PHL Consulate General in Sydney Processes First Applicant in 2018 from Mountain Province Avails 10-Year Validity Passport
On 3 January 2018, Mr. Francis Soria Khayad, Jr., was first in line when the Philippine Consulate General in Sydney opened its doors to the public, its first for the year. A permanent resident of Australia and currently working as an Assistant in Nursing, Mr. Khayad is from Bontoc, Mountain Province. He expressed elation at being the first in New South Wales to apply for the new Philippine passport with 10-year validity. He also became the Consulate’s first Overseas Voting Registrant for 2018., shown above with Ms. Reggie Perol, OV Registration officer of the Consulate.
Acting Head of Post Consul Marford M. Angeles (2nd from left) observes Mr. Santiago Sucaldito (leftmost) while the latter is encoding the applicant’s biometrics for a 10-year valid passport. Beside Consul Angeles is Passport Officer Mr. Russell Villegas interviewing an applicant. There was an upsurge of passport applicants following announcement of the 10-year valid passports. As of 15 January 2018, the Consulate has processed 603 passport applications since 3 January.
After the announcement, Filipinos flocked to the Consulate to apply for 10 year valid passports, many of them bringing all the members of their family to get new passports. The Consulate also encourages applicants to register as Overseas Voters, and has so far processed 2,795 new OV registrants since the start of the registration term, December 2016. In Filipino community events and functions, as well as in its engagement with Filipino community media (radio, print, broadcast and web), the Philippine Consulate General in Sydney campaigns for dual citizenship and overseas voting.