The Department of Foreign Affairs has appealed for the understanding of the travelling public, particularly those in the provinces, as it announced that the delay in passport releases could last for a few more weeks as a result of technical concerns and the surge in the demand for the ePassport.
‘We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the delays, especially to our overseas Filipino workers, but we would like to assure the public that we are exerting our best efforts to resolve the issues as soon as possible,” Erlinda B. Albay, officer-in-charge of the regional consular office in Davao said.
“The DFA will work hard to ensure that those with urgent travel, especially overseas workers, are accommodated,” she added. “We would like to request those without immediate travel plans to defer their applications until the situation has normalized.”
Albay also said that those with expiring passports who cannot forego their travel may opt to apply for an extension of the validity of their existing passports instead of applying for renewal, adding that the delay in passport releases is primarily the result of maintenance work and upgrades on equipment in the ePassport Personalization Center at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) facility in Quezon City. This, she said, also coincided with the seasonal increase in passport applications as Filipinos start making preparations to travel abroad this summer.
Albay said the DFA has been working closely with the BSP to resolve the issue and that it is confident that it would be able to reduce the waiting period in the coming weeks. At present, applicants will have to wait an additional 10 working days before their passports can be released.
The delays, which started in February, have affected primarily applicants in the 19 regional consular offices nationwide and foreign service posts abroad.
