Sponsored Links
If you are planning to get an online appointment for passport application, chances are big that you can make it within few weeks or months if you are lucky.
This is after the Department of Foreign Affairs removed 1,200 slots a day that used to be reserved for travel agencies.
According to Ricarte Abejuela III, acting director of the Passport Division of the Office of the Consular Affairs clients of travel agencies will now undergo the same process as all other when applying for a new passport.
Read: DFA-ASEANA, Now Process More Than 1,000 Passports A Day
Advertisements
Abejuela said appointment slots will be back to Filipino public.
That is not the only good news because the DFA has also restricted the relatives of DFA employees who can be accommodated at the fast lanes.
Under the new system, only immediate family members of DFA employees can access the express lane. This includes the following;
- Parents
- Spouses
- Children
- Siblings
- Grandparents
- Grandchildren
- Parents in Law
Advertisement
- senior citizens
- persons with disabilities
- pregnant
- solo parents
- children 7 years old and below
- overseas Filipino workers
Abejuela said this is to give opportunities for first-time OFWs who used to compete with all types of applicants when applying for slots online.
"Our policy now is that no OFW should be left without a job just because he couldn't get a passport," he added.
For first-time OFWs, just bring any proof that you will be hired abroad to use the express lane.
Read: No Appointment Needed: 400 Slots Everyday for OFW Renewal of Passport at DFA Ortigas
SEE MORE:
©2017 THOUGHTSKOTO
SEARCH JBSOLIS, TYPE KEYWORDS and TITLE OF ARTICLE at the box below