[November 16, 2007] Philippine consulate in Hong Kong to issue machine-readable passports Tweet (Manila Standard Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) STARTING Nov.19, Filipinos in Hong Kong will be able to apply for the new machine-readable passport with the Philippine Consulate office there. Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Domingo Lucenario said Hong Kong was chosen as the first consular post outside Manila that will make the machine-readable passports available due to the huge number of Filipinos working and living there. Last Nov. 2, Lucenario and his team had already conducted a day-long seminar and training workshop with the officers and staff at the Consulate Office in Hong Kong regarding the processing of the new passports. Lucenario and passport services director Donna Feliciano Gatmaytan had already conducted a briefing for the consulate staff on the unique security features of the new passport. Lucenario said that the department's consular affairs and passport division will be able to process the applications for the new passports from Hong Kong within two weeks which is the same amount of time for processing in the Philippines. The new machine readable passport is equipped with very unique security and safety features to combat fraud, identity-theft and counterfeiting. Among these features are: the photo of the applicant is scanned, not pasted, and the bearer's personal details are computerized and no longer handwritten with a shadow picture at the right portion of the passport. Its main security feature is the hologram laminate featuring a barcode and the personal details of the bearer that are visible only with the aid of a special decoding lens. The passport is also bound with a thicker security thread to prevent tampering and alteration. In addition, the pictures to be submitted by applicants need to meet certain specifications, and must have a dark blue background, instead of the white that was required previously. The Hong Kong consulate had said in previous statements that the passport fee will remain at HK$425 although the new passport will have 44 pages, 12 more than the old one. The consulate said there may be a longer waiting period for the issuance of the new passport since they have to be issued from Manila. Lucenario also assured that the old green passport will continue to be recognized anywhere in the world. Other countries also went through a transition period when they enhanced their passports, so this is not a new experience, he explained. Michael Caber Copyright 2007 Kamahalan Publishing Corp. , Source: The Financial Times Limited [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]