Press Release
PR-003-2015
8 January 2015

Philippine Embassy in Riyadh Processes 73,743
Passport Applications in 2014

(Riyadh, 8 January 2015) The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh topped its previous year’s passport services with 73,743 passport services in 2014 compared to 73,352 passport services in 2013.

The Embassy has more than doubled passport services extended in 2010 which reached 34482, and it continued to increase passport services every year for the past five years.

“We are proud that we are able to significantly increase the public’s access to passport services here in Riyadh and during outreach missions outside of Riyadh, even though we have maintained the same number of passport encoding machines since the start of the e-Passport process in 2011” Ambassador Ezzedin Tago remarked.

The Embassy strongly suggests that all Filipinos keep a photocopy of their passport and iqama with them at all times, and to keep a copy of the page with the entry visa and entry code.

In addition, the Embassy advises all Filipinos to ensure that their passport is valid for at least 9 months if they will use it for travel as most countries require that passports are valid for months beyond the intended dates of use and travel.

In 2011, the Embassy implemented an appointment system for time slots for passport encoding at the Embassy and during consular outreach missions or the “Embassy on Wheels”.  At present, the appointment system is done through the Embassy’s website. In order to maximize the appointment slots, the Embassy urges all applicants to book only one appointment at a time and to cancel their appointment if they are not able to show up during the appointment.

Applicants are also advised that they should claim their passport within 6 months of its issuance, as the Embassy regularly returns unclaimed passports back to the Department of Foreign Affairs once unclaimed for over 6 months.

The Embassy recently increased its public waiting spaces for passport and consular applicants with the use of the Mabini Hall and the majority of its lobby for clients to accommodate more seating space inside the building.

The Embassy’s website has a central page on passport services, where applicants could make book an appointment, download the application form, check the status of the release of their passport (approximately 6-8 weeks after encoding), and check on rules for extension of the validity of non-machine readable passports. The schedule for the consular outreach to cities outside of Riyadh is also posted on the dedicated page for passport services (http://riyadhpe.dfa.gov.ph/index.php/sample-sites/passport-services).########