Backpacking Philippines: DFA: Machine Readable Passport (MRP) and e-Passport Application Fees, Requirements and Tips

DFA: Machine Readable Passport (MRP) and e-Passport Application Fees, Requirements and Tips

So much information you can see on many blogs posting you need to renew your old Philippine passport (the green one) for by so and so you won't be able to travel outside the country.

This is incorrect.

All Tutubi can tell you is this, direct from the official website of the Department of Foreign Affairs: If you still have the green passport (like Tutubi's) and not yet expiring, don't renew yet to get the Machine-Readable Passport (MRP) for pretty soon the government through the Department of Foreign Affairs will issue electronic passports or ePassports.

Differences between the old green passport, machine readable and e-passport:

The old green passport (sometimes brown) has your picture pasted on the passport and data information handwritten making it easy to forge by forgers (like those in Recto University)

Machine-Readable Passports, the maroon-colored ones, can be read directly by machines, and have built-in security features to combat fraud, identity-theft and counterfeiting. The photo of the passport holder is scanned, not pasted and information is computerized and not handwritten. Additional security features are a hologram with a barcode and specially-encoded information that can be read only by the passport reading machine plus the the use of a thicker security thread binder to deter tampering and alteration.

The new e-pasport, has a 64kb embedded chip that stores personal information about the passport holder protected with encryption and thus the most secure of the three passports. With this development, the Philippines will join 60 other countries that issue e-passports, the new global standard set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The Philippine e-passport system is designed by the French-Belgian company Francois Charles Oberthur Fiduciaire (FCOF).

What if you still have the old green passport?

Caveat with the green passport is that it'll take a longer time to queue at Immigration lines at the airport due to manual verification of records instead of just swiping your MRP or e-passport at the machines plus additional questions from immigration people.

Passport Processing Fee and Processing Time:

Passport processing fee is PhP 500.00 for 14-working day processing.
Express passport processing within seven working days, additional processing fee of PhP 250.00
Replacement of lost valid passport: PhP700.00

Passport Application Requirements:

1. Mandatory Personal appearance
2. Completed application form,
3. Three pieces of colored passport photos with royal blue background,
4. Authenticated birth certificate (from the National Statistics Office (NSO))
5. At least two government-issued identification cards
6. Documents proving the applicant's identity and citizenship

The passport application form and guidelines may be downloaded at www.dfa.gov.ph website:

How to apply for Machine Readable Passport:

http://www.dfa.gov.ph/consular/stepbystep.htm

GUIDELINES ON NEW PHOTO REQUIREMENTS FOR NEW PASSPORT MACHINE READABLE (MRP). Download guidelines in PDF format.

Passport Application Without the Queue (for Busy People who can't afford to wait in line):

If you're in Manila, you can set an appointment for personal appearance by filling out this form and wait for confirmation of your schedule sent to your email. This way, you can save time not to fall in line. The DFA is notorious for long queues like other government offices as well as fixers offering their services for the "express lane" though some are just scams or scammers in disguise.

How to get to the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) in Pasay City:

Commute: DFA, the fastest way, is to take the LRT and get off at Libertad Station. From there, transfer to jeepneys going to DFA/Cuneta Astrodome coming from Evangelista, Bangkal, Makati. You can also get to Libertad via jeepneys in Quiapo with signboard Libertad/EDSA or Baclaran (both Mabini or Taft will do)

Driving directions to DFA:
From Quiapo, head towards Roxas Boulevard then drive all the way until you see HK Sun Plaza. DFA is opposite the shopping mall so you need to make a U-turn. From Makati or SLEX, drive towards Buendia, right on Roxas Boulevard then turn right on Libertad St. Be careful with parking your vehicle or car there on the service road.

For OFWs, there is a DFA Satellite Office at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) at the corner of EDSA and Ortigas Avenue, accessible via MRT Ortigas Avenue Station or G-Liner/RRCG buses from Quiapo and Cainta.

