Thai Filipino

The Philippines' passport fee is one of the lowest in Asia and the world, a survey conducted by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) showed.
The Philippines charges its nationals a passport fee of P950 (or USD 21), which barely covers the actual cost of producing the Philippine electronic passport (ePassport) since much of the fee goes to printing, lamination, and similar production expenses. The ePassport fee is way below those of other countries in Asia including Thailand (USD 33), Brunei (USD 37), Malaysia (USD 97), Cambodia (USD 120), Singapore (USD 52), and Japan (USD 180).

The Philippine ePassport is also cheaper compared to those of the United States and Canada.

The DFA conducted the survey last June and involved at least 60 countries which currently issue ePassport and/or machine-readable passport (MRP).

Filipinos based overseas may also avail of the lower passport fee by applying in the Philippines.

Based on DFA statistics, more than 70 percent of passport applicants apply in Manila.

The DFA has an existing contract with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) where the latter produces the passports for the DFA. The BSP also conducts an open and competitive bidding for its supplies requirements in strict compliance with its financial and audit controls, as well as relevant procurement laws and regulations.

The DFA has largely no role in the procurement of supplies for the passport production.


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