to our dear pocca

last night, i passed by carrefour after watching a movie at midvalley megamall.

i wanted to  buy some dentastix for all of you because i know you guys wanted it.

but alas, i didn't find any.

that meant i won't be bringing home dentastix next week friday, when i go back home.

next friday i will be going home, you won't be there anymore.

you won't be by the door, crawling your way to try and open it.

only poopoo, kulit, pazza and tuldok will be there.

how i wish i could have done the same thing as previous years and go home during my birthday week itself.

then maybe, just maybe i could have said one last goodbye to you.

HOWTO: Renew Your Philippine Passport (Kuala Lumpur)

NEW, UPDATED PROCESS ON HOW TO RENEW YOUR PHILIPPINE PASSPORT HERE.

my passport with the receipts and oec

Yesterday was a Public Holiday in Selangor, and to make the most of the holiday I made a couple of trips the whole day around KL to prepare for my trip back home in a couple of weeks.

First agenda and subject of this post is the renewal of my passport which expires sometime in February 2012.

It is my fervent wish that this guide makes your life a little easier if you're in the same situation as me. 

- NOTE For those who just got married here in KL -

A reader sent in this tip for those who just got married here in KL and wish to do passport renewal, you'd need to do a couple of prerequisites before you can renew your passport. (sucks, but this is how the Philippine Government works for now)

If you have just married and plan to apply for a new passport at the Philippine embassy for your Philippine spouse, beware that you must first "register" your marriage with the embassy.  You are supposed to do that anyway within 30 days of your marriage. To do this you will need:

The original plus 4 copies of the Malaysian marriage certificate. This must be "authenticated" by the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign affairs (after the marriage.)  So bring your marriage certificate to the Ministry and expect to spend 40 RM and waste a morning to get it done. If you just got married then you already know where this place is.

4 copies of you and your spouses passport (or IC card if you are a Malaysian.)  I think just the first page is okay and a copy of any work permit, multiple entry visas, or residence permit pages within the passport.  Also, your last departure and re entry pages in the passport.

4 passport photos EACH, color with blue background.

4 copies of "legal capacity to contract marriage" if you had to get that form in order to get married. Example - you are under 25 years old.

96.25 RM Payment.

You will then have to fill out a form, "Report of marriage."  Perhaps you can find one on the internet so you can do it before you arrive. Here is a link we found as of this date.

http://philembassy.no/sites/default/files/downloads/rom_form_oslo_pe.pdf

Fill it out, make three copies and do original signatures on all four copies.

After you have submitted all this paperwork and paid the fee, you can then file for the passport renewal.  Good Luck and be patient!

-- Thanks for the tip(which took too long for me to add), you know who you are.

- The Requirements - 

Prior to making the trip to the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur make sure you have the following with you:

1. ePassport Form, download it here.
2. Your Passport.
3. Cash for ePassport fee (231 MYR)
4. Photocopy of the first page of your passport
5. Photocopy of the page where the visa / working permit is stamped
6. (OPTIONAL) Photocopy of your employment contract, if employed
   (OPTIONAL+ to have the employment contract notarized by a Malaysian Notary Public)

Now that you have all the requirements, you can allot half a day for the whole process and do take note of the following:

Embassy hours: 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM and 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, Monday to Friday.
Attire: No slippers, sandos or shorts.

Also, it would be wise to look your best (no eyebags, no zits, hair spray, hair net) on the day you decide to have your passport renewed, as you will be photographed once you're done with payment. Don't wear any earrings or jewelry though as the operator asked me to remove them if I had them on me.

-The Process-

Make your way to the embassy. Directions are here.

NOV 9, 2012 UPDATE: The embassy layout might be different than when I wrote this guide, there is now air conditioning in the waiting area and I think the counter now reads ePassport or something. And I think the passport room is in Counter 6 (where they get your picture taken, etc.)

JANUARY 8, 2013 UPDATE: Kindly don't forget to read up on the official website of the Philippine Embassy in KL with regards to passport renewal here.

Also, the embassy's official Facebook page is PhlEmbassyKL.

Once at the gate of the embassy, wait a few minutes for other people who haven't memorized their passport numbers or their phone numbers fumble.

It's your turn to fill up the logbook -- Hurray! Start with your (1) Name (2) Full Address (3) Phone Number (4) Passport Number (5) What's your purpose in life going to the embassy (6) Time In

And please note the last column is not a signature column, but rather a "time out" column which you are not expected to fill up after you leave.

Open the steel gate, take out your wallet and bring out any photo id you can find inside your wallet -- give this to the security guard, he will give you a "Visitor" Id.

If you were looking at one of the signs while waiting for  slowpokes who were filling up the logbook, you'll see that they want you to pin the "Visitor" Id on your chest area -- not on the sleeves nor the lower part of your shirt. For me, I pinned it on my collar.

Go down into the driveway into the place where there are lots of chairs and people waiting, then look for the counter for "Passport". For those who are lazy to read, if you are facing the chairs, it's the group of windows on your left -- 3rd from the left. ( Receiving/Releasing | Visa, etc. | Passport, etc. | Empty window with no sign)

Give all the required documents to the person by the window (ang babae/lalake sa bintana) or wait for the person to appear.

If there is no problem with your documents, they'll point you to the cashier window which is a few steps to the right. 

Say goodbye to your 231 RM and give it to the cashier, who will staple all your documents and give you a small piece of paper that you must not lose no matter what. 

Then make your way to the ePassport room, wait for your turn/number (it's scribbled on top of your documents, something like AM/PM 999,999,999). If there's no queue  by the door, don't be so happy as there may be a couple of people before you sitting by the chairs waiting for their turn.

There will be nobody calling out numbers, but best to look for the number after you then make friends with him/her and tell him/her that you are number 999,999,999 and he/she is 1,000,000,000 so you are in front of him/her.

Once inside the room, there's another chair where you can put your belongings. Give the documents to the operator of the computer. While He/She types a few things, make sure your hair and face is all pweetty and nice because in a few minutes he/she will then take a photo of you using a Canon digital camera .

After the photo session, right thumb into the biometric scanner followed by left thumb then signature on the small rectangular thingie with some pen attached to it (NOTE: do not use the ball-pen that's near you to write on the rectangular thingie)

He/She then prints a sheet of paper, containing all your info with your picture and signature -- verify everything is correct then sign again at the lower right corner (NOTE: pretend you read the thing that is usually printed before the signature field).

He/She returns your passport with the 2 receipts stapled to it and instructs you to call the embassy in 2 months. Get your things from the other chair and leave after saying "Thank You" to the embassy personnel.

Hope this very long "HOWTO" helps you. :)