DFA justifies increase in electronic passport fee

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has justified the $10 increase in the application fee for the new electronic passport (ePassport), saying it has special features that make it secure and compliant with international standards. In a statement posted on its Website, the DFA said the ePassport was made “highly credible" to benefit overseas Filipino workers and other traveling Filipinos. “The ePassport is designed to facilitate arrival formalities and immigration checks at international airports, and thus less hassle for our kababayans when they enter other countries," the DFA’s Office of Consular Affairs said. “It is also making possible faster airline travel arrangements. Most importantly, the security features of the ePassport prevent identify theft and tampering of the passport holder’s personal data," it added. The statement came after a Filipino group in Hong Kong slammed the increase in the passport application fee, from $50 (about P2250) to $60 (about P2700), for all Philippine diplomatic posts issuing e-passports. But the DFA said even with the increase in the application fee, the Philippine ePassport is still comparatively cheaper than the ePassports issued by other countries. It said the fees of ePassports in the Asia-Pacific are 300 Ringgit (about $92) for Malaysia; NZ$150 (US$101) for New Zealand; ¥11,000 (US$120) for Japan; and A$172 (US$153) for Australia. E-passport costs €60 (US$77) in France, US$97 in the United States, and £72 (US$107) in the United Kingdom, the release added. The e-passport features an embedded IC chip for identity verification, which includes the biometric information of the holder and a unique identification number. “These and a host of other security features ensure that the ePassport is virtually tamper-proof, and compliant with the high security standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization," the DFA explained. The DFA further said that the last time they increased the passport fee increased was in 1995, and was kept at the same level when the country shifted from the manually-scripted passport to the machine-readable passports in July 2007. “The DFA will continue to bring world-class passport and consular services for the world-class Filipino. All these bring better and tangible benefits to the Filipino traveler," the DFA-OCA stated. - KBK, GMANews.TV