In a press statement, the consulate said the first to receive his e-passport on Saturday was Jobby De Felipe Nalica, a native of Roxas City in the central Philippines, who is working with Emirates Airlines.

The consulate launched the ePassport System on July 1, following a week-long pilot-testing. E-passports are being issued by Philippine missions in some parts of the world, including the embassy in Riyadh.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Manila started implementing the system during the third quarter of last year, with then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as the first recipient.

According to the consulate statement, the requirements for new and renewal passports remain the same, except that applicants are no longer required to submit photographs.

The passport fee will increase from the current SR200 to SR240 and processing time will be 30 working days. Personal appearance is required as biometrics of the applicant has to be taken.

Applications for machine readable passports (MRP) have been stopped, but the MRPs and the non-machine readable passports will remain valid until the date of expiry.

To facilitate the application process for the public, the consulate will be implementing an appointment system, similar to that being implemented by the DFA in Manila.

“The consulate will still receive applicants who walk in without an appointment but priority will be extended to those with prior appointments,” the statement said.

It said applicants are advised to renew their passports at least six months before its date of expiry or if there are less than three unused pages left in their passports.