ANNOUNCEMENT

Since December 3, 2007, the MECO Consular Affairs Office has been issuing Machine Readable Passports (MRP).

Applicants for renewal or original issuance who applied before 03 December 2007 will be issued the non-machine readable passports with green cover. However, those who wish to be issued the MRP instead of the green cover may request for change, subject to the following requirements. 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

 
Where to Apply?

MECO - Taipei Office only.

Starting the 3^rd quarter of 2008 or June 1, 2008 MECO’s Extension Offices in Taichung and Kaohsiung will start accepting and processing applications for renewal of  passports which shall be forwarded to MECO in Taipei for evaluation and transmittal/endorsement to the Head Office of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) .

What passport will be issued?

ONLY Machine Readable Passports will be issued starting Monday 03 December 2007.

It is also worth noting that the deadline set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) where Philippines is a member country requires that beginning April 1, 2010 only machine readable passports will be accepted in the ports of entry of all member countries.

Exception

Only in extreme emergency cases and with clearance from the DFA shall the green non-machine readable passport be issued by MECO and only until its supply of green cover non machine readable passport is available.

Number of Pages of the Machine Readable Passport

The new machine readable passport has 43 pages excluding the page where contract addresses appears. Issuance of the 64 page passport has been discontinued.

Cost of the Machine Readable Passport

Cost of passport is still the same (i.e. NT$1,900.00 for new or renewal passports and NT$3,000.00 for replacement of lost passport). Increase in fees shall follow any increase that will be approved by the DFA for all Posts abroad.

Centralized Printing of Machine Readable Philippine Passports

The printing and issuance of the new Machine Readable Philippine (MRP) passport is centralized at the Head Office of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Pasay City, Philippines.

This being the case, although MECO has already accepted and approved issuance or renewal of passport,  DFA reserves the right to reject the issuance of the same due to the non-compliance with the requirement in photo and other documentary requirements, doubt on the citizenship of the applicant and for whatsoever reason.

Doubt on Citizenship of Applicant

Any doubt on the citizenship of the applicant will be forwarded to the Department of Foreign Affairs for consideration and as to whether or not applicant will be issued a new Philippine passport.

REQUIREMENTS

1.  PERSONAL APPEARANCE IS REQUIRED – Personal appearance is  required when filing application and claiming of Machine Readable Passport. 

EXCEPTION: Children 8 years and below need not appear in person at the MECO office but the Filipino parent or legal guardian must appear in person to sign the computer generated application form of the minor. S/he is also required to personally claim the passport of the minor child. Children from 8 years and 1 day must appear in person at the MECO office for the finger printing.

2.    DOCUMENTARY REQUIREMENTS

a.   First Time Applicants – ONLY those born in Taiwan and whose birth was reported at MECO. Those born outside Taiwan must file application for issuance of Philippine passport (for the first time) at the Philippine post of the country of birth or at the Head Office of the DFA in the Philippines:

1.    Duly Accomplished Application Form

2.  Report of Birth at MECO with duly authenticated [District Court/Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) & MECO] Birth Certificate (BC) translated to English.

3.  The name of the child must appear in the translated Birth Certificate. BC with no name of the applicant shall not be accepted.

4.   Four (4) colored photos of the applicant taken within the last 6 months against a royal blue background

5.   Proof of identity/supporting  documents indicating full date  and place of birth and citizenship – such as but not limited to original -  marriage certificate of parents, birth certificate of the Filipino parent(s), original Philippine passport of Filipino parent(s)

6.  Other documents that the processor may require to check applicant’s true citizenship

b.      Renewal of Passport

1.  National Statistics Office (NSO) issued Birth Certificate (BC) in security paper (SECPA) or Certified True Copy (CTC) of BC issued by the Local Civil Registrar duly authenticated by the NSO  

2.    Four (4) colored photos of the applicant taken within the last 6 months against a royal blue background

3.   Birth Certificate of Applicant, Birth Cert. of Filipino Parent of applicant and Marriage Cert. of parents will be required for applications for renewal of passports issued at DFA Manila, RCOs and other foreign posts

4.   Except when the processor has some doubt on the citizenship of the applicant the afore-documentary requirements stated in No. 3 hereof may not be required for those born in Taiwan and birth reported at MECO or those whose latest passport was issued/renewed at MECO.

