Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 23) — The Department of Foreign affairs said over 1,500 passports would be invalidated if they remain unclaimed until March 1.
“Ang regulasyon ng Department ay kapag lumampas ng isang taon at hindi nake-claim ang passport mula sa oras na dapat makuha mo ito, ito ay pawawalang-bisa na ng DFA,” DFA Office of Consular Affairs Head Assistant Secretary Senen Mangalile told CNN Philippines on Wednesday.
[Translation: Department of Foreign Affairs regulations state that passports not claimed after a year from the date of issue will be invalidated by the DFA.]
Mangalile said the unclaimed passports belong to individuals who did not book a courier service to have them delivered to their homes.
Mangalile cited data protection and present government archiving guidelines for the decision.
“May archiving regulation po sa gobyerno na ang mga dokumento po ay kailangang i-dispose pagkaraan ng mga taon,” said Mangalile.
[Translation: The government has an archiving regulation where documents will have to be disposed after some years.]
In an earlier advisory, the FDA said, “Those yet to claim their passports, which were scheduled for release in January 2021 or earlier, may do so until 01 March 2022 (Tuesday), at the DFA Consular Office where they were processed.”
Those who fail to claim their passports until the deadline will have to file again a new application. They also need to present a document declaring the incident. Individuals may get the certificate of unclaimed passport from the DFA Aseana or at the DFA Consular Office where the unclaimed passports were processed.
More passport applications slots soon
The DFA also said it was slowly raising the number of appointment slots for passport applications, with the goal of reaching pre-pandemic levels as soon as possible.
He advised the public to personally secure their slots via the passport.gov.ph website, stressing that it is the only website where one could get legitimate passport appointment slots.
Mangalile said senior citizens, persons with disabilities, those who are pregnant, overseas Filipino workers with active contracts, solo parents, and minors 7 years old and below may avail of the DFA’s Courtesy Lane which can be accessed via passport.gov.ph.
