Emergency Passport renewal

[Balikpinoy 2]

Has anyone gone thru this process at the US Embassy in Manila?  We will be walking in tomorrow morning.  What time should we arrive before the 7:30am opening?

 

Any insights?

 

TIA

[Hank_ 9,174]

Walk-in?    Not happening .. by appt or by mail.

 

Embassy states:

 

If applying for an emergency passport, it is advisable to select OPTION 1 (online appointment).

 

https://ph.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/passports/renew-an-adult-10-year-validity-passport/

[Balikpinoy 2]

I spoke with someone at the embassy today and they advised me to walk in.

 

the website also has this.

 

Only emergency passports are available on a walk-in basis.  Please be aware that the rules for emergency passport issuance are strict, and a consular officer will determine if your situation meets the standard for an emergency.  If your situation is not considered an emergency, you will need to book an online appointment and return to the embassy on that day.

[Hank_ 9,174]

1 hour ago, Balikpinoy said:

I spoke with someone at the embassy today and they advised me to walk in.

 

the website also has this.

 

Only emergency passports are available on a walk-in basis.  Please be aware that the rules for emergency passport issuance are strict, and a consular officer will determine if your situation meets the standard for an emergency.  If your situation is not considered an emergency, you will need to book an online appointment and return to the embassy on that day.

 

Cool that they said to just walk in.      As long as you have a valid emergency you should be fine.

 

 

 

[Greenbaum 12,262]

I wouldn't be there any earlier then 15 min prior to the opening. Be sure you situation is indeed an emergency or out the same door you came in.  Good luck. They do state if denied you need to make an appointment for same day so why don't you see if you can book an appointment regardless if it is or isn't an emergency.

Edited April 16, 2019 by Greenbaum

[Falcon Cara 378]

On ‎4‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 9:14 AM, Balikpinoy said:

Has anyone gone thru this process at the US Embassy in Manila?  We will be walking in tomorrow morning.  What time should we arrive before the 7:30am opening?

 

Any insights?

 

TIA

A few years ago  one of my buddies got his US Passport stole from his back pocket in Cebu, he went to Consular Office in Cebu and they made him another one, they were pretty quick about it.

 

He did a walk in

Edited April 17, 2019 by Falcon Cara

[payxibka 10,048]

57 minutes ago, Falcon Cara said:

A few years ago  one of my buddies got his US Passport stole from his back pocket in Cebu, he went to Consular Office in Cebu and they made him another one, they were pretty quick about it.

 

He did a walk in

Everything at the consular on Cebu is walk-in.  Almost everything at the Embassy is by appointment

[Balikpinoy 2]

So we got to the Embassy at around 30 only to find out that ACS is closed for the day.  In the website,  it was not stated prominently that First and Third Wednesday of the month are Consular Training Day hence, no services.  I indicated that i had called the previous day and was instructed to walk in by the person I talked to.

 

The guards told us to go into non-immigrant entry building to so that they can call inside to state my case (the non-immigrant section was open).  Since we were early, and ACS does not officially open until 7:30, we waited as the guard tried to call every few minutes if anyone would answer.  After a few tries, we were told to step outside and just wait and they will call us when they get someone on the phone.

 

At 7:30, someone finally answered the phone and I was asked what the emergency was as well as the details.  The Filipina on the other end was very polite and pleasant.   She asked if we had all the complete documents for passport renewal (we did), photos and most importantly, exact change of 115 usd or 6210 in pesos.

She said she would consult a consular officer first and ask me to hold the line.  After about 2 minutes, she asked me to give the phone back to the guard and instructed the guard to tell us to come back at 9:30 with exact change.

 

Off we went to Coffee bean to wait until the appointed time.  

 

At 9:20 we entered the embassy and proceeded to the ACS Section #4 window.    We were the only one in the ACS section.  After a few minutes of waiting, we were pre-screened by a Filipino officer and again asked the reason for our emergency.  After verifying our docs, I was given a slip to take to the cashier for payment.  The SSA section was open on the other end of the building.  

 

After paying, I handed the receipt and was told to wait.   About 15-20 minutes later, the consular office asked us to take the oath and proceeded to review our documents.  After review, he indicated that he will go ahead and issue an emergency passport and we just have to wait while they print it out.

 

After about 45mins, we got the passport in hand and complete relief!

 

Bonus!  The Emergency Passport looks like a regular passport but with only about 4-5 pages.  It has a validity of 1 year from date of issue.  Here's the bonus, if we renew to the regular passport while the emergency one is still in effect, the renewal fee is waived!  

 

In conclusion, I can't really say enough about the professionalism and excellence that each person we interacted with yesterday.  From the guard all the way to the consular officer, it was a refreshing breathe of fresh air amidst the chaos of Philippine living.   As many reviews of the consulate posted here attest, the US Embassy in Manila exudes excellent customer service and dedication throughout the process.

 

 

 

 

[Falcon Cara 378]

11 hours ago, Balikpinoy said:

So we got to the Embassy at around 30 only to find out that ACS is closed for the day.  In the website,  it was not stated prominently that First and Third Wednesday of the month are Consular Training Day hence, no services.  I indicated that i had called the previous day and was instructed to walk in by the person I talked to.

 

The guards told us to go into non-immigrant entry building to so that they can call inside to state my case (the non-immigrant section was open).  Since we were early, and ACS does not officially open until 7:30, we waited as the guard tried to call every few minutes if anyone would answer.  After a few tries, we were told to step outside and just wait and they will call us when they get someone on the phone.

 

At 7:30, someone finally answered the phone and I was asked what the emergency was as well as the details.  The Filipina on the other end was very polite and pleasant.   She asked if we had all the complete documents for passport renewal (we did), photos and most importantly, exact change of 115 usd or 6210 in pesos.

She said she would consult a consular officer first and ask me to hold the line.  After about 2 minutes, she asked me to give the phone back to the guard and instructed the guard to tell us to come back at 9:30 with exact change.

 

Off we went to Coffee bean to wait until the appointed time.  

 

At 9:20 we entered the embassy and proceeded to the ACS Section #4 window.    We were the only one in the ACS section.  After a few minutes of waiting, we were pre-screened by a Filipino officer and again asked the reason for our emergency.  After verifying our docs, I was given a slip to take to the cashier for payment.  The SSA section was open on the other end of the building.  

 

After paying, I handed the receipt and was told to wait.   About 15-20 minutes later, the consular office asked us to take the oath and proceeded to review our documents.  After review, he indicated that he will go ahead and issue an emergency passport and we just have to wait while they print it out.

 

After about 45mins, we got the passport in hand and complete relief!

 

Bonus!  The Emergency Passport looks like a regular passport but with only about 4-5 pages.  It has a validity of 1 year from date of issue.  Here's the bonus, if we renew to the regular passport while the emergency one is still in effect, the renewal fee is waived!  

 

In conclusion, I can't really say enough about the professionalism and excellence that each person we interacted with yesterday.  From the guard all the way to the consular officer, it was a refreshing breathe of fresh air amidst the chaos of Philippine living.   As many reviews of the consulate posted here attest, the US Embassy in Manila exudes excellent customer service and dedication throughout the process.

 

 

 

 

Good to know.  Yea I have talked to someone on that phone as well one day the Embassy was closed for some PI Holiday, I was able to talk to an American thankfully.  They did a good job of taking care of me.