5. Old passport and photocopy of passport pages 1, 2, 3 (amendment)/data page and front and back pages with latest Immigration departure and arrival stamps/

6. Other documents complete with middle name that the processor may require to check applicant’s true citizenship

3.   AMENDMENTS

Amendments will be entertained only if the cause of the same happened in Taiwan such as change of name due to marriage, divorce or death.

Amendment to conform with the data in the birth certificate including clerical or typographical errors will not be entertained unless the birth certificate was issued by the concerned Taiwan office the same is true with  documents to support other kinds of amendments.

MRP cannot be amended by stating the amendment in the “amendment” page of the passport. Instead, amendment will be effected by the re-issuance of a new passport reflecting the amendment requested.

 4.    PHOTO

General Rule: Photo must allow the Immigration Officer to identify the Passport holder, therefore, as long as the Photo submitted by the applicant satisfies this primary criteria, the photo is acceptable, provided the following requirements are met:

a.  RECENT PHOTO: Photograph should have been taken within the last six months

b.   SIZE: Photograph size is 4.5 x 3.5 cm

c.    BACKGROUND COLOR: Background color should be Royal Blue

c.1 Sample shade of acceptable royal blue color is  available at MECO Taipei window 2

c.2  It must be more or less the same shade as the sample.

c.3  DFA reserves the right to reject the photo if the same is not the right shade of royal blue.

d.    POSE: Full frontal

e.   IMAGE SIZE : Image of the applicant should occupy approximately 70% to 80% of the photograph

f.    CROPPING : There should be at least 5mm-10mm space at the top of the photo between the edge of the photo and the crown/head of the person to allow for “cropping” of the photo at PICC (Philippine International Convention Center) in the Philippines.

g.   MATTE PAPER PREFERRED: Photograph should be printed on good quality photo paper, preferably MATTE

h.   CLEAN  PHOTOGRAPH – Photograph  should be free from ink and marks, dirt, grease, finger and paste stains

i.     DO NOT - APPLY ERASER/APPLY CHEMICAL ON THE PHOTO TO CLEAN IT

j.   USE  OF  COLLARED SHIRT:  Applicant’s  photograph should show him wearing decent attire with collar.

k.   EYE GLASSES/SHADES: Use of clear/dark/tinted glasses is not acceptable except for the medically blind, provided the person can still be recognized through his/her photo

l.     EARS SHOULD BE VISIBLE: As much as possible, both ears of the applicant should be visible

m   HEAD SCARF/VEIL: Use of head scarf for religious and medical reasons is allowed (Muslim women/nuns/cancer patients with hair loss/Alopecia) however; the scarf should not cover the eyebrows/eyes. Remember, the photo should allow the Immigration Officer to recognize/identify the passport holder. It is all right if the ears of the Muslim woman applicant or applicant who is a member of a Religious Order (Nun) is not visible in the photograph.

n.    CAPS/HEADGEAR: Use of caps or head gear is not allowed

o.    SMILING : When having  photograph taken applicant may smile.  However the features (eyes, mouth, cheeks) of the applicant must not appear distorted or too different from formal/non-smiling pose. RECOMMENDED: The “Mona Lisa” smile is recommended. Photo showing applicant smiling with teeth or gums showing is acceptable, provided the applicant’s features are not distorted and can be identified at borders using the photograph submitted

p.   USE OF CONTACT LENSES : Use of contact lenses for medical  reasons is all right, provided the contact lenses do not change the applicant’s true eye color

q.  USE OF EARRINGS : - For women – acceptable provided  earrings are small: For Men – outright rejection – not allowed

r.     Following PHOTOS should be rejected:

r.1 photo with red eye effect

r.2 dirty photos

r.3 image of the face too big

r.4 image of the face too small

r.5 wrong color background

r.6 poor quality photo (washed out image / unnatural skin tone)

r.7 photo does not look directly into the camera (exception: applicant has a medical/physical condition)

STEPS

1.     ACCEPTANCE AND VERIFICATION OF PASSPORT APPLICATION

MECO receives and verifies the application as well as required documents.

