Renewing Your Passport

My passport is about to expire, and from this blog alone, you can tell that I've been busy stamping them pages away. The passport has a shelf life of about five years, and my time to renew has arrived. I wanted to play it safe, and have a travel agent apply for me, and I have one piece of advice. Don't bother!

Renewing the passport will require at least one personal appearance at your local Department Of Foreign Affairs office. Here are some tips that will help you minimise the frustration, and make your visit hassle-free.

1. Download the renewal form at www.dfa.gov.ph . Fill it out before heading to the DFA, that way, you don't have to scramble looking for a flat surface to write on when you're there. This also means to have your requirements ready before trooping it to the office.




2. Lots of people trying to herd you to their stalls just outside the DFA. Some are agressive (too agressive) that they'll tug at you. Very strange. Ignore them, you have everything that you need listed out in the form anyway.

3. Secure an appointment slip, have your records verified, and a helpful DFA officer will assist you, and lead you to the proper venues.

4. When your appointment time has come, you will be led to the cashier where you will pay the processing fee (500 PHP for 14 days, and 750 for 7 days).

5. You will now have your details checked and inputted into the computer.

Total time spent at DFA? 1 hour and 30 minutes. I arrived 1230, in the middle of lunch time, and finished at 2pm.

After this, you can either pick up your processed passport on the given date, or have it delivered to you (the following day) for 99 PHP. I picked up my passport - arrived 1245, queued my pickup slip, and was done by 115. Very easy.