Applying for a citizenship in the United States is the same no matter what country you are from. But if you are a native of The Republic of Philippines, you should know that the Philippines have quite complicated policies with regards to dual citizenship.

Let’s first discuss what you should do before you are eligible for applying for US citizenship. There are basically three main ways for you to become a US citizen:

• Get a green card for a job in the United States. Live in the country for 5 years.
• Get a green card and marry with an American. Live in the country for 3 years.
• Serve in the US army forces for a year during peacetime.

As declared in the Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act of 2003, also known as Republic Act 9225, Filipinos are allowed to become bipatrides – people with dual nationality and citizenship. Acquisition of second citizenship without the loss of the original citizenship is still restricted to natural born Filipinos only.

To verify that you are a natural born Filipino, you need to know if at least one of your parent was a Filipino before 1987. If this is true, you can naturalize in the United States without any potential issues such as a loss of Philippines citizenship. You will be able to vote in both the US and The Republic of Philippines or travel between countries without visas. You should also verify if you were born in the US: this means you only need to request a Certificate of Citizenship, because the US acknowledges that you are a citizen as you were born on its territory.