• If you are a first-time applicant for a Philippine passport, you are required to make a personal appearance at a career Philippine consular office with the passport application requirements.  For residents of southern Alberta the closest career Philippine consular office is the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver, British Columbia.

• If you are applying to renew your Philippine passport and you are between nine (9) years-old and 64 year-old, inclusive, you are also required to make a personal appearance at a career Philippine consular office with the passport application requirements.
• If you are applying to renew your Philippine passport and you are eight years-old or younger, or 65 years-old or older, you may submit by mail your duly notarized passport application together with the other renewal application requirements to a career Philippine consular office.  For convenience, minors and seniors in southern Alberta who are exempt from having to make a personal appearance at a career Philippine consular office may have their passport application notarized at the Philippine Honourary Consulate General in Calgary.

The above protocol is needed in order to comply with the Machine Readable Passport (MRP) requirement of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for its member states of which the Philippines is a member of.  Personal appearance is required for data verification, fingerprinting, and signature capture.  Since applications are sent to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila via diplomatic pouch, it may take six weeks for a new MRP passport to be released to the applicant from the time the applicant has affixed his fingerprint and signature to the Computer Generated Form (CGF).

While some countries may still honor valid green Philippine passports beyond 1 April 2010 as bona fide travel documents until they expire, most countries will require travelers to be holders of either machine readable passports or e-passports for their sojourn by 2010.

In this regard, all Philippine passport holders are advised to renew their Philippine passports six months prior to its expiration , in accordance with ICAO regulations, and to secure their plane tickets only after they have received their new passport.

All Filipinos, including those with valid green passports, are therefore encouraged to apply for their machine readable passports as early as possible.

Address of career Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver:

Suite 1405

700 W. Pender St.

Vancouver, BC

V6C 1G8

Address of Philippine Honourary Consulate General in Calgary:

(for notarization of passport applications of those exempt from having to make a personal appearance at a career Philippine consular office, i.e., passport renewal of minors eight years-old or younger and seniors 65 years-old or older)

Suite 590

10201 Southport Road SW

Calgary, AB

T2W 4X9

Useful websites:

Homepage of Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver

http://www.vancouverpcg.net/pcg/

Website for Philippine passport application

http://vancouverpcg.net/pcg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=78&Itemid=77

Website for photograph requirements for Philippine passport application

http://www.dfa.gov.ph/consular/PHOTO GUIDELINES.pdf