Over 1,000 Philippines citizens renew their passport in Dublin since opening of new centre

Over 1,000 Philippines citizens have renewed their passport in Dublin since the opening of a new facility just over a year ago.

The Philippines government opened the Passport Renewal Centre in November 2021, saving time and money for hundreds of Philippines citizens who, in the past, had to travel to London to get their passport renewed.

The processing centre in Dublin accepts electronic passport renewal applications for both adults and minors.

In 2018, an estimated 19,013 Filipinos lived here, with a large portion of this group filling skills shortages in the nursing and healthcare sector.

Some 6,000 Filipinos work as nurses in hospitals (7pc of all nurses), with many more working as carers for the elderly, disabled and young children. 

Every year, an estimated 10pc of Philippines passport holders have to renew their passports. This centre has reduced crowding at the Embassy and provided greater convenience for the applicants.

VFS Global, an outsourcing and technology services company, helps make the process as simple as possible.

It provides a tracking facility with SMS service and a dedicated email and helpline for applicant queries.

Yummi Talwar, COO Europe & CIS, VFS Global, said: “The decision by the Government of Philippines to open a Passport Renewal Centre in Dublin has made the lives of their citizens much easier and saved them the significant expense of travelling to London.

“Cutting-edge technology alongside good customer service makes the application process an easy and painless one.”