Dual Citizenship Law Constitutionality Upheld

In a recent decision (Calilung v. Datumanong, G.R. No. 160869, May 11, 2007), the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of RA No. 9225 or the Dual Citizenship Law declaring - 

From the above excerpts of the legislative record, it is clear that the intent of the legislature in drafting Rep. Act No. 9225 is to do away with the provision in Commonwealth Act No. 63[5] which takes away Philippine citizenship from natural-born Filipinos who become naturalized citizens of other countries. What Rep. Act No. 9225 does is allow dual citizenship to natural-born Filipino citizens who have lost Philippine citizenship by reason of their naturalization as citizens of a foreign country. On its face, it does not recognize dual allegiance. By swearing to the supreme authority of the Republic, the person implicitly renounces his foreign citizenship. Plainly, from Section 3, Rep. Act No. 9225 stayed clear out of the problem of dual allegiance and shifted the burden of confronting the issue of whether or not there is dual allegiance to the concerned foreign country. What happens to the other citizenship was not made a concern of Rep. Act No. 9225.

Caught in the Rain; Wrote a Blawg

After my hearing at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), a heavy downpour discouraged me from going back to office immediately.  What to do? I wrote the recent blog on Trends: Asian Countries Become Viable Options for OFW’s and did on-line research of the latest cases on reconveyance at the Supreme Court website for my pleadings due in the next few days.

Trends: Asian Countries Become Viable Options for OFW’s

Time was when the US or Middle East were the only destinations of Filipino OFW’s.  In a recent post in the DOLE website entitled, “Demand for OFWs remains bright in Asia“, Asian countries are now (and in the foreseeable future) viable work sites for Filipino OFW’s.  Taiwan (for IT and health care) and South Korea (for construction and ship building), in particular, are the two countires the POEA cited as major destinations -

Citing a report from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Cruz said that Taiwan and South Korea, under the latter’s Employment Permit System, both remain major destinations for Filipino factory workers.

Too early to tell what the final immigration reform law will be (if at all)

After the recent post about the compromise deal reached on immigration reform, I had received a lot of questions as to the specifics of the “law”.  To this, I find it necessary to reiterate the caveat in my previous post:

 At this point, it’s still to early to tell what shape or form the immigration bill will have in store for nurses intending to go to the US. Likewise, those petitions already filed will not be affected by the changes. So, if you already have pending immigrant petition with the USCIS or NVC or US Embassy in Manila, there is no effect on your petition. You will still get a “green card” at the end of the day.

Washington Post: Deal on Immigration Reached

Last Friday, May 18, 2007, the Washington post reported that a bi-partisan deal on the immigration bill has been reached -

The Bush administration and a bipartisan group of senators reached agreement yesterday on a sprawling overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws that would bring an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants out of society’s shadows while stiffening border protections and cracking down on employers of undocumented workers.

Visa Bulletin: June 1, 2005 is new priority for Nurses for USA

The U.S. Department of State recently released the June 2007 Visa Bulletin, the relevant portion is reproduced below:

	All Charge-ability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIP-PINES
Employ-ment -Based
1st	C	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	01JAN06	01APR04	C	C
3rd	01JUN05	01JUN03	01JUN03	01JUN03	01JUN05

Applying with a foreign employer and avoiding illegal recruitment

I’ve met several nurses who have applied “through direct employment” or “consultancies” and found themselves stuck.  Notwithstanding the current retrogression, some nurses I’ve met have been “abandoned”, “neglected” or left in the dark.  It is true that the immigration process for nurses intending to go the US takes quite some time and there are times when for months there would be no development(s).

I usually suggest to nurses that it is prudent to apply with a foreign employer (be it a hospital or staffing agency) that is duly registered with the POEA.  The reasons are

Retrogression: The waiting game continues

AlinsugLaw notes that as of this date, none of the expected immigration bill(s) that would have addressed the retrogression of Schedule A Visas (for nurses and PTs) have not been passed.  Waiting for the processing of visas (whether for the approval of the Packet 1 or 3) has always been hard on the nurses (seemingly harder than taking the various exams along the way).  The anxiety that goes along with the extended period of waiting without any update on the immigration processing more often than not causes nurses to become quite restless.

The present retrogression has been in effect since December 2006.  As readers of this AlinsugLaw blawg would know, several bills are pending with either the US Senate and/or House of Representatives that, if passed into law, would lift the current retrogression.  The recent news that President Bush has vetoed the bill on Iraq can potentially affect the needed cooperation between the Democrats and Republicans to pass the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill.  AlinsugLaw hopes this would not be the case. 

The US Congress will begin debating on the CIR beginning May 14, 2007 (election day here in the Philippines).  May 2007 is thus a critical period as the answer(s) as to whether a new immigration law will be pass into law will unfold.  A possible scenario is that a new immigration law will be passed on or before August 2007.  If this doesn’t happen, it is possible that the immigration issue won’t be debated again until 2009.

Filipino nurses are reminded that even with the current retrogression, the immigration processing can still proceed until the National Visa Center (for packet 3).  This means that I-140 packets (or Packet 1’s) are still accepted and acted upon by the USCIS.  However, until a new immigration law (or, at least, a law which would grant additional Schedule A visas) is passed, the NVC will not forward your case to the US Embassy for further processing (i.e. medical examination and consular interview).

And so, the waiting game continues but not for long…hopefully.