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Thursday, January 29, 2009

DFA & My Passport Adventure

DFA & My Passport Adventure


For those of you who are planning to get their Philippine Passports, you might want to read my story first so at least you are (slightly) guided.

Anyway, I have been asked to urgently have my passport because there's this immediate company training in Hong Kong.



I initially visited the Department of Foreign Affairs site so I can get a view of the requirements needed during the application. You may view the requirements >>here.


So off I went to the DFA on one Monday morning bringing with me a filled up application form which I have downloaded from the site (front and back). Along with the application form is my birth certificate (authenticated by the NSO), 2 valid IDs (Company and School ID) and Passport Pictures (required: Royal Blue Background).

Even before I am able to enter the DFA premises, there are these fixers near the entrance who'll try to take advantage of you. Some were acting as if they are also applying for passports and persuades you to go to his "kakilala" who can help you get your passport easier.

Very Important: Do not, at any time, entertain people OUTSIDE the DFA Premises. Proceed directly to the DFA gate and ask the guards on the proper procedures.

Now some people have already advised me to bring candies, bottled water, sandwich or biscuit because there's this "unbelievable" queue of applicants.

1st Line would be the line where you may enter the Basketball Court (this is where the documents are being assesed and verified).- so bale, entrance pa lang pala ito sa pagpasok, hindi pa ito yung pinaka pila ng mga applicants. parang sa MRT wherein, pipila ka muna sa mga guwardiya bago ka makapasok ng MRT station.

Once you have entered the Basketball Court, there will, again be a line before you can enter the "assesment premise".

And so I thought, " Siguro, about 75% of these people are applying for their passports so they can work abroad. Parang kung iisipin mo, ganoon na ba talaga karami ang gustong lumabas nang Pilipinas? Can't we have enough work here for all these people?"

The third line would be the queue for assesing your papers. Now this has caused me into a "desperate" mood, really. Imagine, waking up early in the morning so you can come early to the DFA, then taking three queue of lines, only to find out that the requirement list in the DFA portal is actually incomplete.

Anyway, I lack my NBI clearance. If you have only relied on the list in the DFA website, then you will notice that the NBI clearance is not a requisite. Rather, it might be used as an additional supporting document to prove your identity.

Can't the people in-charge of maintaining the DFA website just update the records?

Dito naman, naisip ko, "Gaano ba talaga kahirap i-prove ang identity mo kung ikaw na mismo ang nandoon at sinasabi sa buong mundo na 'AKO 'TO."

And so, I left DFA without actually having to accomplish my application. My next step from here would be to go to the National Bureau of Investigation to get my NBI clearance.

But that's another story......


5 comments:

  1. dahil sa kanila nalaman kong may mali sa birth certificate ko at apat na mali. kaya hangang ngayon wala akong passport..

    ReplyDelete
  2. hi mimi, thanks for dropping by.

    anyway, as i said in my blog, gaano nga ba kahirap i prove sa buong mundo na "AKO 'TO?".

    katulad mo, may apat kang mali, but who else can best verify the correctness of your identity other than you?

    ReplyDelete
  3. gOOD pM... i read your comment on my blogsit... and i saw your bloglist, i was surprise to see my blog name as one of it. Thanks bro... Keep on visiting my blogsites...

    ReplyDelete
  4. I had my own DFA experience too but it was a pleasant one though. I was scheduled on a Saturday kaya konti lang ang tao and the fact that I am pregnant kaya they really accomodated me. I went there on Jan 31

    http://belle327.livejournal.com/1405.html
    next entry: Philippine Passport

    ReplyDelete
  5. hi belle, thanks for visiting. it's because you might have an agency taking care of the preliminary works. it's actually easy when you pass thru an agency kasi you will only go there for the "personal appearance".

    when you go on a saturday, that's a "special lane" (which i later did also). plus, plus, plus you have other reasons to be "prioritized".

    1. you are pregnant
    2. your hubby is french/foreigner.

    -going through the normal process (starting from zero) will not be as pleasant as yours....

    ReplyDelete

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