Over 500k Pinoys become citizens of 8 OECD countries

A total of 521,253 Filipinos became naturalized citizens of eight countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The international organization aims to help governments tackle the economic, social, and governance challenges of a globalized economy. OECD’s 2011 International Migration Outlook revealed that 386,739 Filipinos became naturalized citizens of the United States from 2000 to 2009. During the same period, a total of 109,909 Filipinos became naturalized Canadians; 8,246 became naturalized citizens of New Zealand; 2,898 became naturalized Norwegians; and 2,349 became Dutch. From 2001 to 2008, 6,316 Filipinos became citizens of Spain while 4,152 became citizens of Korea. And from 2005 to 2009, 644 Filipinos became citizens of Ireland. For the year 2009, based on the number of naturalized citizens, Filipinos are the second-highest naturalized foreign nationals in Ireland (410), third-highest in the United States (38,934) and Canada (11,068), seventh-highest in New Zealand (708), eighth-highest in Norway (445), and 13th-highest in the Netherlands (308). As of 2008 data, Filipinos are the ninth-highest number of naturalized foreign nationals in Spain (782) and the third-highest in Korea (579). The OECD report bared varied regulations how foreigners can acquire nationality, including how long the process takes. — Jeremaiah M. Opiniano/OFW Journalism Consortium