The Consulate General is pleased to announce that beginning today, 28 April 2010, all applications for new passports or renewal of expired passports will be issued the state-of-the-art Philippine ePassport.

Requirements for new and renewal of passports remain the same, except that applicants no longer need to submit photographs. In addition, in view of the microchip technology used in the new ePassport, the passport fee is now HK$ 510.00. Processing time remains at 20 working days, and personal appearance is required.

The new Philippine ePassport features an integrated circuit chip within its pages that contains essential data in verifying the identity of the passport holder. Aside from the information found on the data page, it includes the biometrics of the passport holder, consisting of his fingerprints, digital signature and photograph, as well as a unique identification number. A host of other security features ensures that the data within the chip is authentic, and renders the passport virtually tamper-proof.

The new Philippine ePassport conforms to the highest security standards set forth by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). It is designed to allow for seamless immigration checks and faster airline travel arrangements, and prevents identify theft and tampering of personal data.

With this development, the Consulate General will stop issuing the Machine Readable Passport (MRP). However, all MRPs and the non-machine readable passports (with green cover) already issued by the Consulate General, the Department of Foreign Affairs and all Philippine Foreign Service Posts will remain valid until the date of their expiry.

Philippine passport holders are also reminded to renew their passports at least six (6) months before expiry.

Appointment system

To facilitate the processing of ePassport applications, the Consulate General encourages applicants to avail themselves of an appointment system designed to shorten the waiting period of its clients, described as follows:

1. Applicants will submit the accomplished ePassport application form together with photocopies of their old passport and their Hong Kong ID through any of the following means:

   1. By dropping the documents in the Drop Box located in the Consulate General premises anytime from 9.00am to 4.00pm, Mondays through Fridays;

   2. By faxing the documents to 2866-9885 (care of Passport Section);

   3. By emailing scanned copies of their documents to passport@philcongen-hk.com; and

   4. By mailing their documents to:

   Passport Section

   Philippine Consulate General

   14/F United Centre

   95 Queensway, Admiralty

2. Applicants should set an appointment on when they could personally visit the Consulate General for the digital capture of their photo, biometrics and signature. Appointments can be set beginning on the third working day from the submission of their application, any time from 9.00am to 4.00pm, Mondays through Fridays.

3. Applicants should personally appear at the Consulate General on their scheduled appointment. They will undergo the digital capture of their photograph, biometrics and digital signature, and pay the fee of HK$ 510.00. This process should take 15 minutes.

4. Applicants should then return to the Consulate General after 20 working days, or on the date stamped on their official receipt. They must present their old passport for cancellation, and then receive their new ePassport.

Applicants who do not appear on their appointments as well as walk-in applicants will be entertained only after applicants who appeared for their appointments have been served.

For information the passport requirements and other passport-related matters, please contact the Passport Section at telephone 2823-8535 or at email passport@philcongen-hk.com.