This is the 100th post in my blog, what more but to celebrate it by posting another milestone - finally the Department of Foreign Affairs issues a Maroon-colored Machine Readable Passport - the one that boasts tamper-proof security features. According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer -"The issuance of the machine-readable passports (MRP), a booklet that uses biometrics on the laminated data page and embedded security images visible only by ultraviolet light, is an interim measure that the DFA has adopted in the face of delays in the implementation of its electronic passport project.
Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Domingo Lucenario Jr. said the consular office hoped to issue by the second quarter of 2008 the more advanced chip-imbedded passports, the current gold standard in travel documents."
One of the first recipients of the new passports is a 102-year old woman from Ilocos, Simeona Adamos. Currently, Philippine passports needed to be manually encoded by immigration authorities at international ports of entries.Apparently also, I just learned that I am eligible for the other Philippine passport - the diplomatic/government passport which is colored red - which needed to be revalidated for every travel (official travel). Getting a visa everywhere would be a breeze, as well as having to line up in the diplomatic lane as well as minimal check by the customs guys. Hmmm...what to do..what to do.. hehehe..
The green passports (non-diplomatic/non-government) will still be honored until they expire, however, I plan to wait for the second quarter of next year to get the one with the embedded chip and alternatively, I would be probably getting the diplomatic passport this year as well... hmmm... :D
The DFA started issuing the new passport with the help of the French-based Hologram Industries, which donated computers, printers and the software. Finally, the Philippines is now out of the only 3 percent of countries that doesnt have machine readable passports.
Hooray! (damn, i need to get another photo taken again???!!! Just when my new passport photo looked really nice...:D)
Here are the countries that has visa-free travel for Pinoys:
Visa-free travel
Africa
Burkina Faso Visa on Arrival (3 months for 10,000 CFA franc, 2 photos required)
Burundi Visa on Arrival
Comoros Visa on Arrival
Djibouti Visa on Arrival (10 days for 3,000 Djiboutian franc, 1 month for 5,000 Djiboutian franc)
Egypt Egypt Visa on Arrival (14 days, visiting South Sinai only)
Kenya Visa on Arrival (3 months for $50)
Madagascar Visa on Arrival (90 days for 28,000 Malagasy ariary)
Morocco 3 months
Mozambique Visa on Arrival ($25)
Seychelles 1 month
Tanzania Visa on Arrival ($50)
Togo Visa on Arrival (7 days)
Uganda Visa on Arrival ($30)
Zambia Visa on Arrival ($25)
Asia
ASEAN
Brunei 14 days
Cambodia 21 days
Indonesia 30 days
Laos 30 days
Malaysia 1 month
Myanmar 30 days (diplomatic and official passports only), Visa on Arrival (28 days; regular passport holders)
Singapore 30 days
Thailand 30 days
Vietnam 30 days
Non-ASEAN
Armenia Visa on Arrival (21 days for $30)
Azerbaijan Visa on Arrival (30 days for $40)
Bahrain Visa on Arrival (business purposes only)
Bangladesh Visa on Arrival
East Timor Visa on Arrival (30 days for $30)
Georgia Visa on Arrival
Hong Kong 14 days (unless holder of Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card)
Iran Visa on Arrival (7 days for $50)
Israel 3 months
Macau 30 days
Maldives Visa on Arrival (30 days)
Mongolia 21 days
Nepal Visa on Arrival (60 days for $30, 150 days for $80)
South Korea 30 days (visiting Jeju Island only)
Sri Lanka Visa on Arrival (30 days)
Syria Visa on Arrival (females are not applicable)
Australia and Oceania
Cook Islands 31 days
Fiji 4 months
Marshall Islands Visa on Arrival (30 days)
Federated States of Micronesia 30 days
Niue 30 days
Palau Visa on Arrival (30 days)
Samoa 30 days
Tuvalu Visa on Arrival (1 month)
Vanuatu 30 days
North America
Bermuda 6 months
Costa Rica 30 days
Dominica 21 days
Haiti 3 months
Saint Kitts and Nevis 14 days
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1 month
Turks and Caicos Islands 30 days
South America
Bolivia 59 days
Brazil 90 days
Colombia 90 days
Ecuador 90 days
Peru 90 days
Suriname 120 days
I Got my Red Passport (Official Passport) a few months ago, and thats what I used for my travel to Korea. Will post a photo of that soon!
Wow this is good! Unfortunately 2011 pa mag-eexpire ang passport ko. So I will have to wait for some time to get my machine readable passport. Shucks!
ReplyDeleteYou should get your diplomatic passport! Dream ko iyan! Visa-free travel to almost everywhere!
so shud I trade mine with a new one?
ReplyDeleteoooh I so wanna go to morocco!!!
