Finally, I renewed my passport
By rsa101
@rsa101 (41028)
Philippines
March 12, 2022 5:10am CST
Our passport were expiring this April so we started booking for online appointment with the department of foreign affairs office. The problem is that booking for one is just too difficult to get since it is time constrained. You have to actually be fast in filling the online forms as fast and accurately as possible. If you are not able to finish on time you have to start from the beginning again. It took us several weeks to fully get the hang of it and finally on Feb 25 after several failed attempts to book were able to successfully book an appointment last Mar 11.
Yesterday we proceed with our appointed time and went there earlier anticipating there would be long lines. But to our surprise, there were few on line and asked the guards if we could submit our application and we were surprised that they accommodated us even if were not yet scheduled. It took only 10 minutes for the interview and picture taking and were done. It was the fastest processing we ever had.
7 people like this
8 responses
This is good so that we don't need to renew every 5 years.
@yoalldudes (35028)
• Philippines
12 Mar 22
I feel so envious. I for the longest time have been wanting to renew mine. I'm happy for you.
2 people like this
@rsa101 (41028)
• Philippines
12 Mar 22
Which part are you having hard time? Booking online is the hardest part to do since you need to type as accurately and as faat as you can since they placed a timer on it. If you cannot find dates do look at 12 noon and 9pm every day or 12 mn since that is the time they open slots. It took us several weeks to figure it out.
2 people like this
@yoalldudes (35028)
• Philippines
18 Mar 22
@rsa101 I am unvaxxed and cant travel to the city even for personal appearance. Thank you so much for offering help.
1 person likes this
@rsa101 (41028)
• Philippines
20 Mar 22
@yoalldudes Oh I see, then l guess you need to do it at a later date when things are a bit opened for everyone. Although from our experience it was not asked if we were vaccinated or not. Although we brought our vax card with us in case it was asked from us.
@jobelbojel (36796)
• Philippines
23 Mar 22
My passport expired year or 2 years ago. Have not used it. I tried to schedule a visit but it is fully booked. Glad that you were able to renew yours.
1 person likes this
@rsa101 (41028)
• Philippines
24 Mar 22
There is a technique in booking an appointment. Try booking 12noon or 9 pm every day. At that time, they are cleaning their booked lists and clearing the list from erroneous bookings, and opening the slots again. We were able to book at 6 am in the morning
when there were fewer people trying to book. Another technique is to get familiarized with the data that they will need like your B-day, name of parents, addresses, etc. Filling up the form is time-constrained so you should be able to type in as fast as you can the data, they need from you. Failure to do so within the time limit will render your booking unsuccessful. It took us several times to perfect it since we always fail to finish on time.
when there were fewer people trying to book. Another technique is to get familiarized with the data that they will need like your B-day, name of parents, addresses, etc. Filling up the form is time-constrained so you should be able to type in as fast as you can the data, they need from you. Failure to do so within the time limit will render your booking unsuccessful. It took us several times to perfect it since we always fail to finish on time.1 person likes this
@rsa101 (41028)
• Philippines
29 Mar 22
@jobelbojel If you check during the day, it would look like it's all fully booked. You have to look at 12 noon or 9 pm every day since that is the only time you could see some of the slots being opened up. They usually open two weeks of the slot.
@jobelbojel (36796)
• Philippines
28 Mar 22
@rsa101 the last time we checked all dates in March are already allotted. No more available. If that was your experience maybe I can tell my brother to check it as well.
1 person likes this
@rsa101 (41028)
• Philippines
14 Mar 22
I see, does that happen in your place? I think they should be considerate when trying to allow peope from entering the data as accurate as possible. It takes time especially for people that are not that fast or to people that are not that tech-savvy or those that have a poor internet access.
2 people like this
@rsa101 (41028)
• Philippines
14 Mar 22
@JudyEv True, I understand why they put a time limit as well since they also need the bandwidth for others to be given a chance to book. But in our situation, not all of us are that tech-savvy to handle the fast entry of data they need and our internet speeds are not as well reliable unless you are paying subscriptions for a high-speed internet connection. In short, those that can afford are the ones that will be given priority since they are the ones that are given the chance to successfully book on their site,
2 people like this
@rsa101 (41028)
• Philippines
31 Mar 22
@Shiva49 True, I almost gave up since my application kept failing every time, I submit my time has already expired. It was frustrating and just could not understand why they have to put a very short time to enter information and yet they expect that you enter accurate details which at times need to review before finally submitting it.
1 person likes this
@acelawrites (19272)
• Philippines
14 Mar 22
Congrats! I have not renewed mine yet. So what's your travel plan?
2 people like this
@Letranknight2015 (52665)
• Philippines
19 Mar 22
I envy you. My passport had been expired for almost eight years. Well, what's the point, I didn't travel anyways.
1 person likes this
@rsa101 (41028)
• Philippines
15 Mar 22
True although we did get hard on the application process online. We have to have a reliable net connection plus you should be able to type in fast. It took us several weeks to figure out how we can enter data as accurately and fast as possible.
1 person likes this
