OFWs, other travelers urged to get e-passport

MANILA, Philippines - After seeing a long queue of overseas Filipino workers and other travelers at the airport who are still using the old passport, Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan urged Filipinos traveling overseas to already apply for machine-readable passport with the Department of Foreign Affairs.Libanan observed before taking his flight on Wednesday for a speaking engagement in New York that immigration counters at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport were clogged because it takes time to process the manually-readable passports.“I am advising our OFWs to apply for their machine-readable passports now so that we can avoid these long queues and the inconvenience that come with it," Libanan said. The Philippines is computerizing its passports in compliance with the standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).The new machine-readable passport is equipped with unique security features to combat fraud, identity-theft and counterfeiting.Photo of the applicant is scanned, not pasted and information on the bearer of the passport is computerized and no longer handwritten.Other security features are the hologram laminate featuring a barcode and an invisible personalized information of the bearer visible only with a specific decoding lens. It also uses a thicker security thread to bind the passport to prevent easy tampering and alteration.The machine-readable passports are processed faster when presented to the airport immigration counter because the information about the passenger is immediately encoded in the BI computer database files when scanned by a passport reading machine, the immigration chief explained.According to Libanan, immigration counters in both the arrival and departure areas of the NAIA and other major ports nationwide, including Cebu, Clark, Davao, and Zamboanga, are now equipped with passport reading machines.“With the introduction of the MRP and our acquisition of passport reading machines, an immigration officer’s time in processing a passenger was reduced to an average of 30 seconds from the previous 45 seconds," he said.Libanan added that the use of an MRP helps ensure the accuracy of data and information encoded by an immigration officer for every passenger.It was only last Sept. 17 that the DFA started accepting applications for MRPs from both first-time and renewing passport applicants.Many foreigners of varying nationalities who have been traveling to and from the Philippines have already been using MRPs but it was only last year that these could be read and processed in the country’s airports with the acquisition of passport reading machines by the BI.Beginning April 15, Filipinos leaving for jobs abroad can already apply for passports at the Department of Foreign Affairs satellite office located at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration in Mandaluyong City.Processing fee is at P500 for 14-working day processing. If you want to claim your passport within seven working days, there is an additional processing fee of P250.In a press statement, the DFA said the passport processing fee in the Philippines remains among the lowest in the world. Besides, most countries take at least six weeks to process a passport application. The DFA said the accessibility of passport application at its satellite office in POEA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue corner Ortigas Avenue, Mandaluyong City) is for the benefit and convenience of OFWs.Since July 2007. the DFA has been issuing the maroon-colored machine readable passport that contains a data summary in a format that is capable of being read by machine.The new passport design was in compliance with the requirements of the International Civil Aviation organization, and facilitates the passport check at port of entry, increases the credibility of Philippine passports and better secures the holder's identity, the DFA said.All countries in the world now issue and use MRPs.DFA encourages the public to file their passport applications way ahead of their intended travel date and not to wait until the last minute.Passport application requirements include personal appearance and submission of a completed application form, three pieces of colored passport photos with royal blue background, authenticated birth certificate and at least two government-issued identification cards and documents proving the applicant's identity and citizenship.The passport application form and guidelines may be downloaded at www.dfa.gov.ph.