My tips for fast passport processing at SM Megamall (DFA NCR East)

February 9, 2013

My tips for fast passport processing at SM Megamall 
(DFA NCR East)



1. Take the first slot, which is the 10:00 AM slot
At the first hour, there will be no backlog yet in processing of applications. If the personnel slows down in their work or encounters many people with incomplete or troublesome documents, the 10:00 AM appointments will not be affected by it.

As you can see, before 10:00 AM, there are already 10 waiting customers.


2. Get a Thursday slot. 

In my experience, Thursday is usually a slow day. There are less lines during Thursdays, whether in a bank, government offices or shops.

Take note that the fee for weekend passport appointments is more expensive than weekday slots.

3. Know where to go


This tip is basic because knowing where to go saves time. This especially holds true in this case because the SM Megamall building where the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) holds office is relatively new. It will be confusing to find for those who do not frequent this mall or is not at all familiar with SM Megamall. So I'm making a special post here.

The DFA Satellite Office for passport processing is located at the 7th floor of SM Megamall Carpark Building C. Carpark Building C is located in front of SM Megamall Building A.

How to go to Carpark Building C:

If you're using public transportation: get off at the Megamall bus bay terminal beneath Bldg C, and take the elevator to the 7th floor.

If you're using private transportation: enter carpark building C and park at the 7th level parking lot. To get to the carpark C entrance, enter Julia Vargas Ave. as shown by the blue arrows below, turn right at bank drive, turn left at the dead end, turn left again to go to carpark C.

Photo courtesy of SM Megamall facebook page
Blue arrows on the left are mine to indicate a one-way street
Red dots are car park entrances

Where is to park:
7th level carpark building C
5th level carpark of building A


For more details about the exact location of the passport center, check out my post "Where to Find the SM Megamall Passport Processing Center."


4. Park at the 7th level parking lot of Megamall Car Park Building C


Make sure to park at the 7th level parking lot of building C, especially if you have children and senior citizens with you. The pedestrian exit of the 7th level goes directly to the entrance of the DFA. There's no need to climb stairs or walk far.

This is the 7th level of Car Park  Building C
A short walk going to the left side of the photo leads to the entrance of the DFA.
If you park at the 5th level car park of SM Megamall Building A, you need to walk far and climb the stairs shown above to reach the DFA.
The left corridor at the same level of the DFA entrance leads to the 7th level of Car Park Building C. There will be no stairs to climb to reach the entrance.

For more details about where to find Megamall Carpark Building C, check out my post "Where to Find the SM Megamall Passport Processing Center."


5. Get your queue number first

When you enter the door of the passport center, the guard will immediately direct you to the right side after you enter the door towards the verification desk. You fall in line at the verification desk while the clerk checks your passport application form and attached documents. After the clerk at the verification desk finishes checking your application form and documents, he will direct you to the Smarto system pictured below to get your queue number.

My tip is for you to get your queue number first because this will determine the order when you will be served, instead of getting it after coming from the verification desk.

This is the touch screen machine where you get your queue number.
The ticketing machine is located near the entrance

6. Get both regular and priority numbers if you have senior citizens, minors, pregnant women, persons with disabilities and or overseas Filipino workers in your group.


If you're renewing your passport together with your kids and your parent like I did, your passports will be processed as a group. In this case, you can get both the regular and priority numbers in the queue, as shown above in the ticketing machine.




But take note note that it doesn't mean that when you get the priority queue ticket, you'll be served first. In our case, the regular service ticket was served ahead of the priority ticket. I presume it's because the regular service ticket had at least 5 counters assigned to it while the priority service ticket only had one.

"Priority services" is a misnomer for this service. It's actually the queue ticket for walk-in applicants. Check out my post "When is walk-in passport application allowed?"


7. Have complete xerox copies of documents before arriving at the site.


As you can see below, if you fail to xerox copies of some of your documents, there is a copier service inside the waiting area. However, I strongly advise that you complete the xerox copies of your documents in order to avoid delay in receiving your documents.

In our case, a person ahead of us failed to xerox some of his documents, so he fell in line at the xerox machine (1st delay) then he fell in line again after us (2nd delay). We were 6 in our group so it's like falling in line behind 6 people.


