Hello friends! Today I want to share the fast transaction we had in the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Davao office.
Early this year, my son told me that he will have an educational tour in Vietnam in 2025. I just ignored thinking the date was still far away. Six (6) months have passed, and he reminded me again last week that by next month, September, his school needs to get the details of his passport in preparation for the trip next year.
As you know, Passport is one identity document that we cannot live without when we travel abroad because it verifies our identity and citizenship.
Here in the Philippines, it is the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that issues passports. Those who are of legal age, meaning 18 years old and above will be issued a passport that will be valid for ten (10) years, while those below the legal age can only have a five (5) year valid passport.
One of the reasons I hesitated to work on his passport was because I thought the DFA system is still very slow, and if I include my passport and that of his sister, the processing might take too long. He said, just like National Bureau Investigation (NBI) Clearance renewal, Passport renewal can now be done online. So, we tried it.
Since mine and his passport are for renewal, we completed the Application Form for Renewal, prepared our old passports and IDs. His sister is a minor and was applying for a new passport, so the requirement aside from the Application Form and ID was Birth Certificate authenticated by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) formerly known as the National Statistics Office (NSO) and ID of the guardian.
After we have prepared the documentary requirements, we scheduled an application appointment online. We learned that each day, there are slots allotted for applicants. If there are no more vacant slots in the nearest DFA near you, you may opt to go to another branch.
We were lucky that there were slots available the very next day we wanted to go to DFA. We went to DFA SM Ecoland branch 30 minutes before our schedule.
I was surprised to see that there were no long lines. Instead, applicants are seated outside, waiting for their names to be called. Another good thing with DFA now is that they opened branches inside malls. It is very convenient for applicants because even if they have to line up, at least it is cold inside, and they can go around the mall first while waiting for their turns.
I remember years back, the application was a walk-in. Some hundreds of provincial applicants would arrive in DFA Davao to try their luck to be accommodated. As early as 1 am they were already lining up outside the mall; some slept while waiting for their turns. How sad was that!
Anyway, our appointment was at 3PM. When our names were called, we were interviewed for a while for verification of documents then we were told to go to the cashier to pay the cost. We paid Php 1200 because we wanted our passports expedited. Otherwise, normal processing only costs Php 950.00 only. Please take note that DFA only needs the photocopy of your supporting documents, but you need to bring all the original copies with you.
After payment, we waited for our turn for picture taking and signature encoding, then we were done!!! What a pleasant experience! Kudos to the DFA management!
