Hello everyone,
Greetings from sunny California!
While going through my grandparents’ things over the weekend, I was able to find both of my grandparents’ ROC passports. My grandmother’s is from the 50’s and she never renewed since coming to America. My grandfather’s is from the 80’s and he kept his up-to-date until he was no longer healthy to make the trip back to the island. From my understanding, that makes my father (who was born in America) a national by blood, and if he were to pursue a passport, he could obtain NWOHR status pretty easily, despite my grandfather’s passing (my grandmother is still alive for what it’s worth).
I stopped by the TECO in LA today to ask if I, the son of my American father, am eligible for potential NWOHR status and the accompanying passport. The internet (God love it) suggests that I inherited this status through my blood, and some informed/uninformed people stated that to obtain the NWOHR passport, all I would need to do is prove my blood connection to ROC by bringing the grandparents’ passports, as well as birth certificates for both myself and my father. When I showed up to TECO today, the helpful staff stated clearly that I needed my father’s ROC passport to get my own. I called the SF TECO shortly thereafter and they stated the same. Mind you this is not what the internet had been telling me.
Getting my dad down to a TECO shouldn’t be a big issue. However, I don’t want to make him a part of the ROC bureaucracy if I don’t have to- so who is wrong here? The helpful staff (probably not), or the internet (probably)?
Secondly, if my dad were to get a NWOHR passport, am I eligible for one as well? Or does he actually need to have both NWOHR AND present/past HHR status with the ROC for me to be eligible?
Thanks in advance for your assistance. I’m hoping I can keep a tenuous hold on my ancestral bloodline and “reinvigorate” it one day in full!
~Justin, LA