Dubai: Filipino holders of phased-out passports are required to present supporting documents in order to switch to e-passports, an official said.
Old passports — the green Machine Readable-Ready Passports or MRRP and maroon Machine Readable Passports or MRP — were completely phased out in November 2015 under a directive from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Manila.
Officials in Dubai, however, said there are still “a few” Filipinos who have these passports and have not switched to e-passports yet.
“These are people whose passports may have been used as a guarantee or as bail due to a police or court case, those who have not renewed their passports since 2010, or those who may have gotten passport extensions,” Deputy Consul-General Giovanny Palec told Gulf News.
Palec said the consulate started issuing e-passports in 2010 but MRPs were issued until 2011. E-passports’ covers are dark maroon with a logo of the International Civil Aviation Organisation below the word “PASAPORTE”.
For those who need to switch to e-passports, they will need to bring additional documents to support their application, namely, the original green or MRP passport booklet, authenticated original birth certificate, at least one Philippine-issued ID card, and other supporting documents as necessary such as authenticated original marriage certificate if the applicant is changing her last name to bear her husband’s family name.
“These documentary requirements are necessary as per DFA directives because people with phased out passports will be treated as new applicants. The Philippine-issued ID is necessary to prove that the identity of the applicant is genuine. It is a known fact that there were some cases of assumed identities [before the issuance of the e-passports] in 2011,” Palec said.
To renew your passport, book an appointment at http://dubaipcg.checkappointments.com/.
