The Philippine Consulate General of Los Angeles will hold a Consular Outreach Program in Dallas, Texas, on 9 August 2008 from 9:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at the PNB Remittance Center, Inc., 940 E. Beltline Drive, Suite 130, Richardson, Dallas, TX 75081.  PNB’s contact details are as follows: (972) 470-9910, (972) 470-9912, (281) 988-7001, and (800) 762-8788.

This consular outreach program will be organized by the Filipino community in Dallas under the leadership of the Philippine National Bank and Filipino-American Community of Texas.

The primary objective of the Consular Outreach is to accept and process applications for Machine Readable Passport (Cost: $50). 

The Consular Team will also accept and process applications for the retention and re-acquisition of Philippine citizenship pursuant to Republic Act 9225 or Dual Citizenship (Cost: $50).  Oath-taking will be scheduled on the same day for qualified applicants. 

Notarization of documents will also be accepted, however, this will be processed in Los Angeles and returned to the applicant by mail.

Application forms and requirements could be downloaded from the website of the Consulate at www.philippineconsulatela.org.

The Philippine Embassy and Consulate Generals in the U.S. started processing Machine Readable Passports (MRP) on June 2, 2008.

The Machine Readable Passports will benefit the Filipinos primarily in terms of document security and integrity and ease of travel.  It has superior security features compared to the green passports, which virtually eliminates the possibility of identity theft and acts of fraud. A Machine Readable Passport is being issued by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in compliance with the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for members, including the Philippines, to issue MRPs not later than 1 April 2010.

Applications received by the Philippine Foreign Service Posts in the U.S. will be sent to the main office in Manila via diplomatic pouch.  However, in view of the transit time, it will take six weeks for a passport to be released to the applicants, from the time the application is accepted. Personal appearance for all will be required for data verification, finger-printing and signature capture.  Applications by mail will no longer be accepted.

In compliance with the new photo requirements for the MRP, applicants are requested to visit the Consulate’s website.

To ensure a smooth and orderly processing of applications, interested parties are requested to contact the organizers or the Consulate (pcgenla_dual@yahoo.com), for any questions or inquiries. ###end

Information Section
Philippine Consulate General
3600 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 500
Los Angeles, CA 90010

Email: info_pcgenla@yahoo.com
Visit us at www.philippineconsulatela.org