Finally! After 50 long years of trying to get my passport renewed, I actually finished it today. YAY! My passport expired in March and it was only today that I was finally able to renew it. While I am not really scheduled to go anywhere soon, you never know, right? ^__^ Whew. All I need now is to wait a couple of weeks then I can go back to DFA to claim it.
Anyway, dealing with government agencies like the DFA and the SSS is always a test of patience. For anyone. While I do pride myself in my patience, government agencies somehow manage to get the better of me. I did not have the chance to write about my SSS experience earlier this month, but I really want to write about the DFA. I will try to be as objective as possible, I promise. After all, I used to be in public service too. ^_^
First, the good:
- I find it really great that DFA employs hearing-impaired people. I found several of them in the encoding section. Great that disability does not bar them from getting gainful employment. Two thumbs up for whoever thought of this. d^_^b
- Online appointment system – Really helpful if you don’t want to queue up just to get a renewal schedule (then go back another day for the actual processing). I had to submit 3 times, though, because they kept on giving me Saturday appointments. I have classes on Saturdays so I can’t make it. Apparently, they don’t answer queries sent to appointment(at)dfa.gov.ph so if you don’t like the schedule they gave you, you have to resubmit and resubmit until they give you a nicer schedule. Still, really useful.
Now, the bad:
- DFA employees need major lessons in courtesy. Hoy, pera ko ang nagbabayad ng sweldo nyo no! Baka naman pwedeng maging mas magalang kayo ng konti? Kahit plastic lang, pwede na! Or were they trained to scowl and growl at passport applicants?
Finally, the ugly:
- Fucking fixers at the gate – I really wonder why DFA doesn’t drive these people away. A couple of people attempted to bully me into showing my documents to them. Pakyu. One even shoved his City of Pasay ID at my face. Pakyu. Another MO: Someone walks up to you, asking about how to apply for a passport, blah blah blah, pretending he does not know. Assholes. Why not try to make an honest living, for once?! The DFA should arrest all of these people!
There. Good thing I waited a few hours before I wrote a blog about it…or else, I would’ve written more ugly stuff. Haha.
Anyway, here are the steps for passport renewal, just in case anyone needs it:
- Submit details for an online appointment at www.dfa.gov.ph. They will send an email for the schedule. Once you get the schedule, print it out.
- Go to DFA on the date of appointment, bringing with you your appointment printout, old passport and 3 pictures.
- Go straight to DFA. DO NOT TALK TO ANYONE! They are vampires. Do not talk to anyone asking for help, or anyone brandishing an ID (speaking like he is the Secretary of Foreign Affairs). YOU ARE NOT SAFE UNTIL YOU ARE INSIDE THE DFA GATE. Hehe. I hope I made my point.
- Go to Gate 2, and line up behind any counter for “Processing” (they are pretty fast, actually)
- After this, go to the auditorium and go to the “Payment” counter.
- After paying, find the end of the line for “Encoding” and wait patiently. Pray for more patience, until your turn comes.
- After the encoding stage, pray again that you were able to get through without harming a living thing.
Good luck and have fun renewing your passport!
