Old passports phased out by 2015, renew with biometric or e-passports

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is set to phase out old-designed Philippine passports in 2015.

Only e-Passports (dark maroon with a logo of the International Civil Aviation Organization or ICAO below the word “PASAPORTE” on the front cover) will be recognized by October 31, 2015.

Green machine readable-ready and maroon machine readable passports are slowly being replaced by biometric or e-passports, which were introduced in the country in 2009.

On the assigned day, they must head to the appointments verification desk of the facility with the following requirements. Regular processing costs P950, while express processing costs P1,200.

Those who availed of express processing can claim their passports in seven working days, while those who opted for regular processing can claim theirs in 15.