The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) officially launched on Thursday its ePayment portal for passport processing fee.
Passport applicants are now required to prepay their processing fees through the DFA’s authorized payment centers.
An additional P50 convenience fee for the ePayment will also be charged on top of the current P950 for regular and P1,200 for expedited processing.
Applicants will only be able to secure a confirmed appointment after paying at the following payment centers: Bayad Center, EcPay, PeraHub, Robinsons Business Center and Department Stores, Waltermart Department Store, 7-Eleven, USCC Western Union, and Villarica Pawnshop.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano expects that the introduction of the ePayment will increase the number of passport processing capacity of the DFA.
According to Cayetano, the prepayment will encourage applicants to show up on their appointment date as there will be no refund of the payment, which is also non-transferrable.
“With ePayment, we expect that no-shows in our consular offices will be significantly reduced, if not totally eliminated. By prepaying, applicants are encouraged to show up, lest they forfeit their passport processing fee,” Cayetano said.
DFA also expects the ePayment system will get rid of fixers who prey on applicants by charging exorbitant fees for a passport appointment.
“The ePayment portal has safeguards in place that will discourage and prevent unscrupulous individuals from hoarding passport appointment slots,” he said.
The ePayment system was first introduced at DFA Consular Office in ASEANA, Parañaque City.
The DFA targets to introduce the system nationwide by August 2018.