MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday, May 31, announced that it is cracking down on passport applicants who fail to show up on their appointment date.

“’Yung mga no-shows will not be allowed to book again online for 30 days,” DFA spokesman Charles Jose said. (No-shows will not be allowed to book again online for 30 days.) 

He said the DFA will implement this starting June 1, on a staggered basis in different regional offices.

Jose said the DFA reached this decision after finding out the following, based on their internal study:

• Booking a passport appointment can take as much as two months.
• 47% of passport applicants end up as “no-shows” every day.

Jose said that aside from imposing this rule against “no-shows,” the DFA is adding 50 slots to their online appointment system every day.

He said these changes will mean 800 extra passport application slots for “serious applicants” daily.

In his news conference on Tuesday, Jose also issued a reminder for holders of green passports and machine-readable passports: “If they will renew these passports, these will be considered as new applications.”

Under former DFA chief Albert del Rosario, the agency was been credited for improving the passport application process by installing satellite offices in malls, among other things. 

The DFA, however, continues to face problems involving delays in the passport application process. – Rappler.com