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Filipinos rush to apply for new 10-year passport in Dubai

Dubai - The 10-year passport was rolled out on January 3 in Dubai

The Philippine mission in Dubai has seen a spike in the number of applications for new passports and passport renewal in the past week after the Philippine government has started issuing new e-passports with longer validity. Philippine passports for those 18 years and above are now valid for 10 years, up from the previous five-year validity. 
Philippine Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes said on Wednesday that "almost 2,000 Filipinos have applied for passport renewal in the first five days since the 10-year passport was rolled out on January 3 in Dubai."
"An average of around 390 people showed up at the Consulate for their passport applications, up from the average 300-320 passport applications per day received in 2017," Cortes noted.
The new passport validity period came into effect after President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 10928 into law in August last year but the implementation was postponed for five months to enable the DFA to inform other countries about the new passports. 
Philippine passports applied and processed beginning from January 3 will get a 10-year validity, provided the holder is not a minor, according to a the Office of Public Diplomacy at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Manila. 
The 10-year passport has the same design, security features and number of pages (44) as the five-year Philippine electronic passport booklets and the cost is still the same at Dh240, according to Cortes.
- angel@khaleejtimes.com