Pursuant to instructions received from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Manila, the Embassy hereby issues this advisory to clarify the parameters of the walk-in policy taking effect on 21 March 2022 following the DFA Secretary’s directive for all Philippine Foreign Service Posts (FSPs) to return to normal operations and resume walk-in transactions, published through his Twitter account and via this Inquirer.net link: https://globalnation.inquirer.net/203050/dfa-all-ph-embassies-consulates-to-return-to-normal-operations-from-march-21

1. An applicant should try to schedule a visit to the Embassy in Wellington for passports and/or notarials, e.g., acknowledgement of SPA, through the following links:

For passports: via the DFA’s Global Online Appointment System/ GOAS (https://www.passport.gov.ph/)

For notarials: via the Embassy website’s online platform (https://booking.philembassy.org.nz/)

2. Walk-ins shall mean applicants who are accommodated after failing to secure appointment slots despite exhausting efforts to do so and have an urgent need to avail themselves of the Embassy’s consular services.

3. Walk-ins shall be restricted to urgent humanitarian reasons, e.g., a dying loved one or a death in the family in the Philippines or anywhere outside New Zealand, including other circumstances involving the serious vulnerability of a close relative.

4. Applicants should contact and notify the Embassy in advance to provide substantive evidence demonstrating the nature of emergency. For this purpose, the Embassy’s contact information are as follows:

5. It is strongly recommended that applicants confirm a schedule with the Embassy first before finalizing and paying for flight booking or other travel arrangements to Wellington. There is no assurance that chance clientele can be served within the same day.

It should be underscored that the processing time per client varies. For instance, for passports, this could go beyond the current allotment of only six minutes each if there are delays caused by difficulties beyond the Embassy’s control, such as capturing photos of infants and toddlers or fingerprints of those with degraded skin surfaces as well as power interruption and system glitches. It would be an expensive gamble coming to Wellington to take the chance to be entertained without any guarantee.

A key consideration is the need to observe and respect New Zealand’s Covid-19 Protection Framework or Traffic Light System. More importantly, we all need to work together to safeguard the interests and wellbeing of our loved ones. As such, we have to ensure our activities do not needlessly make ourselves exposed to the risk of Covid-19 infection and/or create an environment that can become a cause for community transmission or spreader event.

The Embassy is open for consular services the whole work week. On 25 January 2022, even when the New Zealand Government raised the restriction level from Orange to Red setting, the Embassy initiated peak frontline operations to respond to the demand for consular services, with back-office functions also running at full work hours.

The public is assured of the Embassy’s dedication and commitment to deliver to its utmost capacity, albeit in a secure and orderly manner, with earnest concern for the health and welfare of our clients, particularly, our kababayans.