By Raynald C Rivera
DOHA: The Philippine Embassy will soon implement appointment system and mobile services for e-passport renewal to decongest its consular section.
A free online electronic passport appointment system was recently launched by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) nationwide. It allows clients to plan visits in advance and ensures shorter waiting time and faster transaction for passport renewal.
“We plan to institute e-passport appointment system. We issued over 30,000 passports last year — an average of 125 a day. The system allows smooth flow of application and decongests the embassy,” Ambassador Wilfredo C Santos said. He said the DFA will implement the new system this year and the embassy plans to have it online and by phone to make it convenient to Filipinos.
The system follows the embassy’s implementation of the e-passport system with enhanced security features which Santos helped initiate when he was assistant secretary for consular affairs at DFA.
“We also plan to have mobile passport services to take our services closer to the Filipinos. We are thinking of going to one place where we can gather more Filipinos on Fridays so they won’t have to visit the embassy during weekdays,” he said.
Other services such as payment for Social Security System and Pag-IBIG fund are being mulled to be included in the mobile service to make it a one-stop service. “We will start with mobile e-passport service once the other mobile set arrives. As of now we have only one,” said Consul General Roussel R Reyes, who took over recently.
While the population of Filipinos in Qatar is continuously increasing, the number of embassy staff has remained for many years, posing a big challenge to the embassy.
Lack of staff a problem: Philippine envoy
“We complain of inefficiency but the lack of personnel has been a problem. While there has been a rise in the population of Filipinos, the number of personnel has remained the same for many years,” said Santos.
According to official figures from the Ministry of Interior, last May there were 222, 712 Filipinos in Qatar. The embassy, Philippine Overseas Labour Office (POLO) and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) have a total of 42 personnel, Santos revealed.
The appointment system and mobile services will enhance consular services which is the current thrust of the embassy, he added.
“I have been thinking of ways to decongest the embassy and that includes outsourcing the submission of visa applications in which foreigners submit applications in an office but visa approval is still with the embassy,” he said, adding over 1,900 visas were processed last year. He disclosed plans of relocating the embassy to a bigger space when the current building’s lease ends next year. “When we go to another building, we will segregate the consular section so that Filipinos will have a bigger space and an exclusive entrance. Currently there are only 35 seats in the processing area, we need 100 to make it comfortable for them,” he explained. On having POLO-OWWA and the embassy under one roof to make one-stop shop, he said they are considering it although it would require a vast space.
Labour Attache David Des T Dicang said POLO needs more space to house runaway workers whose number has now reached 100. POLO currently handles 242 cases, he added.
Santos stressed the embassy’s commitment to continuously better its services. “Please bear with us. We are doing everything to make it more convenient for overseas Filipinos here. We can manage this through appointment system but for now we have to make the best of what we have, “ he said, adding the embassy has already introduced changes that have somewhat improved the efficiency of personnel. The embassy recently released 24/7 emergency hotline numbers that Filipinos may contact.
The Peninsula
By Raynald C Rivera
DOHA: The Philippine Embassy will soon implement appointment system and mobile services for e-passport renewal to decongest its consular section.
A free online electronic passport appointment system was recently launched by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) nationwide. It allows clients to plan visits in advance and ensures shorter waiting time and faster transaction for passport renewal.
“We plan to institute e-passport appointment system. We issued over 30,000 passports last year — an average of 125 a day. The system allows smooth flow of application and decongests the embassy,” Ambassador Wilfredo C Santos said. He said the DFA will implement the new system this year and the embassy plans to have it online and by phone to make it convenient to Filipinos.
The system follows the embassy’s implementation of the e-passport system with enhanced security features which Santos helped initiate when he was assistant secretary for consular affairs at DFA.
“We also plan to have mobile passport services to take our services closer to the Filipinos. We are thinking of going to one place where we can gather more Filipinos on Fridays so they won’t have to visit the embassy during weekdays,” he said.
Other services such as payment for Social Security System and Pag-IBIG fund are being mulled to be included in the mobile service to make it a one-stop service. “We will start with mobile e-passport service once the other mobile set arrives. As of now we have only one,” said Consul General Roussel R Reyes, who took over recently.
While the population of Filipinos in Qatar is continuously increasing, the number of embassy staff has remained for many years, posing a big challenge to the embassy.
Lack of staff a problem: Philippine envoy
“We complain of inefficiency but the lack of personnel has been a problem. While there has been a rise in the population of Filipinos, the number of personnel has remained the same for many years,” said Santos.
According to official figures from the Ministry of Interior, last May there were 222, 712 Filipinos in Qatar. The embassy, Philippine Overseas Labour Office (POLO) and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) have a total of 42 personnel, Santos revealed.
The appointment system and mobile services will enhance consular services which is the current thrust of the embassy, he added.
“I have been thinking of ways to decongest the embassy and that includes outsourcing the submission of visa applications in which foreigners submit applications in an office but visa approval is still with the embassy,” he said, adding over 1,900 visas were processed last year. He disclosed plans of relocating the embassy to a bigger space when the current building’s lease ends next year. “When we go to another building, we will segregate the consular section so that Filipinos will have a bigger space and an exclusive entrance. Currently there are only 35 seats in the processing area, we need 100 to make it comfortable for them,” he explained. On having POLO-OWWA and the embassy under one roof to make one-stop shop, he said they are considering it although it would require a vast space.
Labour Attache David Des T Dicang said POLO needs more space to house runaway workers whose number has now reached 100. POLO currently handles 242 cases, he added.
Santos stressed the embassy’s commitment to continuously better its services. “Please bear with us. We are doing everything to make it more convenient for overseas Filipinos here. We can manage this through appointment system but for now we have to make the best of what we have, “ he said, adding the embassy has already introduced changes that have somewhat improved the efficiency of personnel. The embassy recently released 24/7 emergency hotline numbers that Filipinos may contact.
The Peninsula
