Visa-Passport Information

The Philippines has instituted the electronic passport ePassport sytem for all its citizens. The ePassport features microchip technology and a host of other security features thereby ensuring that Philippine passports are virtually tamper-proof. ePassport issuance is also compliant with the security standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The Philippine ePassport has an integrated circuit (chip) within its pages containing data that are essential in verifying the identity of the passport holder. These include the personal biographical information found on the data page of the passport, the biometrics of the passport holder, the unique chip identification number, and a digital signature to verify the authenticity of the data stored on the chip. The chip technology allows the information stored in an ePassport to be read by special chip readers at almost every international port of entry.

The Embassy/Consulate General receives and processes applications for ePassports which in turn is sent to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila for printing and issuance. Please note that the passport applications now take about 12 weeks before issuance.

The Embassy/Consulate General advises all Philippine passport holders, whose passports are expiring within the next 6 months, to renew their passports if they intend to travel within the aforementioned period.

All Filipino citizens applying for passports with the Philippine Embassy/Consulate General, will no longer need to submit photographs, as their pictures, their fingerprints, and their signatures, will be taken on-site. This also means that all passport applicants, regardless of age, are henceforth required to appear personally.

TRAVEL DOCUMENT

A travel document is a certification or identifying document containing the description and other personal circumstances of the bearer, which is issued in lieu of a passport and valid for one-way, direct travel to the Philippines. A travel document is issued to a Filipino citizen for emergency cases where the traveler cannot, at the time of emergency, fully comply with the requirements for the issuance of a regular passport. A travel document may be issued by the Embassy/Consulate General to the following:

1. A Filipino citizen returning to the Philippines who has lost his/her passport;
2. A Filipino citizen whose passport has expired but was unable to wait for the issuance of an e-Passport;
3. A Filipino citizen being sent back to the Philippines.

The fee for travel document is $30.00.

Renewal of Passport

Personal appearance for all passport applicants is required. Each application must be submitted with the following:

1. A duly accomplished passport application form
2. Latest passport
3. Proof that applicant has not applied for foreign citizenship e.g. resident alien card
4. One (1) photocopy of the passport data page(s) for brown passports, submit a copy of the pages which show the data and picture of the applicant (pages 1-3); for green passports, submit a copy of the page which shows the data and picture of the applicant (page 1)
5. If applicant’s last passport is the brown one, which only shows the applicant’s middle initial, a copy of any VALID IDENTIFICATION CARD which shows their WHOLE MIDDLE NAME must also be provided. Acceptable forms of Identification are:
* State ID or Driver’s License
* Certified Copy of Birth Certificate or Marriage Certificate
* Baptismal Certificate
6. Passport fee is $60.00. Accepted forms of payment are cash, postal money order, cashier’s check or bank draft made payable to the Philippine Embassy/Consulate General. Personal Checks, credit or debit cards are not accepted.

Replacement of Lost Passport

The following are the requirements for applications for the replacement of Lost Passports:

1. Duly accomplished passport application form
2. Fill out the “Affidavit of Loss” portion on the form
3. Copies of state ID or driver’s license, permanent resident alien card, or any other valid photo identification
4. Philippine National Census and Statistics Office (NSO) Birth Certificate
5. Passport fee for lost ePassport is $150 and for lost Machine Readable Passport or Green Passport, $90. Accepted forms of payment are cash, postal money order, cashier’s check or bank draft made payable to the Philippine Embassy/Consulate General. Personal Checks, credit or debit cards are not accepted.

A 15-day waiting period, on top of the 4-6 week processing period, will be imposed if the lost passport is still valid (unexpired) and if the passport was not issued by the Embassy/Consulate General.

Passport Renewal for Minors

All passport applications of minors shall be treated similarly as with passport renewals or replacement of lost passports. In addition, an Affidavit of Consent to Travel signed by the minor’s parent/s must be submitted together with the passport application.

Applications for New Passports

Applications for new passports (those who have newly reacquired Philippine citizenship or those newly registered as Philippine citizens) must be accompanied by the following documents:

1. Duly accomplished passport application form
2. If applicant has newly reacquired Philippine citizenship, submit Order of Approval for application for dual citizenship, Oath of Allegiance, and NSO Birth Certificate
3. If applicant has not been registered as a Philippine citizen, duly accomplished Report of Birth form with three (3) passport size photos with white background. Please refer to the section on Report of Birth for pertinent requirements.

