LAOAG CITY—To speed up the processing of passport applications, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Consular Office (CO) in San Nicolas town has announced that applicants may now prepay the fees through authorized payment centers.
“In our effort to simplify and speed up passport processing applicants, we have just launched the DFA ePayment system in Manila,” said Edison Ipac, Officer-in-Charge of the DFA-CO in San Nicolas.
He noted, however, that an additional PHP50 convenience fee for the ePayment will also be charged on top of the current PHP950 for regular and PHP1,200 for expedited processing.
Applicants will only be able to secure a confirmed appointment after paying at the following payment centers: Bayad Center, EcPay, PeraHub, Robinsons Business Center and Department Stores, Waltermart Department Store, 7-Eleven, USCC Western Union and Villarica Pawnshop.
When renewing passport, some applicants, including those who are working abroad, complain about the difficulties in getting an appointment through the DFA’s online facilities.
In a media conference held Wednesday, Ipac explained that the agency’s central office is the only one in-charge of the online appointment system and they are merely tasked to process passports with scheduled appointment.
By virtue of executive Order No. 45 dated October 20, 2017, the DFA-CO of Ilocos Norte became the 28th consular office to be established in the country and the 12th mall-based regional consular office under the public-private partnership program of the government and Robinsons Land Corporation. Since it started its soft opening on May 8, 2018, Ipac said they have been receiving an average of 100 applicants per day.
Starting this month, Ipac said they hope to serve more Ilocanos as they will be extending operation from Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. onwards or until the last applicant with scheduled appointment for the day is served.
He said with the introduction of the ePayment, they expect to increase the number of passport processing capacity of the DFA as prepayment will encourage applicants to show up on their appointment date. The prepayment is non-refundable and non-transferable. (Leilanie Adriano/PNA)
