DUBAI: Patricio, a Filipino IT executive in Dubai, blames passport snags for his prolonged bachelorhood.
The 34-year-old man got married in the Philippines in December, but has been unable to start his married life in Dubai due to the long wait for his wife's passport. "We have gone through the formalities so my wife could join me here soon," said Patricio, whose wife is a teacher.
Patricio fell ill during their honeymoon week and had to fly back to Dubai as his one-month vacation was already over. After his wife went through the trouble of having their marriage certificates attested, Riza applied for her passport on March 15. And though she paid for a "rush" passport processing (10 working days), she was told it would take 43 days. Worse, when the April 28 scheduled release date came, Riza was told her passport wouldn't be available for another two weeks. "This is frustrating, but all I can do is wait," he said.
The Philippine law bans outsourcing of passport processing.
Rosie, a Dubai retail executive, applied for a new passport for her son Ronald, a high school student, on March 9. He is expected to get his passport on June 8. They had to ditch plans for Ronald's visit to Dubai in April as a result of the passport glitch. School starts in June in the Philippines.
"A huge country like India can process passport applications in a week or two, I don't understand why we Filipinos must endure this three-month wait," she said.
According to Manila's Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), technical snags and an "unprecedented number" of passport applicants mean that Filipinos now have to wait for at least three months to renew their passport.
Philippine consular officials in Dubai have said the wait for a new passport will be longer and those who need to travel on an urgent basis must apply for a one-year extension only.
In Dubai, the Philippine Consulate accepts up to 230 passport renewal applications daily. Printing of the Philippines' biometric passports is done centrally at the Bangko Sentral facilities in Manila. On May 6, DFA said it will process 500 more passports daily in a bid to curb delays. The Office of Consular Affairs in Manila is now open on Saturdays too. These measures will raise the monthly production of passports from 88,000 to 106,000. The DFA issued 1,583,183 passports in 2010.
Around 10 per cent of the over 90 million Filipino population work overseas.
Snags
The Philippine government will extend (for free in Manila) up to one year the validity of passports that are about to expire if applicants have to travel on an urgent basis.
Manila charges $21.40 (Dh79) for regular processing of a passport (20 days); $28 (Dh103) for "rush" (10 days) passports. Diplomatic missions charge $60 (Dh220) for applications
