We finally found the time to renew McKenzie's passport!
She's turning 8 on August so we were still allowed to use the Courtesy Lane at DFA Alabang.
Who can use the Courtesy Lane?
Senior citizens, Minors seven (7) years old and below, People with disabilities (PWDs), Single parents, Visibly pregnant women and some OFWs with specified needs.
We initially planned to be in Alabang by 8am to have a quick brunch before lining up for DFA but life happened. :)
We left the house at 9am and because the noob (Me!) drove, we were in Alabang by 10am. Parking is easy peasy when you get to a mall early. 😍
Quick Brunch at Subway. (Finally a Subway in ATC!) then headed off to the 3f of Metro Dept Store to line up for the DFA Courtesy Lane. DFA is at the 4f by the way.
There's a separate queue area for those with appointment and those availing the courtesy lane. The Courtesy lane queue is thrice bigger. I was hoping for a 2 hr processing that should allow us to join Kenny at the Kapihan Session of Commonroom and Co.
I was wrong! We played musical chairs along with the lolos, lolas, kiddos and other families for almost 2 hrs!
At 1220pm, my little trooper finished the book she brought along and I had no choice but to let her use the tech nanny by then. Luckily we had a cookie from Subway, leaving the queue to have lunch was no longer an option because we were able to get to the initial step (verification of documents and appointment) by then--- we were already inside DFA office.
At 1240pm, we were told to join a regular queue (along with those with appointment) for Step 1: Processing, Document Evaluation and Receipt Issuance. After another round of musical chairs, and since we have everything ready (docs and photocopies) we were off to the 2nd Step by 135pm where we paid the fee.
It was a quick 2 minutes process after which we were asked to join a special queue again for Step 3: Encoding, Picture taking and Data Capture. Another hour of musical chairs before my not too little now baby girl got her chance for a new passport photo. Her first passport was taken when she was almost 2 yrs old so I can't help but be emotional when I was looking at her photo on the screen.
We were done by 255pm, stopped by the courier booth to have the passport shipped for P150.00 which is more practical than going back on Feb 7 to claim it. LBC committed delivery on Feb 8 or 9.
Although it took us more than 4 hours to have the passport renewal done, I am still thankful for the courtesy lane and the satellite offices set up by DFA. It provides huge convenience.
All Courtesy Lane applications except Senior Citizens should pay the expedited fee of Php 1,200.00.
There are Courtesy Lanes in all DFA Consular Offices.
Thanks for Reading!
Dulce
She's turning 8 on August so we were still allowed to use the Courtesy Lane at DFA Alabang.
Who can use the Courtesy Lane?
Senior citizens, Minors seven (7) years old and below, People with disabilities (PWDs), Single parents, Visibly pregnant women and some OFWs with specified needs.
We initially planned to be in Alabang by 8am to have a quick brunch before lining up for DFA but life happened. :)
We left the house at 9am and because the noob (Me!) drove, we were in Alabang by 10am. Parking is easy peasy when you get to a mall early. 😍
Quick Brunch at Subway. (Finally a Subway in ATC!) then headed off to the 3f of Metro Dept Store to line up for the DFA Courtesy Lane. DFA is at the 4f by the way.
There's a separate queue area for those with appointment and those availing the courtesy lane. The Courtesy lane queue is thrice bigger. I was hoping for a 2 hr processing that should allow us to join Kenny at the Kapihan Session of Commonroom and Co.
I was wrong! We played musical chairs along with the lolos, lolas, kiddos and other families for almost 2 hrs!
At 1220pm, my little trooper finished the book she brought along and I had no choice but to let her use the tech nanny by then. Luckily we had a cookie from Subway, leaving the queue to have lunch was no longer an option because we were able to get to the initial step (verification of documents and appointment) by then--- we were already inside DFA office.
At 1240pm, we were told to join a regular queue (along with those with appointment) for Step 1: Processing, Document Evaluation and Receipt Issuance. After another round of musical chairs, and since we have everything ready (docs and photocopies) we were off to the 2nd Step by 135pm where we paid the fee.
It was a quick 2 minutes process after which we were asked to join a special queue again for Step 3: Encoding, Picture taking and Data Capture. Another hour of musical chairs before my not too little now baby girl got her chance for a new passport photo. Her first passport was taken when she was almost 2 yrs old so I can't help but be emotional when I was looking at her photo on the screen.
We were done by 255pm, stopped by the courier booth to have the passport shipped for P150.00 which is more practical than going back on Feb 7 to claim it. LBC committed delivery on Feb 8 or 9.
Although it took us more than 4 hours to have the passport renewal done, I am still thankful for the courtesy lane and the satellite offices set up by DFA. It provides huge convenience.
All Courtesy Lane applications except Senior Citizens should pay the expedited fee of Php 1,200.00.
There are Courtesy Lanes in all DFA Consular Offices.
Thanks for Reading!
Dulce