That's right -- you can renew your
passport, and get the new machine-readable passport, by mail.
This is true even though the Philippines Consulate website AND
even the application form states that you must apply in person!
At least that's the case if your consulate is the one in San
Francisco. But I'll bet it's true for all Philippines consulates
in America. (And maybe in other countries as well.)
How do I know this to be the case? Because a couple weeks ago I
spent the whole day looking for the cheapest flight, hotel, and
car rental and made reservations to renew my Filipina wife's
passport in San Francisco. My wife happened to be chatting with a
Filipina friend of hers at the time, and she asked why we were
actually traveling to San Francisco to renew. She said that she
had recently renewed hers by mail!
Huh? Everybody knows that you have to do it in person. And
everybody complains about it. Except my wife's friend.
That's right, my wife's friend didn't know she had to renew in
person. She didn't know anything. And so she called the San
Francisco consulate and asked them how to renew. They told her to
download the form, follow the instructions, and mail the
application and supporting documents in. They even told her how
to make fingerprint imprints, and told her to do so before a
notary public.
I couldn't believe this to be the case, and thought that my
wife's friend just got lucky. So I called the consulate myself.
Guess what? I was told the same!
So I quickly canceled our reservations and we will be applying my
mail.
To make imprints of your fingerprints, just use a black stamp pad
that you can buy at any office supply store. I recommend
practicing beforehand on a separate sheet of paper. Remember, you
need to make the imprints in front of a notary public and have
the form notarized.
The instructions actually tell you how to apply by mail. Some
documents need to be notarized when doing so, so pay attention.
If you got married since your last passport was issued and you
want to change your last name on your new passport, also send a
Report of Marriage form and any requested documents.
Include all payments and follow the instructions carefully.
As instructed in the instructions, you need to supply USPS
postage stamps in order for them to mail the new passport to you.
They will use an flat-rate Express Mail envelope which, as of
today(May 2010) costs $18.30.
I suggest you call your consulate to confirm that you can
apply by mail.
Sandy Larsen
New Wave Instruments