American Embassy Update 4March-8March

[Call me bubba]

US Embassy moves to new building; some offices closed Mar 4-8 MANILA, Philippines — Various offices of the US Embassy in Manila will suspend public services from 12 noon on Friday, March 4 through Tuesday, March 8, while they move into new offices in the recently completed new building on the Embassy compound at 1201 Roxas Blvd. Services will resume during usual Embassy hours on Wednesday, March 9. Offices with services and/or operations that will be suspended on those days include: Consular Section – American Citizen Services; Consular Section – Immigrant Visa Services; Consular Section – Non-Immigrant Visa Services; Social Security Administration; Department of Homeland Security - Citizenship and Immigration Services; Public Affairs Section (Public Affairs Counselor and Press Offices only), and the Protocol Office. The US Department of Veterans Affairs’ services now available in the new building and clinic on the Embassy’s Seafront compound in Pasay City will continue as usual and will not be affected by the move. During the move, all Embassy e-mail and Internet service for “state.gov” addresses will be unavailable from 2 p.m. on Friday, March 4, until the early afternoon of Saturday, March 5, and telephone service, including the main embassy switchboard number, 301-2000, will be down for a very short, while on the afternoon of Friday, March 4. During those e-mail, Internet, and phone service outages described above, Embassy offices may be contacted by telephone via the switchboard at the following landline numbers: 526-9819, 526-9820, 338-1702, and at the following cell phone numbers: 0918-948-6410, 0918-902-6517, 0918-948-6394, 0918-948-6350, and 0918-948-0013. Embassy employees will also continue to have telephone and texting service via their own mobile phones. The new office building has large indoor and outdoor waiting areas. The number of service windows for passport and visa applications and other services has been expanded from 66 to 99. This will allow the public to have a more efficient, faster, and more pleasant experience in acquiring visas, passports, and other documents. The project represents $130- million investment in the local economy, 2,000 jobs created, and 6,000,000 safe work hours. It is part of the US Embassy’s commitment to investing in the Philippines and their long-term relationship and to providing user-friendly service to the people of the Philippines.

[Jake]

Thank you for this vital update. Keep on posting my friend, you're on a roll......Respectfully -- Jake