PH consul: Follow schedule for passport renewals

As the outreach mission of the Philippine Consulate General in Guam comes to a close today, Guam consul Mark Francis C. Hamoy reiterates the preregistration system that the consulate has in place, and that people must follow it.

With many Filipinos seeking to have the validity of their passports renewed—which is necessary for the renewal of their work visas (CW-1)— and with only a limited number of hours in a day through which the consulate could facilitate applicants, Hamoy is appealing to people to get pre-registered to be accommodated at the next consular mission, which is in March 2020.

“We have a finite number of transactions we can do for each consular mission,” Hamoy said. “Even if there are more applicants that need our services, we really cannot accommodate them unless they have pre-enlisted through the Office of the Honorary Consul Eli Arago.”

Honorary consul Eli Arago’s office is at the second floor of the JP Centre along Beach Road in Garapan. The Saipan consular office that releases the renewed passports is at the second floor of Building D at the Finasisu Terraces.

The reminder to stick to the schedule comes after the outreach mission discovered that some people are not following their assigned schedules. Hamoy said that sticking to the schedule also avoids the incident of people who are coming in as walk-ins who do not get entertained because of the set schedules for the pre-enlisted applicants.

The outreach mission has been processing 140 passport applications daily, on top of other consular services including civil registrations, affidavits, and special power of attorney, since Dec.3, Tuesday, at the Sun Palace Hotel in Susupe.

Hamoy also calls on Filipinos classified as CW-1s, or CNMI-Only Transitional Workers, to be mindful of the validity of their passports.

“If they are CW-1, or they are applying for a period of stay here, not as a tourist, but as a worker or a resident, they have to make sure that their passport has a validity greater than the period that they are applying for,” Hamoy stressed.

“They have to renew their passport 14 months in advance, typically, because the CW-1 has a validity period of one year,” the consul added. “That means they always need to have their passport valid for more than one year.”

For more information on the consular services, check out http://www.philippinesguam.org/, or visit the Philippine Honorary Consulate on Saipan at the JP Centre.