Photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter

The new Philippine e-Passport Renewal Centre (PPRC) at the VFS Global premises in Wafi Mall, Dubai is tops.

“It is a winner,” said DuBlog Power (Filipino discount) Card founder/entrepreneur Lance Japor.

Japor was among the first five clients of the PPRC on Friday, a day after Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. inaugurated the first-ever outsourced Philippine passport-ing system/service in the world, a pilot project of the Department of Foreign Affairs-Manila (DFA-Manila) to better serve overseas Filipinos as instructed by President Duterte.

On Saturday, Japor related his 30-minute experience at the PPRC which is fully manned by an all-Filipino staff from the manager down to the passport encoders who have their own enclosed cubicles, each complete with the biometrics/camera equipment which VFS Global had purchased from DFA-Manila and works in “real-time” seamless connection with the facilities at the main DFA-Manila headquarters in Pasay City, Metro Manila.

“I arrived there at 9 a.m. The staff asked me if I already have the (Philippine Passport Renewal application) form. The processing was done in 15 minutes. I was out of the centre by 9:30 a.m.”

“Honestly, the PPRC saved me,” said Japor.

He had forgotten that the expiry date of his existing passport is on Dec. 18, 2019.

Japor’s thought: There is no need to secure an appointment at the PPRC as walk-in passport renewal applicants are welcome.

“But I hope we all realize that we must renew our passports six months before the expiry date. It is our responsibility. Unless we want to experience butterflies in our stomach. We may become jittery even because of our mindlessness. I panicked when I checked and saw that my passport was expiring this Dec. 18.”

Gulf Today asked for Japor’s advice to his fellow Filipinos who for now,  even if they were in Abu Dhabi and the Western Region, may avail of the PPRC services.

A PPRC in the capital is set to open by the first quarter of 2020.



• Make sure to secure and bring existing Philippine passport and its photocopy; the residence/work visa copy; the Emirates identification card.

• A filled up Philippine Passport Renewal Application form would speed up the process although the staff would help print from the system.

• Be sure to have the exact amount of Dhs321.00 for the renewal passport fee which includes the PPRC Dhs91.00 service fee. PPRC accepts credit card payment.

• Monitor the release of the new passport over the Philippine Consulate General-Dubai or Philippine Embassy websites.

• Collect the new passport at the PPRC.

“Make sure to be in decent clothing. Be properly groomed. Our Philippine passport is good for 10 years now and just imagine your face to be in the passport for 10 years,” Japor said, adding that no photography is permitted inside the premises for “confidentiality” purposes as the staff would ask applicant if the photograph for the passport “is already okay; if not a re-take would be done.”

The PPRC in Dubai is the first of a number of renewal centres to be set up by DFA-Manila across the world, said DFA-Manila Civilian Security and Consular Concerns Undersecretary Brigido Dulay from the Thursday inauguration meeting with representatives of the Filipino Community in the UAE and the media.

It comes almost a year after the five-year coverage of the Philippine passport was extended to 10 years in order to unburden Filipinos of the renewals.

The PPRC inauguration took place after the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Civilian Security and Consular Concerns Brigido Dulay and VFS Global-Business Development head Chris Dix  on Thursday morning.

The PPRC is a Department of Foreign Affairs-Manila (DFA-Manila) “at no cost” pilot project complete with the equipment and software utilized by an all-Filipino staff serving the community from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with no break seven days a week.

VFS Global, also the outsource for the passport services for the governments of Italy, the Netherlands, UK, Ghana, and India, purchased all the necessary safe and secure technology from DFA-Manila.