Legal Matters
Children of Foreign Nationals Married to Filipinos Eligible for Permanent Residence in the Philippines
Justice Secretary Leila De Lima approved on January 8, 2015 Bureau of Immigration (BI) Memorandum Circular No. SBM-2015-001, permitting children of foreign nationals to acquire permanent residence in the Philippines based on the foreign parent’s marriage to a Filipino national. Pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Philippine Immigration Act (PIA), the spouse or child…
Read MoreExtrajudicial Settlement of Estates in the Philippines
When a person dies in the Philippines, property left behind (the “estate”) can only be legally transferred to the heirs through a process called “settlement of estate.” The settlement of estate can either be done through court process (judicial) or without court intervention (extrajudicial). A judicial settlement of estate is a complex, long and tedious,…
Read MoreSERVING SUMMONS OUTSIDE THE US: PHILIPPINES
In today’s interconnected and diverse world, interaction among countries is unavoidable. One such cross-border interaction is getting jurisdiction in a legal action pending in one country over a person living in another country. When a lawsuit is filed in court, the latter must acquire jurisdiction over the person of the defendant. Generally, a summons (court…
Read MoreDoing Business in the Philippines
If you are a non-Filipino citizen intending to invest and set up a business in the Philippines, there are different ways to do it and certain restrictions to observe. The primary law governing foreign investments in the Philippines is the Foreign Investments Act of 1991 or Republic Act No. 7042 (RA 7042), as amended by…
Read MoreDual Citizenship In The Philippines
YOU COULD BE A DUAL CITIZEN BY BIRTH A lot of children of Filipino ancestry who are born in the U.S. are not aware that they are citizens of both the U.S. and Philippines or are dual citizens by birth. A dual citizen by birth is different from a dual citizen by election; the former…
Read MoreRECOGNITION OF FOREIGN DIVORCE DECREE IN THE PHILIPPINES
Philippine laws relating to marital status follow Filipinos wherever they may go. Thus, as a rule, a married Filipino remains married even if a divorce is obtained abroad because divorce is generally not recognized in the Philippines. Luckily there is a limited exception for recognition of a foreign divorce decree which would allow a divorced…
Read MoreBECOME A GREEN CARD HOLDER UNDER THE EB-5 INVESTOR VISA
Investing in the U.S. is one of the fastest ways to get a Green Card or Legal Permanent Status in the U.S. Undoubtedly, the U.S. is still the world’s top investment destination. For several years through 2014, the cumulative foreign direct investments in the U.S. neared 3 trillion dollars, eclipsing other economic giants such as…
Read MoreDriver’s License for Undocumented Aliens
YOU CAN APPLY FOR CALIFORNIA DRIVER’S LICENSE REGARDLESS OF IMMIGRATION STATUS BEGINNING JANUARY 1, 2015 Starting January 1, 2015, the California’s Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV), will start issuing driver’s license to California residents, regardless of immigration status. In other words, even if an applicant does not have legal immigration status (overstaying or undocumented alien)…
Read MoreObama’s Immigration Executive Order
Undocumented Filipino Immigrants Take Advantage of the Obama Executive Order Register Now with the Filipino Law Group (FLG) When Obama ran and campaign for the presidency, one of his campaign promises was to overhaul the immigration policy of this country. Obama was thinking of the 12 million undocumented aliens living in the country. In…
Read MoreBlack List Order (BLO)
By: Edgardo M. Lopez, Esq. “…[I]f we dare state it so simply, is that there are no boundaries in the universe….” Ken Wilber, No Boundary: Eastern and Western Approaches to Personal Growth Ken Wilber may be correct in today’s world of globalization. But in reality, borders and boundary lines are drawn through the enforcement…
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