Philippine Electronic Passport Online Appointment

For the application or renewal of e-passport, Filipinos must go online and use the DFA passport appointment system to have an appointment, the only date on which one can go to the Department of Foreign Affairs Consular Office located at ASEANA Business Park to proceed with the process of getting the new Philippine passport. If by chance you can’t make it, another online appointment is required.

I was able to try this online service which aims to facilitate the acquisition of passport and eliminate the risk of being deceived by fixers. Using the system is easy yet I had few glitches along the way.

First thing I did is to search the DFA passport application link and I found two links:

1. e-passport http://epassport.com.ph/
2. Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) http://dfa.gov.ph/main/

I first tried e-passport (no.1) but I wasn’t successful probably because of a technical glitch, so I tried the DFA site. Though similarly, I had met some problems, I was successful in the end. Note: you can use either of the two.

Step by Step Procedure:

In this procedure, I used the DFA link (http://dfa.gov.ph/main/). Once there, at the right side bar you’ll see the “Consular Services,” underneath click “Make an appointment” which lead to this link (http://epassport.com.ph/set-appointment).

1. Type the captcha and click the button “Start Individual Appointment Process.” Beneath it is the link for family application.
2. Fill out the form. Specify whether its renewal, first-time or lost passport application. I have to fill-out all the blank spaces so as to proceed to the next page otherwise a message appears reminding you to provide the necessary information. Once done, another message ensures that you have provided the correct data. Review the form well before continuing.
3. Documentary requirements for different categories (new applications, passport renewal, and lost passport) or individuals (minor, Muslim etc) are shown. Read carefully before clicking the button to proceed.
4. Choose your desired appointment: date and time. I had to retry several times because the schedule I've chosen was no longer available. At some time, I can't proceed because my IP address was banned as a result of multiple scheduled. I didn't really know why it happened but if you had the same experience, you can try again later that day.
5. An e-mail is sent to the mail account you provided earlier in step 2.
6. Open your e-mail and click the confirmation link to finalize the e-passport online appointment. You will be taken to a page showing PDF documents: Important reminders and your ePassport application form with your information. Note: To open a pdf file you must have a PDF reader such as Adobe Reader. Search and download it at http://download.cnet.com/windows/
7. Save and print these two documents in a long coupon bond paper. Save a copy, just in case you lost the first hard copy.
8. You’re done!

The DFA passport appointment system is easy to use and despite of having to retry more than thrice I still think it’s fast. My appointment is due in one month and two weeks, the closest, available date from the time I used the system. If you can’t wait for such long period, as early as possible make an e-passport appointment especially for renewal of maroon machine readable passport.


Photo credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Passport_of_the_Philippines.jpg