Traveling to the Philippines with less than 6 months passport validity

[dare448 2]

(Please transfer this topic to the appropriate section if found misplaced)

Hi All,

My husband's ROC application just got recently approved and we are so stoked because anytime now, we will be receiving his 10-year green card but unfortunately, we are facing some kind of problem.

He will be traveling to the Philippines to attend his brother's wedding (he is the bestman) on April 30th and will be coming back to the US on May 27th but his Philippine passport will be expiring on October 26th this year which means that the validity of his passport is less than six months upon departure and arrival both to the Philippines and the US.

Since he has a Philippine citizenship, we thought that he will not have a problem entering his home country with a passport valid for less than six months. When his best friend from high school who now works in Singapore found out about his trip to the Philippines, the best friend asked if he could make a side trip there for a couple of days and since he's never been there before, we bought his ticket to Singapore yesterday. While talking to the agent, we found out that his passport needs to be at least six months valid so he can enter Singapore. How true is this?

Also, is our assumption right that he will not have a hard time at the airport to enter his home country? How about coming back to the US?

We went to the Philippine Consulate (Los Angeles) website to gather some information about passport renewal timelines and it says renewals take about 8 to 10 weeks which is going to be too late for his April 30th departure. Is there an expedited process for Philippine renewal at this consulate?

Sorry for all these questions but right now, we are both in limbo on what to do. Please give us some advices all you knowledgeable and reliable VJ people.

Thank you in advance!

Edited March 14, 2015 by dare448

[biaobiao 40]

please do try to check with the consulate, if they can just extend the validity of the passport, like having a 1 year extension then you can just have the passport renewed upon his return. goodluck.

[Ryan H 3,812]

***Moved from Working & Traveling During US Immigration forum to Philippines regional forum; topic is about Philippine passports.***

**Moderator hat off**

Singapore does require passport validity of at least 6 months upon entry: http://www.ica.gov.sg/page.aspx?pageid=95&secid=94

If he wants to visit Singapore, he'll need a new passport.

[Greenbaum 12,259]

If he has 6 months left when arriving Philippines then he can head on over to DFW and renew his passport. Expedite service is available and takes about 10 days. Sooner if you have it done in Manila. After that there are no concerns what country he travels to.

http://manila.passport.com.ph/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Philippine-Passport/206073122778369

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.state.gov%2Fdocuments%2Forganization%2F87474.pdf&ei=zK0EVdmyKoGigwT2iIPQCA&usg=AFQjCNErfCGE56WlbJK1yLU_rQrO8lUZqA&sig2=48sO4q0HXYYdHuux7LnjAQ&bvm=bv.88198703,d.eXY

Edited March 14, 2015 by Greenbaum

[dare448 2]

please do try to check with the consulate, if they can just extend the validity of the passport, like having a 1 year extension then you can just have the passport renewed upon his return. goodluck.

Thank you. Yeah, he will go to the consulate this Monday to see if there's an expedited service. If not, then he'll just have to apply for the extension. Hope the extension timeline is way shorter than renewal.

[dare448 2]

If he has 6 months left when arriving Philippines then he can head on over to DFW and renew his passport. Expedite service is available and takes about 10 days. Sooner if you have it done in Manila. After that there are no concerns what country he travels to.

http://manila.passport.com.ph/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Philippine-Passport/206073122778369

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.state.gov%2Fdocuments%2Forganization%2F87474.pdf&ei=zK0EVdmyKoGigwT2iIPQCA&usg=AFQjCNErfCGE56WlbJK1yLU_rQrO8lUZqA&sig2=48sO4q0HXYYdHuux7LnjAQ&bvm=bv.88198703,d.eXY

Thank you for this insightful response. I will definitely have my husband try to renew his passport in Manila if it doesn't work out for him renewing his passport here in LA.

[dare448 2]

If he has 6 months left when arriving Philippines then he can head on over to DFW and renew his passport. Expedite service is available and takes about 10 days. Sooner if you have it done in Manila. After that there are no concerns what country he travels to.

http://manila.passport.com.ph/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Philippine-Passport/206073122778369

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.state.gov%2Fdocuments%2Forganization%2F87474.pdf&ei=zK0EVdmyKoGigwT2iIPQCA&usg=AFQjCNErfCGE56WlbJK1yLU_rQrO8lUZqA&sig2=48sO4q0HXYYdHuux7LnjAQ&bvm=bv.88198703,d.eXY

Thank you for this insightful response. Yeah, I'll have my husband try renewing his passport in Manila if it doesn't work out for him here in LA.

[manilaraf 28]

Thank you for this insightful response. Yeah, I'll have my husband try renewing his passport in Manila if it doesn't work out for him here in LA.

If he does have to renew in Manila, have him do it as close to arrival as possible and be ready to reschedule his return flight if need be. The DFA's switching to a new system and are having trouble changing over and as a result passport issuance is taking longer than usual.

[dare448 2]

UPDATE:

So my husband went to the consulate general office here in LA last Monday to ask if there's an expedited renewal service but unfortunately, he was told that there's none and that there's a backlog in Manila at the moment for all passport renewals adding another 4 weeks waiting time making the total processing time between 10 - 12 weeks.

He was advised to renew his passport in Manila upon arrival but unfortunately, he will arrive in Manila at 9:40PM on May 1st, which is a Friday meaning the earliest date he'll be able to go to the DFA is on March 4th. Even if he opts for an expedited service (10 days), it'll still be late for his May 9 flight to Singapore. When he told this to the lady attending to him, the lady said that he can apply for VALIDITY EXTENSION.

Has anyone here experienced this before? What are the requirements, fees and how long does it take? Any advice, tip, suggestion is greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

Edited March 18, 2015 by dare448

[manilaraf 28]

Question now is, can they do the validity extension at the LA Consulate? And if not, you should've asked right then and there or call them up again for what he would need if it can only be done here in Manila.

A google search, I came across this:

http://www.dfa.gov.ph/index.php/2013-06-27-21-50-36/phl-embassies-and-consulates/1814-extensions-of-validity-of-passports-no-longer-allowed-beyond-october-2015

and this (PDF Document):

http://www.philippineconsulatela.org/WEB%20MATERIALS/passport_amend_guidelines.pdf

You might be better off seeing if this can be done in LA, rather than getting stuck here in Manila only to find out that can't be done in his case.

[dare448 2]

Question now is, can they do the validity extension at the LA Consulate? And if not, you should've asked right then and there or call them up again for what he would need if it can only be done here in Manila.

A google search, I came across this:

http://www.dfa.gov.ph/index.php/2013-06-27-21-50-36/phl-embassies-and-consulates/1814-extensions-of-validity-of-passports-no-longer-allowed-beyond-october-2015

and this (PDF Document):

http://www.philippineconsulatela.org/WEB%20MATERIALS/passport_amend_guidelines.pdf

You might be better off seeing if this can be done in LA, rather than getting stuck here in Manila only to find out that can't be done in his case.

Hubby did ask but they are very strict. They only allow emergencies such as death in the family, medical emergencies and the like. We have researched a little bit as well but the one we found online was written way back in 2011 so we're not sure if it still applies these days. It said that DFA in Manila allows cases like my husband's as long as he is able to bring all purchased airline tickets upon application.

[biaobiao 40]

he apply at malls which are open on saturdays
but i think his time in manila would not be enough... too bad he wasnt able to plan this in advance :

best of luck OP