Tamang tama! My current passport expires next year. Heheh. Just in time for the machine-readable one to be generally available. Woot!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, while the red passport is indeed for members of the Philippine government on official business, it doesn't give you diplomatic immunity though. You also can't use it unless on official travel, so you'll have to have a green passport too. The Philippine diplomatic passport is actually dark blue in color.
Well you can actually surrender your old one and then apply for the new passport. :)
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should! It's easier to get a new passport in the provinces than here in Manila. :)
ReplyDeleteIf you plan to go to Morocco, you need to fly to Dubai (there would be few hours stay at the airport), and then take the plane going to Rabat (I think).
Hehehe.. I dont need any more "diplomatic immunity".. hehehehe... I get my shots regularly. LOL. Well, there should be some official travel soon... hehehe.. hopefully I'll tag along with my boss to his travels. :D
ReplyDeleteThe Red Passport also uses the Diplomatic Lane I think. :)
i want a diplo pass!
ReplyDeletesayang nga eh, eh kung inasawa ko yung diplomat na taga Canadian Embassy eh di sana.... wahahahaha
ReplyDeletegood update. i learned a lot. :) saw it on the news also so thats a good sign. now if we can change the filipino image abroad, things would be even better. hay naku... :)
ReplyDeleteWell, we can change our image by starting in our backyards, actually Im trying to do my part here of posting positive articles about our country and our people. You can do too, by spreading the good word. :)) Tama na ang reportage tungkol sa gulo sa atin. It doesnt help. And hindi naman sya ang whole picture ng Pilipinas.:)
ReplyDeleteI don't like. I am actually pissed at the DFA. My old passport expires in 2009 pa. When I went to Spain, the plastic laminate containing my picture cracked. So the Philippine consulate told me that I need to replace my passport because the old one was invalidated. They told me that this batch of passports has a factory defect that causes the plastic laminate to become brittle and crack over time.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got back to Manila, they again told me the same thing. Sorry it's a factory defect and I should replace my passport. I told them, if it's a factory defect then I should get it replaced for free. Hindi daw. I still have to pay. So i forked out P900 to get a new passport. My old passport which was valid until 2009 with all of my visas was wasted! Talk about taking care of their taxpayers. Damned if you do. Damned if you dont!
So I will wait till 2011. Ayoko magpalit na naman, unless they give it for free.
wahehehehe... ang puso mo! :)
ReplyDelete900 ung mas makapal?
Machine-readable passports for every Filipino by Sept 17
ReplyDeleteBy Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 06:57pm (Mla time) 08/16/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- After pilot-testing machine-readable passports with government officials and diplomats, then by senior citizens and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), the travel document will be available to every Filipino by September 17, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Thursday.
However, Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Domingo Lucenario said the more advanced electronic or e-passport may have to wait until the middle of next year. Aside from bar code and other security features of the machine-readable passport, the e-passport contains a computer chip that contains the details of the passport holder.
But he assured the machine-readable passport is already accepted by the International Civil Aviation Organization and is several times more advanced than the current manually prepared passport.
The DFA is scheduled to launch the new passport on Friday, August 17, for those seeking to renew their old ones.
Among the changes on the new passport are:
* Instead of passport-sized pictures with a white background, the new passport requires pictures with a royal blue background.
* The applicant needs to show up at the DFA so that his or her fingerprint may be taken.
* The processing will take a little bit longer now: 10 days for regular processing and five days for speed processing. But, Lucenario assured, once everyone in the system becomes accustomed to it, processing time will be reduced to current levels.
Lucenario said the price of the new passport will remain the same: P500 for regular one week processing and P750 for two-day processing.
The new passport was made available for government officials and diplomatic workers on June 18. A month later, it was issued to senior citizens applying for passports at the DFA and OFWs applying for passports at the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA).
thanks for the list!
ReplyDeleteNo prob man! :)
ReplyDeleteFaster visa processing seen with new RP passport
ReplyDeleteBy Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 01:53pm (Mla time) 08/23/2007
MANILA, Philippines -- Applicants for visas to the United States and other countries might see faster processing with the new, machine-readable Philippine passport, the International Organization for Migration has said.
At the launching of the passport personalization facility for the new passport at the Philippine International Convention Center Wednesday evening, IOM-Manila head Bruce Reed said a more secure travel document would cause other countries to relax their verification requirements for visa.
“You know how hard it is to get. It takes long time to get visas to the US or to other places, but if you have a better passport I’m sure they will go quick. They’re not making any promises but still if you have better a passport and it is more reliable of course there will be probably some quick process. It’s my prediction. It’s a logical concept,” he said.
Reed said other countries like the United States and the United Kingdom should investigate travel documents for their validity or fraudulence.
“I have seen this passport. I've seen its aspects. It is quite good compared to the previous one. They are a lot of things built in it…[The DFA] put a lot of safeguards into this passport -- special papers, all these special things that can make it harder to make a fraudulent copy,” he said.
