Travel: 5 Things to Bring to Make the Long Line for Passport Renewal as Painless as possible

On December 27, 2018, my passport was due for a renewal. A month prior to this day, I went online to schedule an appointment for passport renewal for me and my family at the Department of Foreign Affairs near Mall of Asia. I managed to schedule an appointment for 3:00pm. We arrived at the DFA complex at 2:45pm, but I wasn't able to actually begin the renewal of my passport until halfway past 4:00pm, and then I was finally able to go home at 6:00pm.

Is there anything that we as citizens can do to speed up the process? Probably not, but here are some tips to survive this peculiar bureaucratic process:

The people behind me are in the same line as I am; It just stretches so far, making twists and turns, like a snake.

1. Bring an umbrella, even if you scheduled an online appointment


Scheduling your appointment online doesn't mean you get served at the specified time. Not at all. It just means you'll be able to get into the building. No appointment, No entry. When you get to the DFA, you'll see a long line that stretches from inside the building to outside; it's like lining up for an amusement park ride. Since this is the Philippines, we already expected there'd be a long line.

Rain or shine, bring an umbrella (and maybe some other items like a hanky or a mini-fan) to protect yourself from the outside weather. The sun was shining bright on the day of my passport renewal, and it's a good thing I was prepared to deal with the scorching heat.

2. Bring something to pass the time; you'll be in line for hours

More specifically, you'll be in line for 3 hours. I always carry an ebook with me wherever I go. Fortunately I brought Lord of the Rings, which is a fairly lengthy book. I probably read through about 100 pages of it during our time at the DFA. My sisters brought their Nintendo DSs and video games to kill time.

At the DFA, you'll be sitting, standing, then sitting again. Outside, inside, then outside again.

3. Bring some money; there's a shop you can buy snacks from inside

Someone had the idea to set up a shop within the DFA to capitalize on the long line. So if you're feeling thirsty or hungry you can take advantage of that. It's a typical sari-sari store so they don't serve much apart from bottles of water, soda, and some small bites to eat. There's a restroom right next to it too so you don't have to worry about any accidents happening in the line.

4. Bring a friend, or a family member; someone has to save your spot when you leave the line

When you actually do go to the shop to buy something, or if you have to go to the restroom, you will also have to inform someone to save your spot in the line. The last thing you'd want to do is to have to go all the way back just because you used the toilet.

They'll punch a hole in your passport to invalidate it.

5. Bring a pen and a piece of paper; if you get bored of waiting you can write a complaint

When you finally get to the counter to get served for your passport renewal, they'll punch a hole in your old passport to invalidate it. What this means for you in your long and arduous journey around the DFA complex is that you're 50% done with the process. Then they'll send you up to the 2nd floor so you can wait in line some more to get your picture taken. During your time up there, you'll see a complaint box. You'll be waiting in line for a while so you have plenty of time to think of all the ways the DFA could be serving its customers better.

Writing a complaint was exactly what we did. We made it as constructive as possible.

And I suppose that's all there is to bring to make the process much less infuriating. After you get your picture taken, you'll get a receipt with the date on when you can claim your new passport, then you're free to go home. We came prepared with all of the items I listed above out of sheer luck, and we left the DFA not completely bothered by how long it took.

As a bonus, here are some additional tips that will save you some hassle:

• Bring a photocopy of your passport. Instructions aren't very clear. They say you can bring a photocopy of any government ID but once you get to the counter they'll ask you for a photocopy of your passport and they don't accept any alternatives. There's a photocopy machine in the building.
• When you get to the 2nd floor, you need to get a queuing number. Instructions aren't very clear on this one. You can get it all the way from across the room. We wouldn't have known about this, but thankfully someone who's also in line for passport renewal informed us.

(This blog post didn't cover the documents you have to bring for the passport renewal. Is that what you were looking for? You can find that info and more here.)