EDITORIAL

New rules bared on passports

The Department of Foreign Affairs-Regional Consular Office-1 in San Fernando, La Union has bared the new “machine readable passport” will be available to applicants applying for a Philippine passport for the first time and those renewing their old passports.

Under the new system, applicants, whether first timers or renewal applicants have to personally appear, sign and affix their thumbprints on their application form before a consular officer at the DFA regional office in San Fernando City.

In addition, applicants are now required to submit three copies of their passport-size photograph taken against a royal blue background, instead of the white background required in the old system. The photograph, signature and thumbprints of the applicant will be stored in the passport database.

Under the new system, a machine generated application form printed with the personal details of the applicant. The applicant has the responsibility to verify the correctness of the data printed on the form. The signature of the applicant on the form will indicated that he or she has read and verified the contents.

Any misprint on the passport shall be on account of the applicant. The passport fee remains at P500 for regular processing and P750 for overtime processing.

Due to the shift to a new system and the expected surge in number of applicants, applicants are advised to apply or renew their passports ahead of their expected date of travel. Applicants who apply for regular processing can get their passports after 20 working days while those who apply for overtime processing can get their passports after 15 working days. Once the flow has normalized, the processing time will be reduced accordingly.

Other requirements remain the same. For first time applicants, they will have to submit their NSO birth certificates and their documents of identity. For those renewing their passports, they have to bring their old passport for cancellation. Efforts are underway to reduce the application procedure from three to two steps – processing and payment.

Applicants in Region 1 may apply for the new machine readable passports at the Dept. of Foreign Affairs-Regional Consular Office 1 in the City of San Fernando, La Union after Nov. 15. Green or manually scripted passports shall remain valid until their expiry. For those who are planning to travel outside the country, be guided accordingly.