Of the many things in common I have
with the hubby, one of which is being adventurous. For as short as one year, we have had our
fair share of adventures.
We have cycled around Singapore’s Pulau
Ubin, savored organic vegetables at Malaysia’s Cameroon
Highlands while having a taste of the savory Boh Tea, frolicked with the
sand and sun at Indonesia’s Bintan
Island Resorts, discovered one of Singapore’s Southern
Islands, explored the historical
Malacca, discovered bustling and vibrant Kuala Lumpur, had a relaxing staycation
at Furama Hotel Singapore and enjoyed the Rock and Roll vibe of five star Hard
Rock Hotel.
So when I was pregnant with LO, the hubby and
I have made a resolution that having a baby would not hinder us from being wanderlust,
after all it is already in our system, being “la-ag” (Visayan term for
wanderlust) .
So now we are enlisting LO into our
adventures. As early as now, we want him
to catch the travel bug. A prerequisite for
him to catch the bug is to have a passport.
Infants as young as one month can already acquire a passport. Maybe even younger as long as you can bring
them to DFA office for an appearance, they would be issued a passport.
Here’s how we do it.
1. Prepare
all the necessary documents.
a. Personal appearance of the minor applicant
(for minors below one year old, no confirmed appointment is needed).
b. Personal
appearance of either parent (if minor is a legitimate child) / of mother (if
minor is an illegitimate child)
c. Original
Birth Certificate of minor in Security Paper issued by NSO or Certified True
Copy of Birth Certificate issued by the Local Civil Registrar and duly
authenticated by NSO.
The
latter is what we used since LO’s birth certificate in security paper is not
yet issued since it is still unconverted. Don’t forget to bring along with you
the receipt issued by NSO.
d.
Certificate of marriage, NSO certified (original copy)
e.
Passports of parents (original and photocopy)
f.
Application fee of P1200 (expedite). For regular processing application fee of
P950 applies.
2.
Go to your nearest DFA office.
In our case, we went to Cebu Regional
Office located at 4th Level Pacific Mall-Metro Mandaue, UN Ave. cor.
MC Briones St., Brgy. Estancia Mandaue City.
For a complete listing of regional office you may refer to this link.
3. Accomplished passport
application form. This form can be downloaded at the DFA website or this is
given by the guard manning the gates at DFA office.
4. You just inform the person in charge that you
have a baby below one year old and they will direct you to the courtesy lane.
5. When you get to the courtesy lane, you will be
directed in the steps you have to take
a. Submit the documents
b. Pay for the passport fee
c. Have your baby’s picture taken (This was the
challenging part for us J)
d. Passport delivery service (LBC courier)
Some Tips on the things we have
learned especially with those processing for their infants:
1. If you are not from Cebu, in our case we come
from Dumaguete, it is best to take a plane to Cebu early in the morning, so
when you arrive, you can directly go to the DFA office.
2. Even if the whole passport processing can be
accomplished in an hour’s time, it would be best to book overnight in a hotel to
ensure that baby is not so stressed of the whole process. You can fly back to
Dumaguete early in the morning after both parents and baby have rested and have
a nice dinner and stroll at Ayala. J We
booked at Allure Suites in Mandaue.
3. Make sure to bring some toys (e.g. rattles) or
be prepared to make funny faces to make sure, LO is showing his passport
perfect picture. They require that your baby’s
eyes are wide open in his passport picture.
We fail on this, LO was wailing when his passport was taken. No toothless grins but at least his eyes are
wide open.
4. Avail of the LBC courier service located
inside the DFA office especially if it requires that you travel long distance
to get to the nearest DFA office. For as
little as P120, your baby’s passport will be delivered at your doorstep.
5. Make sure that you get your passport
way before your scheduled travel dates.
Even though the website says that express delivery is 7 to 10 working
days, but for regional office, in our case in Cebu DFA, it takes 15 working days
for it to be released. Add the 2 to 3
days lead time for the courier service. We
had his passport application on 5th April, but the expected released
date is 29th April. So
another 2 to 3 days of courier, so probably we will be receiving it 2nd
or 3rd May.
So we are
now waiting for LO’s passport before he is officially enlisted to our travel
adventures.
