With release of final CW rule, Philippine consulate sees rise in passport renewals

 Larry Santiago, 44, only recently became aware that his Philippine passport had already expired in May.

“I didn’t realize that my passport already expired,” admits the Chalan Laulau resident yesterday morning. “I honestly thought it was still valid until next year.”

Santiago is among the many Filipinos who have been lining up at the Philippine Consulate General on the fifth floor of the Marianas Business Plaza in Susupe to renew their passports.

Consul General Medardo Macaraig noted in an interview Friday that their office has seen an increase in the number of passport renewal applications since the release of the final rule governing foreign workers in the CNMI last Sept. 7.

“There is a surge in the number of passport renewal applications. Previously we would entertain about 15 a day. Now we’re always serving in the high 40s. We even had as much as over 60 a day,” Macaraig told Saipan Tribune.

Some of these passports are about to expire while a lot have already expired, he said.

Macaraig revealed that their busiest period is from 8am to 9am and 5pm to 6pm. “That’s when a lot of people would arrive in droves, in which case we would have all our three e-passport units occupied.”

According to Macaraig, a lot of the passport renewal applicants he talked to disclosed that the CW petition for workers have become their basis to process their travel documents.

Santiago, who is currently employed in a company that specializes in building maintenance and repair, disclosed that one key reason why he renewed his passport upon finding out that it’s already expired is that he wants to have a valid travel document should it be required of him once he is petitioned by his employer.

“If in case a valid passport is needed for the CW petition, I want to have it ready,” he said.

Macaraig, for his part, said, “It’s good that they have anticipated that the passport might be required for the final worker rule.”

Another notable observation, Macaraig said, is the rise in passport applications for minors who were born here.

A woman, who brought two of her eight U.S. citizen children to the Consulate yesterday, said she is applying for a Philippine passport for only one daughter.

“I’m only applying for a Philippine passport for my daughter so that if in case I decide to send her to the Philippines, I don’t have to pay any taxes,” said the woman who declined to be identified.

Since June, the Consulate has been issuing the ePassport, which has an integrated circuit chip at the back cover that guarantees authenticity and conforms to the highest security standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

The ePassport fee is $60.

For information about passport renewal and application, stop by the Consulate office, visit www.philippinessaipan.org, or call 234-1848.