Passport application in the Philippines

In preparation for our first overseas family travel in December, we decided that we should all get new passports together. So on the last week of August, we reserved a schedule for application through the DFA’s online passport appointment system (The DFA no longer allows passport applicants without appointment, which makes the process quicker and more organized). One may also get an appointment through their hotline. Just make sure you read the details: the application steps, requirements and fees.

When you get an appointment online (there are options for individual and family/batch application), you will be asked to fill out text fields with your personal information, including your email address, and then select a date and time for the appointment. The earliest time is 7:30am and the latest 5:30pm. After successfully getting an appointment, you will have to check the email account you gave for confirmation and in order to retrieve the form you accomplished online. This you will have to print and bring together with the required documents on the date of your appointment. At the minimum, one is expected to bring his/her NSO birth certificate (and marriage contract if married), and a school- or government-issued ID.

Come the appointment date – ours was last September 4 at 8am – we were at the Consular Office, ASEANA Business Park in Parañaque a little later than 8am, but we were still entertained. As we rushed towards the information desk, our printed forms, which have bar codes, were scanned and stamped and we were asked to proceed to a long queue for the assessment of documents. After minutes of lining up, each of us proceeded to one of the many windows where the filled-out forms are verified against the documents that we have. Some questions may be asked and here, some people may be told to come back some other time to complete the requirements. But if, fortunately, the officer is satisfied, you will be given the passport slip together with your form and documents and you may proceed to payment and data encoding, which are on the second floor.

After payment at the cashier, we got a number slip and eagerly waited for our turn while looking at the TV displays that flash who’s next and at which booth one should go to for data encoding, fingerprint and photo capturing. The waiting can take up to an hour, so here you may think about whether you want to have your passport delivered or not. Btw, the regular processing of passports (3 weeks) cost 950 pesos while rush processing (7 days) costs 1,200 pesos. If you opt for delivery, you will have to add 125 pesos for each passport. I actually don’t understand why the courier won’t do batch delivery, and that is why I decided, since we were five (and worth 625 pesos), to just claim the passports personally after three weeks. Otherwise, you can approach the booths in one corner for delivery and just wait for your passport to arrive at your doorstep. After that, we’re done. The whole process took less than three hours.

I came back to the DFA consular office today to claim our passports, but, unfortunately, I only got two out of the five passports we applied for. According to the officer I approached, there was a technical issue that caused the delay so I will get the other three by next week. He promised that I will just have to present the authorization letter and photocopies of the IDs if I’m going to be the one to get them. By the way, I noticed there were fewer people in the afternoon. I was at the releasing area, which was just beside the assessment area, at around 3pm and saw there were probably less than 20 people in the line.