My fiancee finally got her passport!

[Karen_and_Jay 2]

I just wanted to thank everyone who offered us help and advice in my previous two posts about how to get a Philippines passport. For us, the process was not simple or straightforward, but after more than 3 months and 4 failed attempts, the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs FINALLY decided that she had collected enough documents from almost every government agency that they simply couldn't deny her any longer! She even got a passport despite the fact that her birth certificate was late registered and she didn't have any "OLD" DOCUMENTS!

In the end, she was able to get a Tax Identification Number (TIN) ID and a voter's registration record, in addition to all the other documents she already had! Good thing that worked, because I don't know how she would have gotten a driver's license! She's never driven or owned a car, but she was told that is what she needed the last time she was rejected! Thank God another digitized government ID worked instead!

She needs to take another (a 4th!) passport photo, but after that, it is finally done! LBC will mail her passport to Catbalogan by January 25. It normally takes 2 weeks, but the DFA will be closed for most of the Christmas and New Year holiday. I think she just got accepted right before the long break, which is nice so we won't freak out and worry for another month!

Thanks for everyone's support during this frustrating time!

For anyone who was keeping track of my progress or who might be having a similar problem, here is what documents finally worked for her, in the absence of her original high school ID or any other "Old" documents:

Proof of identity/supporting documents

[Original ID i.e. Senior Citizen's ID, Voter's ID, digitized government-issued IDs like SSS, PRC, BIR, Driver's License, original school ID (for students only) AND original supporting documents indicating full name, date and place of birth and citizenship]

Original ID

• Tax Identification Number (TIN) ID from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) -- issued 2009, digitized government ID

Supporting Documents

• Voter's Registration Record -- issued 2009 (COMELEC couldn't find her old voting record from a previous election), normally a digitized government ID, but in a small city like Catbalogan, they only issue a paper document

Other Supporting documents

• High School ID -- "new" copy issued 2009, since the original ID was destroyed due to water damage from heavy rainfall
• Baptismal certificate -- "new" copy had to be made because the original had the wrong date of birth
• NBI clearance -- paper document (not the digitized renewal ID), issued 2009
• CENOMAR -- issued 2009

Other documents my fiancee has that are not accepted

• Postal ID -- issued 2009
• Barangay clearance -- issued 2009 (I don't think this is accepted)

Other documents that the DFA told me are not accepted

• NBI renewal clearance ID (even though this is digitized government ID, the DFA told me it is NOT accepted, which is a shame since it is so easy to get, only taking a day or two)

Personally, I found the instructions on the back of the Philippines passport application to be very confusing. In particular, it doesn't mention which documents are not accepted EVEN IF they show "show full name and birth details of applicant and citizenship" and it also doesn't say what to do if you're late registered. I can't verify the legitimacy of the following site, but it seemed to give clearer guidelines on what documents the DFA will accept:

http://www.citizenservices.com.ph/dfa/requirements/new

Edited December 17, 2009 by Karen_and_Jay

[sweet angel 5]

Great news! God is good all the time..Goodluck on ur journey and Godbless!

[Karen_and_Jay 2]

Great news! God is good all the time..Goodluck on ur journey and Godbless!

Thanks so much! I am sooooo happy now! And this is ONLY the 1st step!