2.     PRELIMINARY VERIFICATION AND ENCODING OF DATA

If processor is satisfied with the data provided as well as documents presented he/she encodes the pertinent data in the computer with program provided by the DFA.

3.    REVIEW BY APPLICANT OF DATA ENCODED

The applicant/parent/guardian is then requested to read and determine the correctness of the data encoded and if everything is in order the application form is printed.

4.   APPLICANT SIGNS THE COMPUTER GENERATED FORM

This is the same application form forwarded to the DFA. It is the basic document and the only source of information where data for the cover page of the passport will be based.

Applicant before signing the computer generated application form should make sure that all data stated thereat are true and correct. By signing the form the applicant attests and accepts the data stated therein and if upon receipt of the new passport it is found that there is/are mistake(s) in the data, it is only the applicant or the parent/legal guardian who signed who is to be blamed. Therefore the applicant shall shoulder all costs of correcting the data and the re-issuance of the new corrected passport.

For applicants below 18 years old the parent or guardian may sign for and in behalf of the minor child.

5.    APPLICANT AFFIXES HIS/HER THUMB MARK

Applicant is required to affix his/her left and right thumb mark. The finger printing is required for the purpose of building the data base of all Philippine passport holders. Applicants 8 years and below need not affix thumb mark. Applicants from 8 years and 1 day old must affix his/her thumb mark.

6.    PROCESSOR ATTACHES THE PHOTO

Processor shall attach the photo of the applicant to the signed computer generated passport application form with utmost care. Please remember that the photo as attached must be free from any traces of paste or liquid or other chemicals or objects including dust. The forth photograph is actually for the purpose of replacing the one pasted on the application form in case the same is damaged.

7.    TRANSMITTAL TO THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS IN THE PHILIPPINES

The duly accomplished and signed computer generated passport application form is transmitted to the DFA in Manila for printing and issuance of the new passport.

MECO will endeavor to transmit to the DFA every other Thursday afternoon applications received from the afternoon of Thursday 2 weeks before up to those received up to 12NN of said Thursday.

8.    PROCESSING PERIOD

Considering the volume of MRPs being printed in the Philippines the MINIMUM processing time for MRP is fifteen (15) working days.

In the event that they are received ahead of time MECO shall immediately inform the applicant that the same is ready for pick up.

9.   GREEN NON-MACHINE READABLE PASSPORT BEING RENEWED STAYS WITH THE APPLICANT

To avoid complications in the event that the applicant has to leave the country of residence before receipt of the new passport, DFA has allowed applicants in posts abroad to hold on to the still valid passport being renewed and to surrender the same for cancellation upon claim of the new/renewed passport. Expired passports being renewed shall be cancelled in accordance with the existing rules.

10.    LOSS OF VALID PASSPORT BEING RENEWED BEFORE RECEIPT OF NEW MRP

    If between the time of acceptance of application for renewal of Passport and actual receipt of new passport,  the passport being renewed is lost then the new passport shall automatically be considered “lost” and shall be cancelled and returned to the DFA. The applicant shall again file his/her application for replacement of his/her lost passport and shall pay for the corresponding fee for the same. The fees paid for the new passport which was cancelled and considered “lost” shall not be refunded.

11. PERSONAL APPEARANCE is required in claiming the new machine readable passport as the holder of the same must sign receipt thereof.

12.   USE OF THE OLD PASSPORT WHILE WAITING FOR THE NEW (MRP) PASSPORT

Still valid old passport – in the event that the holder of the same needs to use the same due to extreme emergency holder is required to inform MECO of such fact to avoid complications with the Immigration office of Taiwan.

Expired old passport – in the event that the passport of the applicant for renewal has already expired and has to leave Taiwan due to extreme emergency she may apply for a travel document or the issuance of the green non machine readable passport (if stock is available) notice of such fact shall be forwarded to the DFA. The DFA may at its discretion cancel the newly issued passport (MRP). In the event of cancellation of the MRP the applicant shall not be entitled to refund of the fee paid for the MRP and shall at the same time pay for the fee for the Travel Document or the green non machine readable passport and the notarial fee for the Affidavit justifying the issuance of the Travel Document or the green non machine readable passport.