Change of Name

Under Philippine laws, a person’s legal name may only be amended through the following:

1. Change of name due to marriage;
2. Change of Surname of a Legitimated Child by virtue of a subsequent marriage of parents;
3. Change of name due to death of spouse or annulment of marriage
4. Change of name due to divorce (valid only for those Filipinos who did not act as Plaintiff in the divorce proceedings; not valid for couples who were both Filipinos at the time of the marriage)
5. Change of name as duly ordered by Philippine courts or the Civil Registrar General

In these cases, you will need to apply for a new passport and submit the following documents to support your request for change of name.
For change of name due to marriage, the following must be submitted:

1. For a marriage solemnized in the Philippines, NSO-certified original copy and photocopy of marriage certificate.
2. For a marriage solemnized outside of the Philippines and celebrated within the jurisdiction of the Philippine Embassy/Consulate General, the following must be submitted:
* Original and photocopy of marriage certificate;
* Duly accomplished Report of Marriage Contracted Abroad form
* Passport Amendment Form

Please refer to the section on Report of Marriage for pertinent requirements.
For change of name due to death of husband, divorce, annulled marriages, the following documents are needed:

1. For widowed applicants – authenticated death certificate of husband, or authenticated court order of presumptive death.
2. For annulled marriages – authenticated Marriage Contract and authenticated Court Order.
3. For divorced applicants (allowed only in cases where the non-Filipino spouse acted as the plaintiff; not allowed when both parties are Filipino citizens at the time of the marriage), submit the original copy of Divorce Decree.
4. If the Filipino spouse acted as plaintiff, i.e. the Filipino spouse initiated the divorce proceedings, and if the Filipino spouse has since remarried and assumed her second or succeeding spouse’s surname, the Embassy/Consulate General may issue a Certificate of One and the Same Person indicating both of the names used by the applicant and an explanation of why the new passport cannot reflect her current married name.

For change of name due to legitimation upon subsequent marriage of parents, or as ordered by Philippine courts or by the Civil Registrar General:

* Submit an authenticated court order or amended birth certificate issued by the NSO.

For change of name per Republic Act 9048:

Republic Act (RA) 9048 authorizes the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general to correct a clerical or typographical error in an entry and/or change the first name or nickname in the civil register without need of a judicial order.

RA 9048 allows these corrections:

* correction of clerical or typographical errors in any entry in civil registry documents, except corrections involving the change in sex, age, nationality and civil status of a person.
* change of a person's first name in his/her civil registry document under certain grounds specified under the law through administrative process.

LEGAL SERVICES

Authentication

Any legal document, such as Power of Attorney, Affidavit, Deed, or Birth Certificate issued in the US, must first be acknowledged or authenticated (‘consularized’) by the Philippine Embassy or Consulate General for that document to have any legal validity in the Philippines.

The Philippine Embassy or Consulate General does not assume responsibility for the contents of the document.

A $25 fee will be applied for every document “consularized” by the Embassy or Consulate General. Each “consularized” document will bear the ribbon and/or seal of the Embassy or Consulate.

Procedure and requirements

1. For a document to be notarized:

* The principals or signatories must be physically present at the Embassy or Consulate General (if they can not appear in person, please refer to succeeding paragraph, “2. For a document to be authenticated”).
* They should bring the original/s and one (1) photocopy of the document/s to be acknowledged. The original/s will be returned bearing a ribbon and/or seal of the Embassy/Consulate General as well as the signature of the Consul.
* Each original document and each copy should be attached with a copy of any government-issued identification cards (State ID, driver’s license, valid passport) of the principal or signatory.
* The document/s must be signed in the presence of a Consular official.

2. For a document to be authenticated:

* Have the document/s notarized by local notary in your area.
* Have the official capacity of the notary certified and obtain a “Certification of Notary” by bringing the notarized document to the County Clerk and Secretary of State of the state where the Notary Public is located or the Lieutenant Governor, or appropriate official, of territories outside the mainland United States.
* Bring the original/s and one (1) copy of the notarized and certified document to the Embassy/Consulate General or mail these along with the necessary fees in money order, cashier’s check or bank draft made payable to the Philippine Embassy or Consulate General and a self-addressed stamped return envelope.

Note: For the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC, while U.S. Government-issued documents such as birth certificate, marriage certificate, death certificate, police clearance, court documents and official school transcript of records need not be notarized, these documents should be authenticated by the Secretary of State prior to their submission to the Embassy for legalization.

The Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco allows the “direct authentication” of U.S., state, county and other official documents (i.e., country or state-issued documents such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, police clearance certificates, court documents, official school transcript of records and other similar documents do not need to be notarized).

If applying by mail, have your application forms notarized and submit a self-addressed return envelope with appropriate stamps.

3. Certificate of Appearance of veteran to claim pension

* Personal appearance of the pensioner at the Embassy/Consulate General
* Original and two (2) copies of valid passport or any government-issued identification card
* If pensioner is unable to appear in the Embassy or Consulate:

o Execute an affidavit with the following information:

1. Full name
2. Citizenship
3. Current residential address in the US (not a PO Box)
4. Reason for executing the affidavit, in this case, for continuation of pension
5. Proof of pensioner’s identity – such as passport, State ID, driver’s license

o Attach copies of the pensioner’s identification card or passport to the affidavit, then have the affidavit notarized by any local notary and authenticated by the County Clerk and Secretary of State or the Lieutenant Governor

Philippine Embassy