Dubai: Beginning January next year, the Philippine Consulate-General in Dubai said it will stop extending expired or soon-to-expire passports unless in emergency cases defined by Philippine regulations in a bid to enforce discipline among Filipino expatriates in Dubai. The move, they said, is just one of the many reforms the consulate aims to implement by next year.
“We need to discipline our people. If they abide by rules of other embassies, all the more should they abide by our country’s rules. We will be firm in implementing these reforms by next year,” Consul-General Frank Cimafranca told reporters on Wednesday.
Under regulations of Manila’s Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), invalid Philippine passports can only be extended in emergency cases such as death in the family or medical emergency. In Dubai, officials said most passport extensions are made because Filipino expatriates “forget to check the validity of their passports” before travelling or put off renewing their passports till the last minute.
Consul Giovanni Palec said the consulate in the meantime accommodates these requests to help Filipinos. But they have been under fire from authorities in Manila, hence the decision to stop the practice by next year.
In an earlier Gulf News report, Cimafranca said more than 50 per cent of the daily passport renewals are ‘last-minute’ applications. After getting an extension, applicants often forget to claim the new passports from the consulate, thereby contributing to the backlog in the consulate’s system. As a result, hundreds of unclaimed passports have been effectively cancelled for the past two years.
Cimafranca, however, clarified Filipinos may apply for passport renewal as early as one year before their passport’s expiry to avoid inconvenience.
Other reforms within the consulate include the strict implementation of the appointment system for passport renewal. Cimafranca said applicants with appointments only need to come on their appointment time. Walk-in applicants — those without appointments — will not be entertained until clients with appointments have been served after 10am.
“We’re really discouraging walk-ins except for those who have emergencies. If we want to join the developed world, we have to adopt their best practices,” Palec said.
Palec said among the additional changes is the dedicated space for a courtesy lane to serve senior citizens, pregnant women, mothers with infants and toddlers, and people with special needs. Applicants of legal documents such as Special Power of Attorney, Certificate for Driver’s Licence, and Tourist Visa need not come back to claim these as they will be delivered by Empost for Dh15.
“Most of the changes we’re instituting are propelled by security issues, decongesting the consulate, and for the convenience of our general public,” Palec said.
Plans to beef up security within the compound are also under way. Additional security cameras and biometric machines for entering the highly secure areas inside the consulate have already been proposed.
