THE DEPARTMENT of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has opened a temporary offsite passport services (TOPS) site at the SM Seaside in Cebu City in response to the public’s clamor for more appointment slots in the Visayas region.
In a statement Thursday night, the agency said this is part of its plan to roll out regional TOPS operations to provide passport services to applicants living outside Metro Manila.
TOPS SM Seaside is expected to serve an initial 300 applicants daily and will be supervised by a DFA Consular Office (CO).
Meanwhile, all frontline operations, such as passport processing and encoding will be done off-site.
"Any follow-ups and additional requests are carried out by the Supervising Consular Office. TOPS SM Seaside Cebu is under the supervision of CO Cebu," the DFA said.
The DFA opened its first regional TOPS facility in Olongapo City (SM Olongapo Downtown), which was followed by the inauguration of another site in San Pedro, Laguna (Robinsons Galleria South).
The agency reiterated its appeal for understanding as it continues to find ways to meet the increasing demand for passport services, while strictly adhering to the guidelines set by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to prevent the spread of coronavirus and to ensure the safety of its applicants and personnel. (Joyce Ann L. Rocamora)
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