Pinoy in Singapore

Since I just got the certified true copy of my newborn’s birth certificate last week and I have to go back to Singapore in a few weeks, I had to go line up at the Department of Foreign Affairs along Roxas Blvd to get the passport faster. That is, faster than the less hassle way of calling up Pilipinas Teleserv.

Here’s a rough walk through of the process:

Get to the DFA early. I would recommend getting there 7:30AM to avoid the long lines. DFA doesn’t open until 8AM but you’ll be surprised to see that there’s a long line to the entrance already by 7:30 AM. I got there around a little past 8AM and there were a lot of people already. Plus, I saw a sign there that they can only process 1500 applications at a time due to machine limitations. So if you arrive later, you might not make the cut-off.

The entrance to the passport application area is at the back of the DFA building. So, if you’re facing the DFA building, you’ll need to walk to your right and then turn left at the corner and walk about 3 minutes to the gate.

It’s best that you get there with all the requirements ready and photocopied, and your application form filled up, and already thumbmarked.  You’ll need 3 passport size ID pictures – 1 is pasted on the upper right corner of the application form, the remaining 2 is placed inside a small plastic and stapled (the plastic not the photos) on the lower left of the application form.

On your way to the gate, you’ll be intercepted by a lot of people wearing barangay IDs (probably to make them look official).  If you’re requirements are complete, you have no need for their services so you can just ignore them and go straight to the gate.

In my case, my newborn’s birth certificate still doesn’t come in the NSO security paper because it takes a while (about 3-4 months) for the records to get from City Hall to the National Statistics Office (NSO).  So before going to DFA, I had the certified true copy (CTC) of my son’s birth certificate from City Hall stamped at NSO.  (You still pay the same amount as if you requested a copy of the birth certificate on NSO security paper.)

When you enter the gate, go straight to the basketball court on the right side for documents verification.  After that, you go to Gate 3 for new applications (or Gate 2 for renewal).  Then enter the first door on the right for another documents verification.  The lines here are per window, so choose the window with the shortest line.  If all your papers are ok, they will ask you to proceed to the auditorium where you’ll pay first and then line up for fingerprinting. That’s it.

It sounds pretty quick and easy on paper, but the lines are long.  I arrived 8AM and finished at around 10:30AM.  By the time I finished, the lines were even longer for those who were just starting.