“They don’t have to check it much. It makes their job easy. They know it’s going to be right. They don’t have to spend as much time or resources to check out the document. So it takes less time so the visa processing should be quicker. I mean there's no guarantee. The other factor is how many people would like to go to other country,” he said.
Reed said that while he didn’t have the statistics, his experience have shown him that visa processing goes quicker.
“I can't guarantee anything, but the basic principle is the better the travel documents, the quicker the process. And the more defective and fraudulent, the longer it will take and requires more checking,” he said.
Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan, who was also at the launch, said the new passport would bring respect to the Philippine passport. He said the new travel document would help stop many crimes, particularly human trafficking.
The launch of the site follows a series of events that brings the Philippines closer to an internationally accepted passport, which will become available to all Filipinos by September 17.
Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Domingo Lucenario said the new passport has been accepted by the International Civil Aviation Organization and was several steps more advanced than the current manually prepared passport.
Copyright 2007 INQUIRER.net. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
hi, i saw your post regarding the new philippine passport...
ReplyDeletei am looking forward for a project meeting in uganda, so i am currently looking on how to secure a ugandan visa..
ang tanong... do i need a uganda visa for a one week meeting?
i saw here in your post that it is "visa-free" and $30 on arrival lang?
just clarifying :) thanks.
Hi Tina,
ReplyDeletePlease check my reply to the personal message you sent me. Let me know if I can be of anymore help. :)
R.
New Update - E-Passports soon!
ReplyDeleteRP's E-passports 'best you can have' out Oct.
By Tarra Quismundo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: July 19, 2008
MANILA, Philippines--After the machine-readable passport comes now the "best passport you can have"--electronic passport equipped with a tamper-proof mi-crochip bearing your identification and personal information.
Passports with the electronic chips are set for release in October this year as the Department of Foreign Affairs gears up for the full automation of the Filipino's international ID, beating an April 2010 deadline set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for the phaseout of manually processed passports.
The E-passports will use technology as secure and tamper-proof as identification cards used in the United States military and defense establishments.
The new E-passport system was unveiled Friday in an exhibit celebrating the DFA's 110th anniversary.
Globally compliant
"We target issuance by October to diplomats and [government officials] as a trial. Then we hope to offer the E-passport to the public by December. We will become globally compliant, along with 61 countries that have E-passports," said Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Domingo Lucenario Jr.
The DFA has begun preparing the new maroon booklets with its longtime supplier Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which recently contracted French card systems and identity products firm Oberthur Technologies for technical assistance in making the most advanced Philippine passport to be issued yet.
"It's the top-level, state-of-the-art technology that we're using here. It's the best passport you can have. There's no better technology in the world," said Xavier Fricout, director for identity products and cards systems of Oberthur Technologies.
One tiny chip
Besides advanced security features on its laminated information page and individual sheets, the E-passport will contain the bearer's photo, fingerprints and personal information in one tiny chip embedded on the end cover page.
The laboratory-certified imbeds use computer software that is "a little better" than what Oberthur had used in passports of other nations it had worked on like that of Belgium, Taiwan, Thailand and Kuwait, Fricout said.
Lucenario said the imbeds would provide "triple validation" of a traveler's circumstances upon immigration check as a port officer may verify the bearer's information on the passport against data to be retrieved from the chips and from the passport holder.
For this state-of-the-art passport, applicants need to have their ID picture and fingerprint taken at the DFA offices.
No price yet
Lucenario said the DFA is still finalizing details on the price and processing time for the electronic booklets, but he estimated that it may take "between five to 10 days" to process the E-passports.
MRPs take at least seven days to process at P500 for regular application and P750 for rushed processing. The DFA issues between 10,000 to 12,000 a day at its main office and consular offices around the world.
The new passport will replace the manually processed green passport, where the bearer's information is encoded long hand. The E-passport will also gradually take the place of the machine-readable passports (MRPs), maroon booklets embedded with computer-recognized biometrics and safety features for tamper-proofing.
Green passports still valid
Lucenario said the two earlier passport versions would still be recognized in ports around the world until expiration. The DFA had just started issuing E-passports in June last year as an interim for the eventual installation of an E-passport system.
"We have informed the international community to respect the validity of the green passports and MRPs," he said.
Thanks!
ReplyDeletehere bahrain if you renew your passport it take a month to release, the reason of the staff in embassy it will be bring to the philippines, i just sad to say i'm desapointed this procedure. ... i hope the people their in embassy will make an emmediate solution about this thing.from : ofw in bahrain
ReplyDeleteAFAIK, like most embassies around the world, passports are sent back to the home country for printing. For the Philippines, Bangko Sentral, if I am not mistaken, do the printing of the passport. 1 month is an average time to print the passport and send it back to the embassies.
ReplyDelete