Renewing Philippine Passport

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Onemore52
Posted
Posted

Because my partners Philippine passport expires in 6 months we decided to start the process now for a new one, not that easy unless I am doing something wrong, which was:-

-  Looked up the procedure on the website, and found out we had to book an appointment in advance, no problems this should be easy

BUT

Every office in Manila was showing that the appointment book is full for the next 6 months, so we tried Legazpi being the closest to us and it was also full for the next 6 months, so we tried to call Legazpi after lunch on Friday afternoon, no answer.

So, where did we go wrong please?

 

 

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OnMyWay
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When did you do this?  Perhaps the system is broken.  I just went there and it is in "maintenance mode".

I think when my wife renewed she was pregnant and she got to walk right in.  Might be an option for you!  :smile:  At DFA Marquee Mall in Angeles, I know they entertain walk-ins but I not sure how.  We got my then 12 year old daughter's without an appointment, but that might have been because she was a minor.

I sure hope this get fixed, regardless of the problem, because my wife wants to get a new passport in her married name.

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OnMyWay
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I did a bit of research and yes, it is a big mess!  This site might help you:

https://dfacalendar.netpinoy.com/

 

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Dave Hounddriver
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24 minutes ago, Onemore52 said:

where did we go wrong please?

If it has not changed (and this is old news so check it out for yourself) there used to be lots of agents (usually travel agents) who booked a huge number of spots for their "clients"

So if you need to renew a Philippine passport in a hurry I would suggest trying a couple of travel agents to ask if they "assist" in Passport renewals.  They are doing nothing illegal, they just reserve a lot of appointment spots and charge a fee for "walking you through" the process of getting your passport renewed.

There are other options that are out and out corrupt so we do not condone discussion of that kind of think on this forum.

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OnMyWay
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3 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

If it has not changed (and this is old news so check it out for yourself) there used to be lots of agents (usually travel agents) who booked a huge number of spots for their "clients"

So if you need to renew a Philippine passport in a hurry I would suggest trying a couple of travel agents to ask if they "assist" in Passport renewals.  They are doing nothing illegal, they just reserve a lot of appointment spots and charge a fee for "walking you through" the process of getting your passport renewed.

There are other options that are out and out corrupt so we do not condone discussion of that kind of think on this forum.

I disagree that it is not illegal if they are acquiring the slots illegally.  Read this:

http://newsbytes.ph/2018/01/12/whats-wrong-with-the-dfas-passport-appointment-system/

 

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Dave Hounddriver
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3 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

I disagree that it is not illegal if they are acquiring the slots illegally

I am not convinced there is a law against acquiring the slots as a travel agent.  I read the article and I could picture "fixers" being illegal, in the same way scalpers are illegal at a concert.  But I did not see a reference to a law where a registered agent was not entitled to book a certain number of spots, just like an agent who sells concert tickets.  If they are not being "marked up" as a scalper or fixer would then the law seems grey.  It is an area that needs work, for sure.

For now, if someone wants a passport renewed, it is either a very long wait or use a travel agent (again, we don't condone fixers on this site but there is a legal line between agents authorized by the DFA to conduct business and a fixer who will help you for cash under the table).

This is only a personal opinion/observation and if I missed the part where the law states that registered agents may not reserve spots, please point it out to me.  I am willing to learn and I can be obtuse at times.  :571c66d400c8c_1(103):

 

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OnMyWay
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45 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

I am not convinced there is a law against acquiring the slots as a travel agent.  I read the article and I could picture "fixers" being illegal, in the same way scalpers are illegal at a concert.  But I did not see a reference to a law where a registered agent was not entitled to book a certain number of spots, just like an agent who sells concert tickets.  If they are not being "marked up" as a scalper or fixer would then the law seems grey.  It is an area that needs work, for sure.

For now, if someone wants a passport renewed, it is either a very long wait or use a travel agent (again, we don't condone fixers on this site but there is a legal line between agents authorized by the DFA to conduct business and a fixer who will help you for cash under the table).

This is only a personal opinion/observation and if I missed the part where the law states that registered agents may not reserve spots, please point it out to me.  I am willing to learn and I can be obtuse at times.  :571c66d400c8c_1(103):

 

That is not really the aspect I was thinking of as illegal.  The question is, how are the agents able to snap up all the slots?  The article had some opinions on that:

1.  Someone within DFA is selling the slots, in bulk, to agents.  Pure corruption.

2.  Someone within DFA is tipping off the agents exactly when the slots will be put up, so they can grab a lot.

 

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Dave Hounddriver
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1 hour ago, OnMyWay said:

1.  Someone within DFA is selling the slots, in bulk, to agents.  Pure corruption.

2.  Someone within DFA is tipping off the agents exactly when the slots will be put up, so they can grab a lot

Yes, I see your point.  If someone in DFA is getting a corrupt payment for it then it is illegal.  I believe that is where "agent" stops and "fixer" starts.

I do see the travel agent's dilemma.  If they cannot get time slots for their customers then they have no business and go broke so maybe they are forced to compete with the fixers.  It has been my observation that there is a lot of corruption in DFA, in the past (not sure about now but it looks as if things haven't changed.)

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Onemore52
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So the most logical thing to do, would be to allocate a certain number of spots to the travel agents on a daily basis and the rest go to the public. Seems logical to me, so that won't happen.

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Onemore52
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Thanks to everyone for their replies to my query on the passport thing, I certainly learnt something from it, all be it more corruption.

I did try to go online but as "Onmyway" said the site was down for maintenance.

But thank you to all none the less.

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