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DFA consular services returning to pre-pandemic levels this year
ZEN HERNANDEZ,
ABS-CBN News
Published Feb 07, 2024 10:56 PM PHT
The Philippine Passport. ABS-CBN News/File
MANILA — Appointments for various services, including passports and apostilles, are seen to return to pre-pandemic levels within the year, according to Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo.
Passports issued in 2023 reached 3.179 million, which is only a million less than the 2019 figure of 4.095 million.
There has also been a significant improvement in processing times, with expedited processing down to 5 working days from the previous 7 working days. Regular processing is also now 10 working days from 12 working days.
The Department pf Foreign Affairs Office for Consular Affairs also saw a surge in apostilles issued in 2022 to 2023, with a notable 596,085 and 532,994 respectively. These figures are close to the 667,928 issued in 2019.
An apostille is a certificate that authenticates the origin of a public document. It is issued by a country that is party to the Apostille Convention to be used in another country which is also a party to the Convention.
As for Philippine visas, 217,265 were issued to foreign nationals in 2023, a huge jump from the 82,260 in 2022.
However, this is still far from the 2019 figures of 1.623 million.
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Top visa-issuing Philippine foreign service posts as of December 2023 include many cities in China and India, with only one foreign service post each from UAE and Nigeria:
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