How to Renew a Philippine Passport in the U.S.

Renewing a Philippine passport within the U.S has become slightly more complicated due to the fact that the Philippines now makes use of the more secure electronic passport or ePassport. This is supposed to uphold and increase the integrity of the Philippine passport as a chip will be inserted into the back of your passport book which will hold all your biographical and biometric information. This was implemented in May 2010.

You must go into a Philippine embassy or consulate general in order to apply for a passport renewal.

Because of the introduction of the ePassport, applicants will no longer have to submit photos as pictures, signatures and fingerprints will be taken again on site. This ensures authenticity but also means that you will have to arrive in person. You cannot renew your passport by post nor have anyone else go in for you. There is no need to book an appointment at your nearest Philippine consulate as these consulates work on a walk-in basis in which the first there are the first served. Because of this, it is best to get there as early as possible. There are Philippine consulates in:

• Guam
• Chicago
• Honolulu
• Los Angeles
• New York
• San Francisco
• Georgia
• Florida
• Michigan
• Oregan

See the Philippine embassy consulates page for a full run-down of each consulates contact details and address.

Philippine Passport Renewal Application Requirements

Below are a list of documents and such which you will need to take with you in order to successfully renew your Philippine passport in the U.S:

• Fully completed passport application form which you can get at a consulate and fill out in the queue or download and take with you already completed.
• Latest passport
• A copy of pages one to three of the brown passport or page one of the green passport (data pages)
• A copy of any valid proof of identification (driver's license, birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc) Middle name must be clearly visible.
• Proof that applicant has not applied for foreign citizenship (green card)
• Self-addressed envelope with appropriate stamps sent with courier of choice and tracking numbers for return of passport
• Passport fee ($60) which is payable by cash, money order, bank draft, certified check or cashier's check. Credit cards and personal checks are not permitted!

The Philippine Passport Renewal Process

Once you have gone in and have been successful at your relevant consulate or the embassy, your application is sent on to Manila. The consulates and embassy only process your application before sending it away. This means that your passport renewal will take at least six weeks to be returned to you.

Expediting Your Philippine Passport Renewal in the U.S

If for whatever reason, you need to expedite your passport renewal, you need to communicate this clearly to whoever assists you at the consulate. You will need to explain clearly why you need your passport expedited. You will then be told what process goes into expediting your passport and will most probably have to pay an extra fee to ensure that your passport is hurried along. Some reasonable explanations for expedition of your passport could be that you need to urgently travel in the near future. However, in this case you could also be offered a temporary passport.

In round-up, the gist of it is that you simply need to get down to your nearest Philippine consulate and get the job done. Be sure that you take all the required documents with you otherwise you will be forced to leave and return when all your documents are in order.

Click here to visit the Philippine Traveler.

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