Philippine history, government and civics are taught or prescribed as part of the school curriculum, during the entire period of the residence in the Philippines required to him prior to the hearing of his petition for naturalization.

The following cannot be naturalized as Philippine citizens: 1. Persons opposed to organized government or affiliated with any association or group of persons who uphold and teach doctrines opposing all organized governments; 2. Persons defending or teaching the necessity or propriety of violence, personal assault, or assassination for the success and predominance of their ideas; 3. Polygamists or believers in the practice of polygamy; (d)Persons convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude; 4. Persons suffering from mental alienation or incurable contagious diseases; 5. Persons who, during the period of their residence in the Philippines, have not mingled socially with the Filipinos, or who have not evinced a sincere desire to learn and embrace the customs, tradition, and ideal of the Filipinos; 6. Citizens or subjects of nations with whom the United States and the Philippines are at war, during the period of such war; 7. Citizens or subjects of a foreign country other than the United States, whose laws do not grant Filipinos the right to become naturalized citizens or subjects thereof.