DFA Chief Launches PH Passport Online Appointment Portal in HK

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. led the launch of the Passport Online Appointment System (OAS) in Hong Kong at the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong in Admiralty on 14 July 2019.

“The system, or OAS, aims to slash the long queues for passport appointments in Hong Kong, especially on Sundays, by providing an easy-to-navigate, faster and more convenient way to get a passport appointment,” announced Secretary Locsin to a crowd of around 200 Filipino community members and media representatives.

The OAS, which is already being implemented in all consular and satellite offices in the Philippines, is the first-ever Philippine passport online appointment portal abroad.

Consul General to Hong Kong Antonio A. Morales thanked Secretary Locsin for choosing Hong Kong as the first site for the OAS outside the Philippines.

There are currently more than 234,000 Filipinos in Hong Kong and more than 215,000 or 92 percent are household service workers who take their day-off mostly on Sundays. Last year, the Consulate General issued more than 48,000 passports to Filipinos in Hong Kong.

Secretary Locsin highlighted that one of the reasons for launching the OAS in Hong Kong is to give Filipino migrant workers the flexibility of choosing their passport appointment slots without having to queue up on their day-off, so they can enjoy their “me” time and recharge after a week of hard work.

With just four easy steps and a few minutes on using either a mobile phone or computer, passport applicants no longer have to line up or call or e-mail to make an appointment. The output of this online system is both an appointment slot on the applicant’s preferred date and time, and also printable version of the application form.

Secretary Locsin was accompanied by Department of Foreign Affairs’s Office of the Undersecretary for Civilian Security and Consular Concerns (DFA-OUCSCC) Officer in Charge Atty. Brigido J. Dulay, Foreign Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Neil Frank R. Ferrer and DFA-Office of Consular Affairs Executive Director Maria Theresa S.M. Lazaro at the launch event.

The DFA hopes to expand the OAS to other countries in Asia, as well as in other regions such as the Middle East, Europe and the Americas, to make the passport renewal process of Filipinos abroad a more convenient experience. (DFA PR)