New Procedures for Documents Authentications in the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines -- Starting April 2, the four to eight days presently needed to authenticate documents usually needed for overseas employment will be cut to one to three days, "depending on how fast the government-issuing agency send the documents," the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Tuesday.
The new authentication procedure for such documents as birth certificates and school will skip the layer provided by the Malacañang Authentication Office, which has been abolished."This new process will benefit the public immensely. It will make the processing faster and will save the public time, money, and effort. It will further enhance the credibility of Philippine documents," Foreign Affairs assistant secretary Domingo Lucenario Jr. said at a press conference.Lucenario heads the DFA's Office of Consular Affairs.
The waiting time is shortest -- several hours, if not minutes -- in the case of documents from the Air Transportation Office (ATO); Bureau of Immigration (BI); Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI); Commission on Higher Education (CHED); Department of Education (DepEd); Department of Health (DOH); Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD); Land Transportation Office (LTO); National Bureau of Investigation (NBI); Professional Regulations Commission (PRC); Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA); and regional trial courts (RTCs)."Applicants for the authentication of documents from these agencies do not need to go to the DFA twice as they will only have to wait for the release of their documents after paying the authentication fee," Lucenario explained.He said he already met with representatives of these agencies and it was agreed that all documents for authentication will be transmitted directly to his office in sealed envelopes with security features to ensure their integrity. Soon, he said, online verification will be possible and by July, the authentication function will be devolved to the department's 12 external and regional consular offices. He said these moves will further cut down processing time and expense for the public.Lucenario, however, said for documents issued by other agencies, particularly the National Statistics Office (NSO), applicants should bring the documents directly to the DFA-OCA for authentication.He said that what used to cost P180 -- P80 for Malacañang and P100 for the department -- will now cost only P100 to the public. "This is not to include the [cut in] incidental costs of transportation and food that the public spends when they have to have their papers authenticated," he said.
Lucenario said the streamlining of the authentication process was made possible by Executive Order 582, issued December 4, 2006, which effectively abolished the Malacañang Authentication Office and named the DFA-OCA the sole government agency responsible for authenticating documents for use abroad.He said that every day, his office receives some 3,000 documents for authentication, including birth certificates, marriage contracts, death certificates, diplomas, school records, and transcript of records.
Most of these are requirements for employment abroad. for such documents as birth certificates and school will skip the layer provided by the Malacañang Authentication Office, which has been abolished."This new process will benefit the public immensely. It will make the processing faster and will save the public time, money, and effort. It will further enhance the credibility of Philippine documents," Foreign Affairs assistant secretary Domingo Lucenario Jr. said at a press conference.Lucenario heads the DFA's Office of Consular Affairs.
The waiting time is shortest -- several hours, if not minutes -- in the case of documents from the Air Transportation Office (ATO); Bureau of Immigration (BI); Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI); Commission on Higher Education (CHED); Department of Education (DepEd); Department of Health (DOH); Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD); Land Transportation Office (LTO); National Bureau of Investigation (NBI); Professional Regulations Commission (PRC); Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA); and regional trial courts (RTCs)."Applicants for the authentication of documents from these agencies do not need to go to the DFA twice as they will only have to wait for the release of their documents after paying the authentication fee," Lucenario explained.He said he already met with representatives of these agencies and it was agreed that all documents for authentication will be transmitted directly to his office in sealed envelopes with security features to ensure their integrity. Soon, he said, online verification will be possible and by July, the authentication function will be devolved to the department's 12 external and regional consular offices. He said these moves will further cut down processing time and expense for the public.Lucenario, however, said for documents issued by other agencies, particularly the National Statistics Office (NSO), applicants should bring the documents directly to the DFA-OCA for authentication.He said that what used to cost P180 -- P80 for Malacañang and P100 for the department -- will now cost only P100 to the public. "This is not to include the [cut in] incidental costs of transportation and food that the public spends when they have to have their papers authenticated," he said.
Lucenario said the streamlining of the authentication process was made possible by Executive Order 582, issued December 4, 2006, which effectively abolished the Malacañang Authentication Office and named the DFA-OCA the sole government agency responsible for authenticating documents for use abroad.He said that every day, his office receives some 3,000 documents for authentication, including birth certificates, marriage contracts, death certificates, diplomas, school records, and transcript of records.
Most of these are requirements for employment abroad.