It’s a holiday in school today because of the event that they had over the weekend. We scheduled this day to renew our passports because it will be expiring in a few months.
They had their first passports five years ago and was able to travel in some Asian countries in the past years. They were able to visit Singapore and Hong Kong several times to spend the holidays with our family friends located in both countries. Now we’re planning to have a few trips in the following months to visit our relatives in the US and to check out Japan and to go for another round of visit in Singapore. They’re turning seven really soon and they asked for a another trip outside the Philippines.
We decided to go to AliMall this morning. My brother, who was there last month with his newborn, said that the application was easy and they were done in no time. We left the house at around 9:30 in the morning, braved the traffic with WAZE acting up, rerouting, freezing, loosing it’s signal and arrived in AliMall at around 10:45AM.
Before we went there, we downloaded the forms from the DFA website and organized all the requirements. We came in prepared with all forms, government papers and IDs, photocopied.
And yes, it was a breeze! We were done in no less than an hour. But of couse, we did not need an appointment because the kids are below seven years old. However, I did notice that the regular lines were also not packed, they staff were quick to assess and encode the details of the applicants.
What do you need to prepare before applying for a Philippine passport?
1. Get an appointment at the DFA PASSPORT WEBSITE -> HERE. Take note that you DO NOT NEED an appointment if you are with your child who are 7 years and below and if you fall in any of the following categories:
2. Download and fill out the forms. This will save you plenty of time. Make sure that all your details are correct and every form filled out with blue or black ink.
ADULTS:
For new applicants: Click HERE.
For passport renewal: Click HERE.
MINORS:
For new applicants: Click HERE.
For passport renewal: Click HERE.
3. Prepare photocopies of your Government ID. One photocopy each for every child applying for a passport plus yours too, if you are applying for one. If you are renewing your passports, bring your old ones. They need to punch holes to make sure it's no longer valid and was presented in the DFA office.
4. Bring the original NSO copy of their birth certificates and a photocopy as well. They need this to check how you are related to the child.
5. Have photocopies of your child's student ID if she is currently enrolled. Bring her ID as well.
5. Bring P1200.00 for the passport fees. The regular fee is P950.00 for 12 days processing but we were asked to pay P1200.00 for 6-7 working days processing. To be sure, just prepare P1200.00 for the passport fees.
For all other details, do visit the DFA’s website.