DFA to Issue E-Passports Soon

 

DFA to issue e-passports end of year

By Veronica Uy

INQUIRER.net

Posted date: July 07, 2008

MANILA, Philippines — A year after complying with the international requirement for a machine-readable passport (MRP), the Department of Foreign Affairs is set to release electronic passports (e-passports) within the year.

This, after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas awarded last week the contract for the set-up of the e-passport system to the French-Belgian company Francois Charles Oberthur Fiduciaire (FCOF).

This paves the way for the issuance of e-passports to Filipino diplomats and officials starting October and to all Filipino travelers by December.

The Philippines rushed the upgrade of the previously manually passport to an MRP before the April 1, 2010 deadline of the International Civil Aviation Organization, which has also raised its standard to include electronic chips in passports.

The 64-kilobyte electronic chips would contain more information regarding the passport holder and serve as a third line of validation of the passport holder’s identity.

FCOF won the contract for the “supply of a complete package of systems design, technology, hardware, software and peripherals, maintenance and technical support, e-covers and data page security laminates for the centralized production and production of machine readable electronic passport.”

The company’s bid of P859.7 million was below the approved budget cost of P970.5 million. It won over the only other bidder, Germany’s Bundesdruckerei, which was automatically disqualified as its bid of P4.7 billion is almost five times the approved budget cost.

Once implemented, the Philippines will join 60 other countries that issue e-passports, the new global standard set by ICAO.

The government had long planned to have a machine-readable and electronic passport, but it suffered a major a setback in December 2005 when the DFA terminated its 1999 build-operate-transfer contract with Philippine-Thai company BCA International for the latter’s allegedly inability to implement the project.

BCA consequently sought an injunction with the Supreme Court. But in March this year, the high tribunal lifted the temporary restraining order, allowing the DFA to push through with the e-passport project.

Pending litigation of the cases in the Sandiganbayan and the Supreme Court, the DFA entered into an interim agreement with French firm Hologram International for the temporary issuance of the machine-readable passport starting June last year. This was to ensure that the Philippines would meet the ICAO deadline.

 

 ©Copyright 2001-2008 INQUIRER.net, An Inquirer Company

 

 

New Philippine Passport Applications

	DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS P R E S S  R E L E A S E 2330 Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, Philippines                               Tel. No. 834-4000

 

SFA-AGR-014-08

DFA PASSPORT APPOINTMENT SYSTEM BY INTERNET

11 January 2008 – The Department of Foreign Affairs announces the launch of the DFA Passport Appointment System By Internet. Under this system, passport applicants can set an appointment with the DFA-Passport Office for the filing of their passport applications.  The system commences operations on Monday, 14 January. Who Can Avail of the DFA Passport Appointment System Initially the DFA Passport Appointment System will be open to the following passport applicants: a. Those whose passports have already expired; b. Those whose passport will be expiring within the next one year; c. Senior citizens (More than 60 years old) The DFA Passport Appointment System will be expanded to cover all passport applicants in due time Procedure: 1. Qualified passport applicants may avail of the DFA Passport Appointment System by sending their request via internet, email address: appointment@dfa.gov ph 2. Passport applicants applying for appointment must provide the following information: a. Full name of applicant (first name, middle name and surname); b. Date of birth; c. Place of birth; d. Latest Passport Number and Date of Issuance 3 Application for Appointment must be made one, week before the proposed date of appointment. 4. Applicant must wait for the confirmation of the proposed appointment and take note of the reference number that will be provided by DFA-Passport Office before proceeding to the DFA for the filing of the passport application. 5. Applicant must be at the DFA Passport Office (Special Area for those with appointments) at the confirmed designated date and time for the filing of the passport application. END

If you want to send an email now, click here