DFA opens additional 177,500 passport appointment slots in NCR Plus

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has announced that it is opening five special off-site locations on July 7 to provide an additional 177,500 passport appointment slots to the public in the NCR Plus area.

Undersecretary for Civilian Security and Consular Affairs Brigido J. Dulay mentioned that the DFA Temporary Offsite Passport Services (TOPS) offices will open at SM Mall of Asia, SM City North Edsa, SM Aura, Robinsons Place Las Piñas, and Robinsons Place Magnolia. Appointment slots for all of the five TOPS may be accessed through the DFA’s online appointment system website.

“The DFA is aware of the demand for passport appointment slots during the pandemic and so we prepared a temporary expansion of our consular operations in off-site locations to address this need while maintaining health and safety protocols”, said Undersecretary Dulay.

According to DFA, each TOPS site has the capacity to accommodate 500 appointments daily and will operate from Mondays to Saturdays.

With all sites operating at full capacity, 177,500 additional passport appointment slots have become available until the end of September on the DFA’s online appointment system on top of the regular appointment slots at the Department’s ASEANA office and its consular offices all over the Philippines.

In addition, Undersecretary Dulay also announced that TOPS offices are open to Courtesy Lane clients such as OFWs with valid or existing contracts, senior citizens, pregnant applicants, children below 7 years old, persons with disabilities, and solo parents. Otherwise, Courtesy Lane clients can access this facility by sending an email to oca.cl@dfa.gov.ph.

Furthermore, according to Undersecretary Dulay, the DFA will open TOPS sites in other regions with a significant demand for passport appointments.

“We advise applicants to avoid falling prey to online fraudsters and scammers who are taking advantage of the situation by charging hefty fees,” said Undersecretary Dulay.

Take note that these passport appointment slots are free of charge and are only available through the DFA’s official website.

Source: DFA