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MANILA, Philippines?Starting February 8, 2010, British passport applications from the Philippines will be handled by the British consulate in Hong Kong, the British embassy in Manila said Wednesday.
The move to centralize processing at the regional level is meant ?to deliver a more streamlined, efficient, and secure system and to keep down the cost of new passports,? the embassy said in a statement.
While British nationals in the Philippines will submit their applications to the British embassy in Manila, the applications will be forwarded to the British consulate in Hong Kong.
"Once the new passport is ready, it will be sent directly to the applicant in the Philippines. There will be a charge for the courier fee," said British consul Joanne Finnamore-Crorkin in the statement.
This new system would expectedly mean more time between application and release of the passport, the embassy said. It will also mean additional costs in sending applications to the Passport Processing Centers and also for the secure return of their new passport and documents, but the embassy did not specify the amount.
?The British government aims to release at least 90 percent of all straightforward passports applications within 10 working days of receipt of the correct documents and fee, although this will exclude the time taken for delivery of the new passport,? it said.
The regional Passport Processing Center that will process the passport applications will be staffed by teams that are specialized in passport examination, fraud detection, and secure document technology, the embassy said.
"The British passport is trusted as a secure document the world over. We want to keep it that way so that British travelers continue to enjoy the convenience and benefits of a travel document which is known to be difficult to forge or obtain fraudulently. Limiting the number of locations where passports are printed will reduce the risk of them falling into the wrong hands," Finnamore-Crorkin said.
In case of an emergency, the British embassy in Manila said it will continue to issue travel documents.
