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FILIPINO "WAR BABIES" COULD BE U.S. CITIZENS
by Michael J. Gurfinkel, Esq.
Dear Atty. Gurfinkel:
My father was a U.S. serviceman, stationed in the
Philippines during World War II. He lived with my mother for a
time, but they never married. I was born in 1947 as the result
of their union. My father eventually left the Philippines, and
did not take steps to legitimate me before I reached the age of
twenty-one.
I would like to know if I have a chance of being
a U.S. citizen, through my father?
Very truly yours,
Y. T.
Dear Y.T.:
If a person is the illegitimate child of a U.S.
citizen father, the law requires that the father legitimate
the child while the child is still a minor. (There is no "legitimation"
requirement for illegitimate children of U.S. citizen mothers.)
A person can be legitimated based on the legitimation
laws of the father's residence/domicile. Although in the Philippines,
the only way to legitimate a child is through marriage of the
parents, some states within the United States recognize or allow
legitimation even if the child's parents never married, as long
as the father's "legitimating act" occurred while the
child was still a minor.
Many illegitimate children of U.S. citizen fathers
missed out on the opportunity to be U.S. citizens, because of
their father's failure to legitimate them.
However, Section 201(i) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act carves out an exception to this legitimation requirement for
certain "war babies", if the following basic conditions
are met:
- The U.S. citizen father must have served honorably
in the U.S. armed forces between December 7, 1941 and December
31, 1946.
- Prior to the illegitimate child's birth, the
U.S. citizen father must have lived in the U.S. (or U.S. possession,
including the Philippines) for at least ten years, five of which
were after the father's 12th birthday.
- The illegitimate child must have been born between
January 13, 1941, and December 23, 1952. (For the Philippines,
the child must have been born after July 4, 1946, when the Philippines
ceased being a U.S. possession.)
- It is not necessary or required that the child
be legitimated by their U.S. serviceman father in order to acquire
U.S. citizenship. It is sufficient that the child was the "blood
issue" of the serviceman.
I would like to caution people that acquisition
of U.S. citizenship through their parents could be very complex,
requiring substantial documentation, proof, and verification of
a person's eligibility for U.S. citizenship. This is especially
true in cases involving illegitimate children of U.S. citizen
fathers, where issues relating to filiations are the major stumbling
blocks. That is why I strongly recommend that, if you believe
you may be eligible for U.S. citizenship, especially if you believe
you meet the above requirements, that you should seek the advice
of a reputable attorney, who can fully analyze your case, determine
your eligibility, and present your case to the Embassy or State
Department, so as to greatly increase your chances of success.
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