Mobile ePassporting set February at Prov’l Capitol

LAOAG CITY, Jan. 11 — The provincial government of Ilocos Norte will host a mobile ePassport service next month. This will allow people here to apply for passport without having to travel all the way to La Union, where the nearest DFA office is located.

The mobile ePassport service will be held on February 11 at the Provincial Capitol auditorium in Laoag City.

However, people who wish to apply for passport–either for the first time or for renewal–must submit their application form and other supporting documents before January 14 to the Ilocos Norte Investment Center (INIC) in Laoag City, said Bernard Manrique.

Manrique said these documents will be sent by the INIC to the DFA for pre-processing, so that the applicants may be able to receive their passports during the said mobile event.

He also said, however, that only 600 applicants can be accommodated by the mobile ePassport service.

“Application forms are available at our office, or can be downloaded from the DFA website,” Manrique said. “New applicants must submit a photocopy of birth certificate issued by the National Statistics Office and local civil registrar; two (2) government-issued IDs; and if married, a NSO marriage certificate.”
Passport applicants must submit their applications early because as the service will be first-come, first-served basis.

“Personnel from the DFA will come here for the personal appearance of the applicants. After which, they will process the application and send the passports to our office. We will just notify the applicants if their passports are ready,” Manrique said.

The Philippine ePassport upgrades the security features of the Machine Readable Passport. It has an interoperable International Civil Aviation Organization compliant chip containing the holder’s personal data, chip identification number and a digital signature. (ANL/CPC-PIA 1 Ilocos Norte)