Overseas Filipinos with expired passports or visas troop the Kuwait Disabled Sport Club Track and Field in Hawally Area on 5-6 February 2021, for the first weekend of the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait’s Mobile Passport Extension-Only Service. (Kuwait PE photos)
Around 2,000 overseas Filipinos in Kuwait flocked to the Kuwait Disabled Sport Club in Hawally Area for the first weekend of the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait’s Mobile Passport Extension-Only Service, spearheaded by the Embassy for those with expired or expiring passports or residence visas.
In a statement, Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Mohd. Noordin Pendosina N. Lomondot said that the mobile passport extension-only service is “the Embassy’s immediate solution to the passport and visa problems of our kababayan in Kuwait, especially those who at risk of paying immigration fines and losing their jobs due to the non-renewal of their visas.”
Kuwaiti immigration authorities require visa renewal applicants to present their passports with at least one- or two-year validity.
According to Ambassador Lomondot, the Embassy also initiated the Mobile Passport Extension-Only Service to make up for the temporary suspension of its passport services due to the closure of its office in Al-Siddeeq Area, and its subsequent transfer to Sabah Al-Salem Area.
“The Embassy wishes to thank the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health, the Public Authority of Manpower, the Kuwait Paralympic Committee headed by its Chairman Shafi Al-Hajeri and the Kuwait Disabled Sport Club management for their assistance in making this mobile service a reality,” Ambassador Lomondot said.
Ambassador Lomondot also made an appeal to overseas Filipinos in Kuwait: “As the Embassy heeds the call of our kababayan here in Kuwait, I hope that we will all follow health and safety protocols since we are still in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Please wear your face masks at all times, and practice two-meter physical distancing. Discipline is key in making our mobile service a success.”
To be held from 8:00 a.m. onwards every Friday and Saturday of February 2021, the mobile service will allow those who urgently need to renew their visas in Kuwait to walk in at the venue, and extend the validity of their passports. The Embassy will not extend the passports of those who intend to travel outside Kuwait.
The Embassy also reminded those who will apply during the mobile service to bring their original passports as well as photocopies of their passports and Civil ID, prepare an exact payment of KD6.500, and fill out in advance the Passport Extension Application Form. The form may be downloaded for free via this link: http://bit.ly/PassportExtensionForm.
The Embassy projects that a total of 8,000 overseas Filipinos will benefit from its month-long mobile service for passport extension, which would significantly reduce the high demand for the Embassy’s passport application service. Since the COVID-19 outbreak began in Kuwait, the Embassy reduced the number of passport applicants that it can accommodate daily through an appointment system. END
Read in full the Embassy's public advisory on its Mobile Passport Extension-Only Service on all weekends of February 2021: https://kuwaitpe.dfa.gov.ph/newsroom/announcements/394-public-advisory-mobile-passport-extension-only-service-on-all-weekends-of-february-2021
