Passport blues
NOT a fan of magic, but last weekend I magically got myself one of those much sought-after passport appointments at the DFA website.
I’ve been religiously checking the DFA website for appointment slots in the last few weeks as my passport would expire in January, 2019. I would need a passport with at least six months validity if I would have to go abroad later this year.
And so imagine my surprise when I checked the DFA website last Sunday and found all dates of July in green, which meant there are available slots for the taking. I had to slap myself to make sure I wasn’t just dreaming.
With tempered expectations and lots of caution, because the slots get filled up in a flash, I proceeded with filling up the form and later got to the payment page which meant that I had to pay the renewal fee of P950 in advance, as well as a convenience fee of P50 to any of the payment centers DFA so graciously gave this business to.
As soon as the cashier at closed the cash register, my phone notified me of an email coming from the DFA that my appointment had been confirmed, thanks to my payment of the fees.
When I went last July 11 to the DFA Office of Consular Affairs at ASEANA for my appointment, I was greeted by hundreds of people already inside the building premises, either lining up at queues or waiting under tents.
Why the government would tell citizens to get appointments and to be there 30 minutes before and yet the government is not ready to receive them promptly and speedily, I do not know.
There are actually three steps to obtaining your first passport, or to getting a new one.
Step one is to have your appointment verified. DFA has a grand total of four counters for this step. The person-in-charge would ask for your application form and your ID. He or she will sign your form.
Step two is to have your documents verified. DFA has wonderfully prepared 21 counters for this, but only 10 would be staffed.
There are lots of requirements for first-time passport applicants, and for those who lost/misplaced/ mutilated their passports. We could only advise them to check and double-check and be as redundant as possible with the documents.
They will tell you in this step when the DFA would release your first or new passport, based on the service you availed of (regular or expedited).
Also, they will ask if you wish to have your current passport cancelled. You could also ask they can just cancel it when you get your new passport.
Step three is to have your biometrics and photo taken. They will issue you a queue number for this step. There’s a barker armed with a mic who announces which numbers are next to… fall in line.
The DFA has dozens of booths for this step, each equipped with a computer, barcode reader, DSLR camera, writing tablet, and scanner.
The public servant who would receive you in a booth would ask for your application form, and have you sign a waiver regarding the passport information you would check. He or she would also ask you to sign a logbook.
He or she will then use the barcode reader to get your passport application information, and then take your photo and make quick photo edits to satisfy the international standards for passport photos.
Then the photocopies of your documents or, in my case, the photocopy of the information and back pages of my current passport would be scanned. Yes, the photocopies. The photocopies of the originals which you actually have and could be holding right that moment. The DFA fully supports the paper and photocopy industries in the country.
You will be left with all photocopies which they don’t check (and apparently don’t need), and your copy of the receipt where they have put the release date of your passport.
My travails at DFA lasted 1.5 hours, several times what the DFA Citizen Charter promises.
An optional last step is to line up to avail of a delivery service for P150. Many people avail of this because they cannot fathom the idea of coming back to the DFA.
Some points that the DFA and Congress could consider:
Securing an appointment should be easier and straightforward. This could be fully automated, and I’m pretty sure there are information technology professionals who would be ready to help the DFA come up with the a better scalable and robust system.
There’s simply no reason why on any given day, all consular offices can not produce a single appointment slot for a citizen who wishes to apply for a passport.
The P50 convenience fee for payment centers is tantamount to a 5 percent increase in the passport fee. The DFA should negotiate a minimal amount from the private payment centers, or reduce its own fees since it saved money from subcontracting this step in the passport application process.
To speed up the process, the areas for the three steps could be put next to each other.
More importantly, the DFA should consider making the process almost entirely paperless. The barcode from the application appointment system should suffice, as well as the originals of the documents. The barcode either contains or is linked to the applicant’s submitted information as stored in the DFA database. Also: Why scan photocopies when applicants have the actual IDs or the actual expiring or expired passport? The DFA would also save thousands of trees and storage space if it stops requiring and collecting paper.
Barring any problem with the DFA printing press, I would be getting my new passport by August 1.
I hope the process would be made more convenient for more Filipinos. The process badly needs improvement, and we could only hope the DFA is open to citizen feedback.