Release of passports to be delayed by system maintenance work

OLD Passports and new e-Passport. PHOTO FROM DFA

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Friday that the release of passports would take a little longer starting April 1 because of a scheduled technical maintenance of its e-passport system.

In an advisory, the DFA said the technical maintenance aims to “prevent any breakdown and malfunction to ensure that passport services will not be disrupted.”

The DFA said it expected to return to its normal release schedule on April 15.

The maintenance work will affect the issuance of passports at the DFA’s Aseana Office, Metro Manila satellite offices, regional consular offices, and foreign service posts.

At Aseana and the satellite offices, the release period of 7 to 15 days was lengthened to 10 to 20 working days. In the regional consular offices, the 10-20 working days release period was lengthened to 15 to 25 days. The three to four weeks passport releasing period in Philippine embassies and consulates will temporarily take five to six weeks.

“The DFA wishes to assure the public that it is exhausting all its efforts in providing a better service to the Filipinos, locally and abroad. The public’s utmost understanding and cooperation is requested during the implementation of these temporary passport release dates,” the DFA said.

The temporary passport-releasing scheme will affect only applications for passports made starting April 1, DFA spokesperson Charles Jose said in a tweet.

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