DFA signs deal with firm to have passport renewal center in Dubai mall


The Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a private company to establish a passport renewal center at Wafi Mall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
This will allow Filipinos in UAE and Saudi Arabia to have an alternative venue where they can renew their passports aside from the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai.
The DFA signed the MOU with VFS Global at the same time the first passport renewal center was inaugurated in Dubai Health Care City.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and VFS Global head of business development Chris Dix witnessed the MOU signing.

Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. (standing, left) and VFS Global Regional Group COO Vinay Malhotra (standing, right) look on as Undersecretary for Civilian Security and Consular Concerns Brigido J. Dulay (seated, left) and Head of Business Development for VFS Global Chris Dix, sign the Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of Passport Renewal Center on November 21, 2019 at Wafi Mall in Dubai. Photo courtesy: Dubai PCG

According to the DFA, this is the first time the Philippines outsourced part of its renewal of passport application service to a private company.
About 600,000 Filipinos live in UAE, the second-largest concentration of Pinoy workers in the Middle East, the DFA said.
Renewing passports at the center in Dubai though will necessitate paying an additional convenience fee on top of the cost of passport renewal.
The passport renewal center can process simple passport renewals that do not need any changes in the biographic details of the passport holder, the DFA said.
VFS Global will handle only the frontline operation of the passport renewal application such as acceptance of application, capturing of biometrics and biographical details, payment of fees and release of passport.
The DFA stressed it is still the one handling the actual production of the passport.
Locsin said the new passport renewal center is a response to the call of President Rodrigo Duterte to all government agencies to improve their services to Filipinos, especially those overseas who have contributed to the country's development for decades.
The DFA said similar passport renewal centers will be opened in Abu Dhabi in UAE as well as in Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia in 2020.
VFS Global operates 87 such centers providing passport and consular services to five governments in 27 countries, the DFA added. —KG, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

Vietnam condemns China's 'brutal behavior' in fisher attack ---- Agence France-Presse

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam's foreign ministry condemned on Wednesday China's "brutal behavior" during a violent attack on Vietnamese fishers in the disputed South China Sea. The 10 fishermen were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars' worth of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands -- an archipelago in the resource-rich waterway claimed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. Vietnam "resolutely protests the brutal behavior of Chinese law enforcement forces against Vietnamese fishermen and fishing vessels operating in the Hoang Sa archipelago of Vietnam", foreign ministry spokesperson Vietnam Pham Thu Hang said in a statement, using the Vietnamese term for the Paracel Islands. "The above actions of Chinese law enforcement forces seriously violated Vietnam's sovereignty" over the archipelago, the statement said. Four of the Vietnamese crew were taken to hospital on Monday...
Read more

Africa roads are world’s deadliest despite few cars ---- AFP

ADDIS ABABA: Africa has the fewest roads and cars of any region, and yet the largest ratio of vehicle deaths, caused by the usual suspects — unsafe habits, speeding and drinking — but also poor infrastructure, scant rescuers and old cars. As everywhere, speed, alcohol and not wearing a seat belt or helmet are among the main causes of death and injury, say experts. But in Africa, where there are 620 traffic deaths every day, these problems are compounded by bad roads, outdated vehicles, minimal prosecutions and a shortage of emergency services. A recent World Health Organization report found that Africa surpassed the rest of the world, including Southeast Asia — which recorded the most road deaths — with a record ratio of 19.5 people killed per 100,000 inhabitants in 2021. Home to only around four percent of the world’s automobiles, Africa accounted for 19 percent of road deaths last year. “What is worrying is the upward trend in Africa,” said Jean Todt, a former head of the Internati...
Read more