Each day, passport holders access an online database of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines to schedule their passport renewal. Applicants are not allowed to directly apply to the office of Department of Foreign Affairs because you should registration online. This is also applied for new passport holders who are planning to travel to other parts of the world for the first time. The new system of passport renewal as well as for new application prevents travelers from any stressful circumstances because the government wants to ensure that the stress and the time spent during passport application will be prevented.
Since President Rodrigo Duterte sworn into office on July 30, 2016, one of his platform is to extend the validity of the passports for Filipinos working and traveling abroad. This means that every Filipino can now have the luxury to extend their length of stay while being away from their home country to earn and invest before returning back. Passport holders will enjoy the benefits of possessing a passport that allow them to extent their stay for at least 10 years. This is one of the most extensive provision made by the Duterte administration to ensure that overseas Filipino workers will have time to gain more investment opportunities as well as employment benefits in a foreign country.
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| Maroon colored Philippine Passports |
However, passport applicants are always concerned about the duration of its passport viability right after renewing or claiming their new passports. Each passport holder is granted at least five years validity for their passport that allows them to travel from one country to another, provided that they have been provided with their visa in a country that requires visa application. A passport holder are required to renew their passport once it nears its expiration date. This means that passport holders should immediately schedule for an appointment so that they can have their passports to be renewed for a few days before leaving the country.
Thanks to the new government of the Philippines because the present leader is always seeking for the benefit and welfare for Filipinos traveling and working abroad. President Duterte understands about the hardships that Filipinos undertake to ensure that overseas Filipino workers will be able to enjoy living outside the country for a longer period of time. Even though lengthening the viability of passport is still under review, lawmakers and politicians are very optimistic for approving this new issue.
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| These two maroon-colored Philippine Passports can be extended for up to 10 years validity |
5 Beneficial Facts of extending Passports to 10-years
1. To have a longer stay working abroad: This is highly beneficial for overseas Filipino workers who are employed by foreign companies to a certain country where they work. You will no longer have the risk to lose your job when you ask permission to your employers to request for a leave for several weeks or months just to renew your passport every five years. If you stay abroad for an uninterupted period of time, you could have a higher chances of earning more while you are going to wait for 10 years before going back to the Philippines and renew your passports.
2. Spending less: Extending the viability of your passport could save more money. Your earnings will not be at risk from being spent from traveling back to the Philippines to renew your passport that are now reaching its expiration date. Traveling is very expensive, especially when you need to go back to your home country during a peak season wherein you will have no choice but to pay for an expensive plane ticket. Saving more money could mean that you will no longer concerned thinking about the amount that you will be allocating just to reprocess your travel documents.
3. Cuts time for reprocessing your documents: Every five years, you should always allocate enough time to fix your travel documents that are already nearing their expiration date. If the viability of passports will be doubled for at least 10 years, you will have lesser time to spend in order to fall in line, rescheduling your passport renewal, and then going back to the Philippines. You can have the luxury of maximizing your time investing from your current job so that you will increase your savings to invest for your future.
4. Lesser risk of being involved in bullet planting scam: The Philippines made headlines when airport security personnel in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport started scamming their passengers to extort money. Let us say that there are already 80% corrupt personnel who were apprehended by the authorities, there are still 10% or 20% remaining corrupt personnel who are still waiting for the right opportunity to take advantage against unsuspecting passengers. So if the 10-year validity of passports will take effect anytime this year, the risk of being scammed is one of the least of your concerns.
5. Prevent yourself from being at risk of becoming an undocumented alien: Some Filipinos overseas opted not to renew their passports when it expires earlier than their employment contract. This is just some of the worst case scenarios for individuals working abroad because this is the only time for them to take advantage of their current employment in order to pay for an urgent bill or loan. If passports will be extended to a 10-year viability, it creates lesser incidences of Filipinos becoming an undocumented aliens in a country where they have just been employed.
*The only concern about extending the viability of the passport for 10 years is to allow criminal offenders in the Philippines to escape from their pending criminal cases in the Philippines. They can stay away from the country for as long as 10 years until their case is no longer pursued by the authorities.
Do you agree with the extension of Philippine passports to a 10-year viability period?
