“Passport holders are not required to surrender their old passports when they apply for the new MRPs, but we would advise to have your passports renewed ahead of time,” Philippine Consul General Wilfredo Deleon Maximo told the Variety in an interview.
Although he did not provide figures, Maximo said many Filipinos have already renewed their old passports on Saipan since the implementation of the MRPs in September last year.
He said the processing fee is still $50, and it takes at least six weeks before the new passport becomes available.
“We require that much time because we have to send the applications to Manila for processing,” Maximo said.
The MRP is the newest travel document which contains the holder’s personal information and photograph, replacing the hand-scripted passports. It can be read both by the naked eye and by a machine/passport reader.
The deadline for all travel documents to comply with the MRP is April 2010.
Maximo said any photo studio on Saipan can avail of the chance to be accredited for the MRP program, as long as they follow the regulations.
“Accreditation is open for any photo studio on island provided that they can meet the requirements,” Maximo said.
Currently, six photo studios have been accredited by the Philippine Consulate to take photos for the MRP. These are Island 7 Color, Rainbow Color, Willy’s Photo Lab, IMJ Photo Shop, and Digital Motion, all on Saipan, and the Chargualaf Computer Services on Tinian.
To be accredited, Maximo said photo studio owners can drop by their office to get a list of the requirements.
“This is a free enterprise and we are not limiting the access to provide services to a few photo studios,” he said.