Inside DFA Megamall waiting area


My review: The DFA did a very good job in streamlining passporting services at their SM Megamall site. We finished the whole process in 50 minutes. We were 6 people who applied for renewal of passports. 

For step-by-step account of how the whole process went, see my post" My experience renewing my passport at SM Megamall".

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

very informative! thanks:)

Anonymous said...

Im renewing my passport nov16 11am which is a saturday,. Since i cant be absent at work, so,weekends will work for me. I particularly like ur tip #5. Makes so much sense. Thanks! Will use it when i go to renew my passport. It will be useful since the earliest appointment I could get is 11am na... So at least mauna man lang ako sa 11am batch sa numbering! :) salamat! Happy travelling!

Jeff

Anonymous said...

Thanks for helping us!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this! Now I am not clueless of where to go :)

pinay said...

may question pop aq sana may makatulong po skin, almost 9years n po nawala skin un passport ko, gusto ko po irenew...anu pop ang dapat kung gawin at dapat dalin?pag nag renew..tnx po

Unknown said...

de puta! wala pa passport ko!! pina rush ko na pero inabot pa din ng one month! mga bwiset talaga! pano uunlad pilipinas?! pinadeliver ko na para hindi ako luluwas ng maynila! pero mapipilitan akong pumunta mismo ulit ng mega mall dahil sa punyetang delay na yan! na cancel tuloy flights ko! aug 24 dapat release na.anong petsa na?! sept. 15 na wala pa!!! may flight ako sa london mga bwiset!!!! humanda kayo bukas!!! punyatera!!!

Anonymous said...

Dapat lng madelay passport mo. Balasubas ka kc mag salita.

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Anonymous said...

bakit walang available date from feb to march??? di aq makapag renew ng passport q dated 1/21/2016

Anonymous said...

Please paki ayos nmn baka der somrting wrong sa system nio nag punta aq sa megamall di rin aq napag pa renew kc need talaga mapag set ng appointmnet

Anonymous said...

gud morning po tumatanggap pa rin po ba ng walk in applicants sa sm megamall until now..need ko po kc mapa renew passport ko..pls.help me...😭😭😭

Anonymous said...

panu kami makakarenew ng passport kung ung sched para sa march eh wala na.. tatagal ang pagtambay namin mga seaman kung magkataon man..

Anonymous said...

nd n b tlga pd mga walk in applicants,,,answer please,,,

Unknown said...

Question lang, pregnant kasi ako, pero kasama ko dad ko and sister ko for applying for passport. As group na ba kme na priority, kasi dba kung ako nakapriority, then matpos ako kaagad i have to wait pa for them eh ganun dn parang mghhntay dn ako. So i just wanna know kung group na kme mggng priority?

Suroy-suroy ni Roy sa Asia said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Suroy-suroy ni Roy sa Asia said...

Will the DFA Mega Mall accommodates applicant with appointments that is scheduled on June 12, 2016 but will go there on May 05, 2016? Thank you po sa sagot :) xoxo

Unknown said...

Thanks for giving such clear and concise tips. Good to know the experience of renewing passports from an applicant's view :)

Anonymous said...

This is such a very big help for people like us who are new to the whole process!
hope that in your way everyone who will take this process will not get delayed and will not not look silly when they arrived. GOD BLESS AND MORE POWER!

Anonymous said...

It was a very smooth and fast transaction. People from the DFA were very accommodating and friendly.

Experience:

My schedule was not until 3pm/4pm but I got there around 1pm and they let me in. Before I went there I have photocopied everything!! 5/6 IDs, front and back of my passport, NBI clearance, PSA birth certificate (I know, I just wanted to make sure haha)

All they got from me was a photocopy of my PRC Id, original PSA birth certificate, and photocopy of my expired passport. pfft! :)

Thanks DFA Megamall!

Grace said...

Saan pong DFA Branches me tumatanggap ng walk in applicants? Need ko po marenew pass port ko asap. Pls help.

Meanne said...

If you qualify to use the courtesy lane, you can walk in at any DFA branch. Check out who qualifies at http://www.gov.ph/services/passport/courtesy-lane/