Dubai: Only Filipinos with online appointment for fingerprinting for the ‘No Criminal Record’ certificate requirement will be entertained at the consulate and no walk-ins will be allowed due to the surge in demand for this service.
The Philippine Consulate-General on February 11 launched an online appointment system for the fingerprinting service to secure the No Criminal Record document or National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Clearance, a prerequisite for the UAE’s good conduct certificate for Filipinos.
The UAE’s new rule for all expatriates to obtain a certificate of good conduct from their home country first in order to be issued a work permit when applying for a job in the UAE took effect on February 4.
Consul-General Paul Raymund Cortes said a maximum of 100 applicants with appointments can be served per day for the fingerprinting service. The consulate dedicated one staff to do the fingerprinting service two weeks ago despite their limited manpower to give Filipinos an option to avail of the service at the consulate instead of doing it at the Dubai Police Headquarters.
“For those who take chances and come to the consulate to avail of the service without getting an appointment, I’m sorry we cannot accommodate more than 100 people (with prior appointments) because we only have one staff doing it. I hope my compatriots will understand that our consulate has meagre resources but we are trying our best ... to meet that demand every single time,” Cortes said on Wednesday.
“Please only come to the consulate for fingerprinting if you have an appointment. This is for your own good because we don’t want you to queue up outside in the heat for no reason.”
Cortes said he had to reshuffle his limited staff “because the clamour for NBI Clearance is just too great and that includes signing all certifications of the fingerprinting.”
Cortes said the NBI Clearance application for the first 20 days of February alone totalled 1,945, which is a 1,400 per cent increase from 125 applications in January and more than double the total applications in 2017 at 955.
The appointment system for fingerprinting at the consulate is fully booked until March.
Other option
Cortes said Filipinos with existing but expired NBI clearances issued from 2014 to 2016 have the option to renew it online (https://clearance.nbi.gov.ph/) instead of applying for a new one at the consulate. (See box)
Meanwhile, the arrival of Renato Duenas Jr, the new Deputy Consul-General, last week in Dubai is a big boost to the consulate, which is the biggest worldwide in terms of passport applications, overseas voting, and visa applications.
Duenas, 45, who has been in foreign service for the past 19 years, was earlier posted in Tehran, Tripoli, and Cairo.
“Knowing that Dubai is one of the busiest posts worldwide, if not the busiest, I’d like to contribute to help improve our services to our compatriots,” Duenas said.
Duenas is the second senior official at the consulate, which has three other officers, 30 staff, and 14 local hires. This brings the staff to client ratio to one staff per 12,890 Filipinos.
How to renew NBI clearance if you have an existing but expired one
If you have an old NBI Clearance issued between 2014 and 2016, you don’t have to apply for a new one at the consulate. Just renew it online.
1. Visit https://clearance.nbi.gov.ph/
Register if you haven’t by filling out the details required. If already registered, click on the NBI Clearance Quick Renewal and key in your old NBI ID Number that you will find on the top left-hand side of your old NBI Clearance.
2. Follow the procedure and make the payment.
3. If no criminal record is found, the NBI Clearance will be delivered to the Philippine address of the applicant.
4. The applicant may authorise a representative to have the NBI Clearance authenticated along with a copy of the old NBI Clearance at the Department of Foreign Affairs and attested at the UAE Embassy in Manila and then couriered to Dubai. The applicant can then proceed to apply for a Good Conduct Certificate here.
Facebook live with consul
Have questions for Consul-General Paul Raymund Cortes?
He will address them in a Facebook Live session on March 2 at 4pm on his official Facebook page ‘Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes’.
