Dubai: Walk-in passport applicants at the Philippine Consulate-General in Dubai will not be entertained before 10am on weekdays beginning October 1 as part of plans to reduce the volume of people coming to the consulate.
“We have an appointment system in place for passport applicants. We will be prioritising those with appointments and walk-in applicants will only be allowed entry to the gate and entertained after 10am,” Vice Consul Geronimo Suliguin told Gulf News.
“This move is to avoid inconvenience on their part as many of them think that if they come here early, they will be entertained. This will not be the case.”
Suliguin said some 250 passport applicants with appointments appear at the consulate on a daily basis. About half of this number or more than 100 people come as walk-ins who hope they can be served on that day as well.
Walk-in applicants could either be those who come to the consulate to get an appointment or those who have emergency cases. But Suliguin stressed there is no need for applicants to come to the consulate just to get appointments as they can do it online through the consulate’s website or Facebook page.
Further improvements will be implemented at the consulate, including allotting a separate space for a courtesy lane for senior citizens, pregnant women, and people with special needs.
Suliguin said plans to mount TV monitors and screens to display consular procedures are under way.
“Majority of the applicants don’t know the procedures or the requirements which are all available online. What happens is, they end up doing everything here, including filling out forms, which often delays them by at least 30 minutes. If they can do all this prior to coming here, they will be able to save more than half the time that they spend here.”
For more information on consular processes and requirements, visit www.pcgdubai.net.