As Hans Christian Anderson once said, “To travel is to live”, we want to feel alive, fill life with experience and to have stories to tell. I’m sure a lot of us have their own ‘Travel Goals’, to see the world in a bigger picture and to reach as many places as we can.
A lot of carrier airlines support that dream of ours of travelling to countries we can only imagine at really low costs through their ‘piso fares’. They allow us to plan ahead and save a huge amount of money that we may be able to use with all the other necessities such as accommodation, food and some other activities you may want to do in the duration of your travel.
But before you get carried away with all the planning, there is one thing you need to process first. You guessed it right, a PHILIPPINE PASSPORT. This is the most important thing you need if you are planning to go on a trip overseas. Keep reading and I’ll tell you how to get one.
WHY GET A PHILIPPINE PASSPORT?
1. NO PASSPORT, NO INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL.
Passports are a requirement to travel internationally. It is a proof of identity, for other nations to verify that you are a legal citizen of the Philippines. I’m sure any one does not want to have any illegal aliens entering their country, don’t you think?
2. APPLYING FOR A JOB OVERSEAS, YOU DON’T HAVE A PASSPORT? THEY WON’T HIRE YOU.
Lately I’m been trying my luck and had been applying for teaching positions in Japan. I have always wanted to go to Japan and even live there, and I am willing to do anything to do so. The first thing that they asked me every time is whether I’ve got a passport. I didn’t have a passport yet when I first applied for a teaching position in Japan in one of the known agencies in the country—which I highly regret—because they didn’t hire me since I didn’t have one. Makes awful lot of sense, if you don’t have a passport, you can’t go to the country where your job is. So if you don’t want to say goodbye to that dream job, SET YOU APPOINTMENT now.
That’s just basically it. You can’t achieve your travel goals if you don’t have one. End of story. Anyway, don’t stress. It’s pretty easy to get one. I was scared at first too because I have no idea how to get one, but I researched and found some really helpful tips from the internet (which I don’t think you are getting from me now but anyway…) and I’m going to share a few.
I could try to sum up what you need to do to get a Philippine Passport in a few steps (based on my own experience):
Before you can process your passport in any DFA site locations, you need to set up an appointment online first. You need to do this waaay ahead of time because it is hard to get an appointment at times. In my experience I tried setting up an appointment for August but the only available slot was for October since the slots were already full. I suggest you try visiting the DFA website at wee hours too since you may have less competition then. This website is a good guide for PASSPORT APPOINTMENT (click on the link).
You need to secure the necessary requirements for a Philippine Passport otherwise your effort to set up an appointment will be a waste. You can check the requirements on this link: PASSPORT REQUIREMENTS. One notable thing I remembered though is they took an original copy of my birth certificate. Make sure you have more than one copy so that you can still keep one after getting a passport.
3. DON’T BE LATE AND DRESS APPROPRIATELY
Make sure to be at the site location on time. You have chosen your preferred time and date so there is no reason to be late. You would want to have a smooth transaction and what better way to do it but to be punctual. (This tip probably works in more ways than one). I remember I was wearing comfortable yet appropriate clothes with no accessories other than my lipstick and drawn eyebrows during my appointment which I may say was a good decision. I didn’t have to go through removing earrings or necklace when they needed to take a picture of me (in worst cases some even went there wearing colored contact lenses and needed to take them off when pictures needed to be taken) (A BIG NO NO).
4. THE WAITING GAME
After submitting the requirements for you Philippine Passport and securing the payment, you need to wait. Normally, it may take around 6-8 weeks to process the passport application but as I remember as well there is a rush payment where you can claim it or receive it (depending whether you chose for it to be sent to your address) at an earlier date.
So if you’re planning to work abroad like me or you just want to travel and experience the world, make sure you get a Philippine Passport first. It’s not much of a hassle to process plus Philippine Passport expiration is now 10 years so you only have to get a passport once in 10 years. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?
I guess I’ll see you around then? And by ‘around’ I mean the world. *wink*
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