Related Post:
Bureau of Immigration

Labels: Philippine Passports

posted by GingGoy @ 9:17 PM,

13 Comments:

At Jan 8, 2009, 9:19:00 PM, Nina said...: Just renewed my passport last year but I am thinking of changing it into MRP before 2010 to avoid problems with international travels. I wonder if the e-passport will already have a biometric data just like other countries'.
At Jan 9, 2009, 1:33:00 AM, mgaputonimimi said...: salamat po sa pag post nito dahil wala pa talaga akong passport.. at dfa din ang nakapansin noon na may mali ang birth certificate ko. ngayon ayos na.. e-passport na pala aaplyan ko.. ^_^ salamat!
At Jan 24, 2009, 5:50:00 AM, Anonymous said...: i'll be in the phils by next month.. if im going to renew my passport at POEA, how long will it takes before i can get the MRPassport? Just worried since i need to aaply also for my US visa during those times. my new passport may not be released before my interview in US Visa...
At Jan 24, 2009, 10:45:00 PM, GingGoy said...: anonymous, it's still 14 days...express processing it's 7 days
At Mar 16, 2009, 5:36:00 PM, Anonymous said...: hello po! nag apply po ako ng passport lang last month then may remarks sa application form ko! sabi nila i Need BAPTISMAL certificate kasi Late regisred nga po ako! kaso po when i go to the church kung saan ako nabinyagan with my mom! they say thgey can't see a record na ako ay nabinyagan dun! so nagtaka ako bakit may NSO birth certificate ako nag try ako kumuha ulit ng birth certificate meron naman kasi akala ko peke lang yung hawak kong NSO BC ko kasi wala akong baptismal!!! then bumalik ako sa dfa nag explaine ako may hawak akong autorization ng attourney
trapos nagkaroon nanaman ng remarks yung application form ko na kelangan ng FORM 137/schools of transcript at need ko mga old ID ko sa elementary schools eh kaso wala na ako ng mga yun eh! tapos dahil tinamad na ako sa pabalik balik at pila ng pila yan hanggang ngayon iniisip ko kung anu mangyayare! sana bigyan nyo po ako ng advice! and if ever po ba pwede na me makakuha ng e-passport?
just email me please! at jay.alviar@yahoo.com
Thanks po!
At Aug 3, 2009, 5:01:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Will be renewing my passport tomorrow!
Thanks for this helpful post
I've been searching for directions
going to DFA!
Thanks again!
At Sep 3, 2009, 10:04:00 PM, Anonymous said...: hello po d2 ako sa russia nag renew ng passport ko last month doon ko ren po sa kanila na laman na papalitan na daw ang green passport ng red elictronic passport paano po e2 eh marame d2 sa amin ang old passport.kung mag babakasyon ako sa pinas nitong dec paano kaya.pwede ko pa bang gamitin iyong green passport ko pabalik sa russia
At Sep 7, 2009, 10:18:00 PM, GingGoy said...: anonymous the green passport is still valid after january 2010. you can still use it until its expiration. don't believe the hoax email na kumakalat.
At Mar 10, 2010, 6:05:00 PM, Anonymous said...: can you pls tell me, how many days will it take to renew a passport. kc my niece has renewed my daughter's passport in baguio and they said april 12 pa kukunin. that is more than a month. is this true? i thought it's about 2 weeks?
At Mar 29, 2010, 8:04:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Please note that the reason behind changing to Machine Readable and the e-Passport was due to the standards implemented by ICAO, who aims to have it's member countries to utilize MRPs/ePassports no later than April 1,2010. The green passport is INDEED VALID until its actual expiration date, however, it may happen that your country of destination may not accept non-Machine Readable passport after April 1,2010. So it really depends on your country of embarkation, best to contact their consulate if you want to be sure.

Processing of ePassports now is RUSH = 10 Business Days & REGULAR = 20 Business days. Note that it is Business days and not just days.

And to those looking to renew, note that appointment for the ePassport processing requires a confirmation number to get in at DFA. Do make sure to file for your renewal/application ahead of time. I believe scheduling right now is running around end of April already.

hope this helps :)
At Sep 25, 2010, 7:33:00 PM, Anonymous said...: hi just want to ask how many days is the processing of my lost valid passport but i need it badly...please help..thanks
At Sep 28, 2010, 2:07:00 PM, GingGoy said...: anonymous, express processing of passport applications are available, not thru dfa fixers, but on proof of expediency like a letter invitation or VIP. you may call the DFA hotline for details
At Oct 5, 2012, 4:57:00 AM, Anonymous said...: "CAROL PANGASIAN" The Grand Prize Winner of the Handog Pasasalamat ni NoyNoy Aquino sa mga OFW raffle draw last December 21,2011 is using her sister's name in her passport (green passport).Is she still the winner even her passport is fraud???? How could it be detected by the Department of Foreign Affairs and by the Department of Immigration? TATA PANGASIAN CUENTO alias Carol Pangasian in her passport is the wife of Nelson Cuento of Rizal,Dapitan City.She is presenty working in Kuwait.

DFA: Machine Readable Passport (MRP) and e-Passport Application Fees, Requirements and Tips

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