Passport applicants may expect faster processing time starting Oct. 1, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Friday.
Applicants at the DFA Consular Offices in Metro Manila can get their passports after 12 working days instead of 15 working days after payment of the P950 processing fee.
Meanwhile, applicants could also get their passports after six working days instead of seven after payment of the P1,200 processing fee.
The DFA also plans to shorten the passport processing time in the various Philippine embassies and consulates general around the world. Passport processing at Philippine embassies and consulates general usually takes two months.
For applicants outside Metro Manila, passports can be retrieved after 12 working days instead of 20 while those who availed of faster processing will receive their passports after seven working days instead of 10, the DFA said.
Waiting time on online appointment for passport application was also reduced by the DFA from two to three months to only two weeks to one month.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said they were able to speed up passport processing due to the implementation of the e-Payment system.
“From the 9,500 passports that were being processed daily in May last year, we have increased our capacity to almost 20,000 passports a day. We endeavor to increase this number to 30,000 by the end of the year,” Cayetano said in a statement.
Passport applicants may visit the DFA official website or the DFA’s Facebook page for booking online appointments. The e-Payment system requires applicants to prepay their processing fees through DFA’s authorized payment centers. /muf