1st ePassport Renewal Center opens in LA
THE Department of Foreign Affairs on Friday inaugurated the first Philippine ePassport Renewal Center (PARC) in North America.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Civilian Security and Consular Affairs Brigido Dulay, and Consul General Edgar Badajos led the opening of the PaRC in Los Angeles.
The LA PaRC was put up as a testament to the Philippine government’s untiring push to make consular services more accessible to overseas Filipinos worldwide, the DFA said.
“The Philippine ePassport Renewal Center (PaRC) system supplements and strengthens the consular operations of our 94 embassies and consulates around the world. It radically reduces the pressure to get more things done faster and faster until more and more mistakes are made or the public is condemned to slower and slower service,” Locsin said.
The Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles serves the largest section of overseas Filipinos in the entire region of the Americas and has been at the forefront of innovating and adopting new ways and means to increase its capacity to deliver consular services to its clients, especially passport renewal.
“The PaRC operates on more days and for longer hours than we ever did. Even on weekends. It is a mean machine with kind results for the public and therefore for DFA workers meeting their needs. Filipinos here in Los Angeles and in the surrounding states need not worry about missing work obligations or other inconveniences caused by an 8-to-5-time window. I know you work so hard to make a life out here, and we will make sure that the PaRC works harder for you to help you achieve that end,” Locsin added.
VFS Global, the largest outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide, currently operates ePassport Renewal Centers on behalf of the DFA in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE; Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast in the United Kingdom; Dublin in Ireland; Marseilles in France; Singapore; Kuwait; and in Los Angeles in the U.S.A.
Qualified passport renewal applicants for LA PaRC must set an appointment via:https://services.vfsglobal.com/usa/en/phl/ prior to coming to the facility.
For more information on who can apply for passport renewal at LA PaRC, please read: https://www.facebook.com/293893073985760/posts/6144620495579626/ and https://www.philippineconsulatela.org/passport-appointments.
