The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced that their office of Consular Affairs (DFA-OCA), its Regional Consular Offices (RCOs) and all satellite offices in the National Capital Region (NCR) will be closed on the following dates in observance of regular holidays and special non-working days in 2013:

Holidays:

• March 28, Thursday – Maundy Thursday
• March 29, Friday- Good Friday
• March 30, Saturday – Holy Saturday
• April 9, Tuesday – The Day of Valor
• May 1, Wednesday – Labor Day
• June 12, Wednesday – Independence Day
• August 9, Friday – Eidul-Fitar
• August 21, Wednesday – Ninoy Aquino Day
• August 26, Monday – National Heroes Day Holiday
• November 1, Friday – All Saints’ Day
• November 2, Saturday – All Souls’ Day
• November 30, Saturday – Bonifacio Day
• December 24, Tuesday – Christmas Eve
• December 25, Wednesday – Christmas Day
• December 30, Monday – Rizal Day
• December 31, Tuesday – New Year’s Eve

No passport appointments and authentication of civil documents will be scheduled on those dates. However, on-call skeletal forces at the Passport Division (including Courtesy Lane and Diplomatic and Official Passports Section) and the Authentication Division shall be designated to answer queries related to passport and authentication of civil documents.

For questions and other concerns, please visit www.dfa.gov.ph or call 556-0000.

Note:  February 25, People Power Anniversary, is observed as a special holiday only for all schools. In this regard, February 25 is a working day for all government agencies.

The DFA office in SM Manila or the DFA-NCR West located at the 5th floor of SM City Manila started its operation this October. It is now ready to offer the following services:

• new passport application,
• passport renewal, and
• authentication services.

It is open from:

Monday to Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 pm for both processing and releasing of passports and Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 pm, for passport releasing only.

Set an appointment by logging in to manila.passport.com.ph or calling the DFA appointment hotline at (02) 737-1000.

It will also accept walk-in applicants but it will be limited to the following individuals: senior citizens, infants and minors below one year old, persons with disabilities (PWD), and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

An “Embassy on Wheels” consular outreach will be conducted by the Philippine Embassy in Saudi Arabia this coming October 18-19. The schedule was originally set on the last week of this month but was moved to an earlier date to pave the way for the Hajj holidays.

The announcement posted in the Embassy’s website reads:

“In observance of Hajj holidays the scheduled Embassy On Wheels (EOW) in Al Khobar on 25-26 October 2012 has been rescheduled to 18-19 October 2012.”

The consular outreach service will be held at the Al Jazeera International School Dammam in Al Rakha District, Al Khobar. This event will only accommodate applicants with prior appointment, except applications for infants and lost passports.

An advisory from the website of the POEA said that the DFA Passport Extension Office at POEA building is moving  to its new location.

New Location:  Kabayan Lingkod Center, Level 1,West Lane, Robinsons Galleria,  Edsa corner  Ortigas Avenues, Quezon City

The new passport extension office will be available to the public on September 24, 2012.

The last day of its operation at POEA will be on Friday, September 14, 2012.

Please call 737-1000 or log-on to www.passport.com.ph for appointment schedule.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) consular department now has a satellite office in SM Megamall in Mandaluyong.

The satellite office of the DFA in SM Megamall or the DFA-NCR East is now ready to offer the following services to Filipinos:

• New Passport Application
• Passport Renewal
• Replacement of lost passport
• Authentication Services

This development is part of the DFA’s effort to improve their services to the Filipino people. This satellite office can serve a total of 1000 applicants daily. The DFA satellite office can only accommodate applicants with scheduled appointments, PWDs (persons with disabilities), overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and senior citizens with valid proof of age.

The DFA officer added that for the authentication services the satellite office will accept up to 200 applicants a day. Walk-in applicants are also accepted.

Schedule of DFA-NCR East
The DFA Consular Office is located at 7th Floor Megamall Building C, EDSA corner J. Vargas Avenue, Mandaluyong City, Philippines.

Schedule:
10 am to 8 pm, Mondays to Saturdays, for both processing and releasing
10 am to 2 pm: Sundays, only for releasing

To schedule an appointment for passport application or renewal, please log on to www.passport.com.ph or to www.megamallpassport.com.ph.

One can also call the DFA appointment hotline (02) 737-1000.