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Some 1,500 more want to renew PH passports
On top of the almost 3,000 Filipinos that submitted passport renewal applications in March and are currently waiting for their new passports from the Philippines, around 1,500 additional passport renewal applications have already been submitted to the Saipan office of the Philippine honorary consul to the CNMI.
Processing of the applications can only be performed by staff at the Philippine Consulate General office in Agana, Guam, since it has the biometrics equipment necessary for this. An unexpired passport is a requirement for foreign workers to secure a work visa in the CNMI.
The last time a mobile consular outreach of the Philippine Consulate General-Guam was held on Saipan was from March 18 to April 11 this year, according to Saipan Tribune archives. While nothing is currently finalized, plans for another consular outreach program on Saipan is a possibility.
The usual turn-around time from applying to renew one’s Philippine passport to receiving the new passport was about eight weeks but the COVID-19 pandemic might have introduced a variable in the process.
“The usual waiting period is eight weeks, but with this pandemic we’re not so sure what is the timeframe,” said Philippine honorary consul Glicerio “Eli” Arago.
For a Philippine citizen in the CNMI applying to renew their passport, the application can be found and completed online. From there, the Philippine Consulate General in Guam verifies the information provided, collects biometrics and takes pictures, and uploads and sends information to the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Philippines. If approved, the passport will be printed in the Philippines, and once done is sent back to Saipan.
The Guam consular office had yet to comment on the effects of the pandemic on passport processing or given any concrete details regarding another mobile consular outreach on Saipan. The Guam Consulate General used to hold an outreach in the CNMI quarterly each year but was forced to cancel all outreach activities in 2020 due to the pandemic and only resumed last March.
