Philippine consulate san francisco passport renewal appointment

Topics on this page:

Passports
Consular Outreach
Services
Appointments & Payment
Questions & Answers
Services by Mail

Passports

Passports cannot be renewed through this office.  The Philippines has adopted an e-Passport system that requires specialized equipment and processing that is not available to us.  We feel badly that we cannot help renew passports but that is simply the current status of things.

If you anticipate needing to travel internationally in the near future, the best option is to travel to a city with a Consulate (San Fran, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and the Embassy in Washington, DC) and apply there.  Click to see the San Francisco Consulate Page on Passports.

NOTE:  THE PASSPORTS ARE ALL ISSUED OUT OF THE PHILIPPINES AND TAKE SIX (6) TO EIGHT (8) WEEKS TO BE PROCESSED AND SENT TO SAN FRANCISCO.

Consular Outreach

With the help of NaFFAA and its member organizations, the Consulate in San Francisco has, for more than a decade, conducted annual consular outreach events in Denver and Colorado Springs to allow the Colorado and Rocky Mountain Filipinos and Fil-Ams to renew passports, file reports of birth, secure dual citizenship etc.   Efforts to schedule the outreach for 2018 have been thwarted by budget issues and other factors so as of July, 2018, there is no consular outreach scheduled for this year.

The Honorary Consul, Donna LaVigne, has been working with NaFFAA and its member organizations to see if an outreach event would be possible with some local support.  Consul LaVigne is aware of how important the renewal of passports is committed to finding a way to get at least that done without making everyone travel to San Fran or another consulate.

As soon as we have an answer, we will post that information.

Consularization (Red Ribbon) of documents:

• Acknowledgment of documents that the client executes in front of the Honorary Consul such Special Powers of Attorney, Insurance, Bank and other documents
• Authentication of Colorado and Southern Wyoming Public records, documents notarized by a Consulate/Embassy Accredited Notary.

Limitations of Consularization: The Honorary Consulate’s Consularization of a document is simply to verify that the signer is who they say they are and that the verified document can be relied upon in the Philippines.  Unfortunately, we cannot help draft documents, opine as to what procedure will be acceptable to a local official or company employee who is to receive the form or otherwise comment on the adequacy of any form.

With that in mind, it is important that you have the forms filled out prior to your appointment with the Honorary Consul.  We recommend that you have the people requesting the document in the Philippines actually prepare the document for your signature and send them to you for printing and execution.  That way what the locals working on the project will have what they need.

Forms: The Embassy Page has many consular forms available for download.  If you need any consular services, we recommend you check out the forms and descriptions of all that is needed.

Other Services

Travel Documents: a travel document is a one time authorization for a Filipino Citizen to fly home to the Philippines even though their passport is expired.  A Travel Document is only available in emergency situations such urgent medical or familial crisis.  The requirements can be found on the Philippine Consulate: San Francisco’s Travel Document Procedure page.

• Note on Securing Travel Documents:  If you have an expired passport, particularly a brown one, and are waiting for a consular outreach to get it renewed, we urge you to consider getting a certified birth certificate NOW through the online Philippine Statistics Authority.   This certified birth certificate is one of the requirements for a travel document and not having it can delay and even prevent you from receiving such a documents.
• Travel Documents only allow you to fly to the Philippines.  They do not allow you to return to the US or travel anywhere else.  You will have to get your passport renewed in order to make that happen.
  • We have heard from some people that it is now necessary to secure an appointment in order to renew your passport and that there can be a serious wait time (months potentially).   Be aware that the Travel Document can get you home but it may be a number of weeks before you can have a passport that will allow you to return to the US.

Visas: The Honorary Consulate can issue certain visas, typically the 9A non-immigration visa that allows the holder to remain in the Philippines for up to 59 days.  If you need more time, you typically will need to apply at a Bureau of Immigration office in the Philippines.  IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU KEEP YOUR VISA STATUS CURRENT.  IF YOUR VISA EXPIRES, IT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO GET IT EXTENDED OR TO APPLY FOR A NEW ONE AT SOME LATER DATE.

Accredited Notarization of various documents:  Certain forms, applications and other documents still need to be processed in San Francisco or still require Authentication rather than Acknowledgement.  Our office has an Accredited Notary available who certification is accepted by the Consulate and Embassy.

• As an example, the Consulate in San Francisco has asked us not to handle Reports of Birth, Reports of Marriage and Reports of Death. As these are very important filings, they want to process them in San Francisco.  These documents still need to be notarized before submission to the Consulate. Our office can help.

Appointments

The position of Honorary Consul is a volunteer job so our office hours are very flexible, so it is necessary to make an appointment for services.  Typically, an appointment can be made in just a few days.  Contact Donna on her cell 303 885 9495 or via email: (make sure she responds, don’t just send an email and consider that appointment set.)

Payment

Per the rules established by the Consulate in San Francisco, payment can only be made in cash or with a money order (basically, the Consulate does not wish to be in the bad check collection business and the credit card fees are not provided for in the fee schedule).

Questions and Answers

Consul LaVigne has been Consul since the summer of 2017 and, before that, was an accredited notary for 8 year, so she has learned  a lot.  However, we get questions every day that raise new issues so we are often in contact with the Consulate to verify our understanding of all the rules and regulations.    Please do not hesitate to contact Donna and if she doesn’t know the answer, she will pass the question on to our contacts in the Consulate.  They are almost always very responsive.

Can These Services Be Done Via US Mail?

Consularization of Documents can be handled via US mail but there is an extra step.  If you come to the office, we verify your identity and consularize the document.  If you cannot come to the office, you will need to have the document notarized/certified and the extra step is to then have the Colorado Secretary of State to do an Apostille where they certify that the notary or other government official who signed the document is, in fact, a legitimate notary or official.   Click for Information on  Apostille process:   Once you have the Apostille from the Secretary of State (you can mail it to them and it will be returned to you) you can then send us the document (with the fees and a return envelope) and it can be consularized and sent back.

PLEASE CALL TO VERIFY THE CORRECT PROCEDURES FOR DOING THIS BY MAIL.