Back in 2022, I attempted to apply for a NWHOR passport in Manila. All documents were complete and properly authenticated. However, during the review, it was found that my parents’ marriage record appears to be falsified.
Relevant details:
My father was a former NWHOR holder. During the 1980s (Marcos era), he had the option to claim a Philippine passport, which meant renouncing his previous nationality. He passed away in 2010. His birth records are unavailable; we only have his death certificate.
My mother is a current NWHOR holder (born in the 1960s). She holds an Affidavit of Single Status.
According to a lawyer, correcting the marriage record requires court proceedings. My mother is unwilling to cooperate.
I was born after 1990. My birth certificate states that my parents were married, but the listed marriage officiant is a complete stranger (to me).
I was advised that I must prove I did not receive any inheritance, as I am legally considered an illegitimate child. In fact, I received no inheritance from my father. We were literally poor back then. Minimum court fees start at Php 100,000…and I find it unfair to be the one paying this price.
Given these circumstances, my questions are:
Are there any legal or administrative options to pursue a NWHOR passport without my mother’s cooperation?
Are there alternative procedures, jurisdictions, or offices (possibly outside Manila) that may handle such cases differently? Back in 2022, TECO Manila informally rejected my application in-person and even refused to take my documents.. but now I have attained PR in a Schengen country. I wonder if that could be possible…
I know this may sound strange, and it can feel like trying to recover it is not worth the effort. Still, my heritage matters a lot to me and I did not choose my parents. My DNA is 99% Chinese, I speak Mandarin, and it makes me sad that I may not be able to pass this on to my future child. Marrying a Taiwanese might be even easier at this point…
Any guidance or shared experience would be greatly appreciated.
this is not true. you are not required to renounce previous nationality to become citizen in philippines. it means he is/was still taiwan national when he died
if the marriage cert was made in the philippines, you can only solve it IN the philippines
did you ask what that falsification was? it was already certified as authentic by PSA and apostille???
you need her original NWHOR passport (before you were born) and a renewed one. if she got her taiwan passport after you were born, you cant get anything. altho u can use your grandparents passports… it can be passed upto the grandchild
you can represent youself. but it will cost you a lot of TIME
Interesting, I don’t have much documents about my father, not even his last Filipino passport or former documents before he passed, but I may search for that too along with my grandparent’s documents. I only had his certificate of naturalisation (authenticated) by luck.
My mother was born in Philippines with Taiwanese identity. It seemed that she only had alien card and Taiwanese NWHOR all throughout until today. Not sure if she had HHR or it expired along with my grandparents at some point.
Yes, all my documents were certified as authentic by PSA and apostille, so you can imagine the waiting time and document fees. The falsification is only the part where both my parents were married in my birth certificate but no record of marriage was found. From my understanding, if I were illegitimate then I should have had followed my mom’s surname but eligible for both nationality/citizenship nonetheless.
I’m just blocked because of birth certificate inaccuracy. I also couldn’t understand why this prevents such birth right.
Yes, that was my point exactly, but i needed my mom to be in court for that and need to pay a minimum of Php100,000 for lawyer and processing fees, revert back to my mother’s surname and proof that i did not receive any inheritance. I was hoping there is an alternative, but seems like there’s no other option.
“Marrying a taiwanese” is just a hyperbole. But you could obtain after years of marriage and legal residence, and won’t have any dependencies on my parents.
best of luck. also consult other lawyers, not just one.
at least your mom is still alive. just need to secure her cooperation.
if she doesnt want to pay, you can pay if you want to.
i dont know what your financial situaion is.
if you really want to be taiwanese, its worth it.
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there was another dude in the forum who was from philippines. i think his father was NWOHR then became NWHR. but the mom died in philippines. the dad didnt bother to help him and went back to taiwan.
if TECO wont certify your birth cert, you cannot get anything even if you marry a taiwanese…
Every law has a loop holes. That’s why you need an attorney but you can do it yourself if you have the courage to fight what is rightfully your’s. We did it in TECO manila. But 1st they also rejected our application. But we emailed someone higher up, and that is the ministry of foreign affairs here in Taiwan. If you meet the right official he or she will help you all the way until you achieve your goals.
I read I would have to renounce my current citizenship if I got it through marriage, which is just as bad as the need to correct my birth certificate. Let’s continue our conversation privately.
In the Philippines nothing is impossible. If you saw last year news a Chinese woman became a mayor of a town. Alice Guo became Filipino by paying bribes to the right authority in the Philippines.
My father became naturalised before I was born, therefore i was born with it. You should read my original post again. Please do not associate Alice Guo with my personal circumstances.
TECO will surely get your patience to the limit until you are exhausted back and forth. But ours only got 3 months of paperwork. If only I can publicly posted what conversation we had you will definitely be surprised how TECO is behaving normally like I said if you have the right connection into the Taiwan government because a law is a law a someone can bend the law for you not only an attorney.
I’m not associating your circumstances with Alice Guo. I’m just giving example. I don’t know you personally how you got your Filipino citizenship. I’m not judging you. I’m just telling others here in the forums how corrupt Philippine official are.