Saturday, August 7

Pasaporte


It’s been a while since I updated my blog. I just so miss writing but the moment I started typing, I was lost in words. Ganun cguro talaga pag hindi inspired! :)

Not until today that I finally (finally!) received my e-passport! Weeehh! I’m so excited! Yesterday was supposed to be the delivery date (together with Sir Jun’s- an officemate) but upon checking at LBC, wala pa raw sa kanila. Odd kz I have another officemate who renewed for passport that same day I applied (hapon sched nya and finished 9 in the evening) but his passport was delivered Aug.3, two days earlier than mine! The only difference was that he was assigned at 2GO while we had LBC. (I had my e-passport delivered Thursday, August 05).

Bottom line: Ask for 2GO or any other courier other than LBC if you have a timetable to meet.

I applied for an appointment at DFA website. First visit sometime in May, earliest available date was September. When I visited again last June, I was surprised to see July 22 as the earliest and so I, together with two girl colleagues, picked July30- in time for payroll. Few days after, I checked again and earliest date was moved to July20 and so I re-sched. That was morning so I was surprised to hear from Sir Jun and Jeff that they got an appointment on July 06 that afternoon. Needless to say, I had my final appointment on July 06 at 10am.

Bottom line: Be persistent. DFA available dates change from time to time.

One of the instructions was to show up at DFA New office along Macapagal Ave 30mins earlier than the scheduled time. I was there 9:30am with no foods and water on hand (and no breakfast yet). I thought I would finish the entire process in 3 hours max, pero nanigas na’t lahat binti ko kakatayo sa pila sa labas at nakatulog na ako’t lahat sa loob, di pa rin tinatawag number ko (which was what? Pang 4thou++ eh around 11am pa lng nun). Nung nanginginig na ako sa gutom (haha literal!), I decided to grab a snack at the nearby gasoline convenience store. I took my time pero nonsense, pagbalik ko mga 100 applicants pa before me. I was accommodated din nmn pero after payment sa cashier sa 2nd floor, I waited for hours again for photo capture. To sum it all up, it took me (and my officemates) SEVEN long hours for both New Application and Renewal as I finished at exactly 4:30pm. Nakakalungkot.

Bottom line: You can actually show up earlier than your scheduled time, I mean even earliest at 8am. They will just check if you have schedule for that day. My two girl friends were scheduled at 10am but they went there 8am and finished the entire process before lunch.

Have some baons with you as biscuits and drinks. Okay, foods are not allowed inside, but you could always steal a bite and gulp once in a while (pasaway) or just eat outside the hall.

Last (and optional) step was passport delivery. Just imagine my relief when everything was over, finally! I went to the back stairs and passed by this separate hall which was labeled Travel Agency. Then I realized, pwede pa palang magpa-process ng passport thru agency! Akala ko kz since appointment system na ang DFA, mas mabilis and efficient na yung proseso, no need for agency assistance na. But just the same, appointment itself lng ang pinagkaiba, same pa rin sa haba ang pila!

Bottom line: You may opt for travel agency assistance for 1-2hrs passport processing for additional fee to save you from queuing for hours (as in hours!)

Commuting all the way to DFA New office at Macapagal Ave is just an easy breezy bus ride from EDSA with DFA sign passing along SM Mall of Asia, or you may just ask the conductor if they will pass by DFA. (I came from Pasig and I really don’t know how to go there via commute, alone).

Hello Philippines, Hello World it is! Yey!
San ko kaya unang magagamit ‘to? ^ ^

Regular- P950 (20 working days)
Rush- P1,200 (10 working days)
Delivery Fee (Optional) - P120

12 comments:

kg said...

i thought di na pwede through travel agency ngayon? i heard that from the news...sabi ng dfa, do not apply through travel agencies because chances are, they are going to fool you dahil di na nga daw pwede.

and gosh, pag 4000 ka! grabe yan ha! at 7 hours? di ko ata kakayanin yan! when we renewed our passports april of last year (di pa automated), it took us just an hour and a half! baka masok pa yung dating system ha...

i'm dreading my passport renewal (in 2014, he he!)...i think i might go to legaspi...para mas onti tao at mas mabilis. he he!

mishi said...

hi kg! I have a friend fr KITTCO and they still process passport pero they too need to follow the appointment system. Atleast sa scheduled time mo, u dont need to queue in and wait for hours, naverify na ung mga req'ts and baka diretso kn sa data capture.

nadeclare kz na holiday ung proclamation ni P-Noy kya namove ung schedule,baka kya marami applicants nung time nmin.

My sister applied sa Quezon province Aug.02 pero pinababalik sya Aug.24, appointment it is! Ang kulet! haha! ;)

RHYCKZ said...

yan na ba ang bagong mukha ng passport...and by how many days naman bago marelease.

ingat...

mishi said...

hello scofield jr,
yep, maroon na color ng e-passport.As u flip the cover,Phil.flag ung nasa 1st page.Data and pic at the back of that page.

they said regular processing is 20 working days,mine took 23 days.Rush btw is 10 working days.

thanks for droppin in! ^-^

D.L. Verzosa said...

i also have my new passport...
It has been 1 month and 4 days since my last post. I've been so busy with school and I really miss the blog world. Luckily, I have a little time to drop by and read some posts.

Chyng said...

aha, nagparenew.. san kaya punta mo?

i still have my MRP, wala pa akong pamparenew eh (kuripot) hehe

Kayni said...

Phil. passports used to be green, right? Why did they change the color?

Where are you going? Sama ako :)

mishi said...

hi ailee,
take ur time..pag minsan tlga walang momentum magsulat eh.But thank you u still able to drop by! :)

hello chyng,
New application is it haha!Took me 26yrs bago ko naisipang kumuha.Now Im excited to travel overseas like u do!Thanks for the tips!:)

hi kayni,
they call this new one electronic passport, cguro better than the old one. Nyah! U've travelled around the world already, Im yet to start mine.Haha!Have a great day kayni! ;)

pusangkalye said...

the system is supposed to make things easier for applicants pero it made thing worse. kaurat. buti nalang nakakuha ako bago nagchange ng system but I am worried about my wife whose passport id already expired. kalbaryo na naman ito~~

Unknown said...

wow naman, ako nga nawala eh.. ewan, di ko pa alam wen kukuha ulit...

Pinoy Boy Journals said...

i still have two more years before i apply for e-passport. nakakatawa lang is laging nagbabago after one year!

Anonymous said...

i renewed mine when the appointment system was still new... ang gulo! trick dyan is to look for agencies with an on-going promo as to processing of passports. worth it ang extra bayad for the hours na pipila ka sa dfa. :D

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