SAN FRANCISCO – The Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco rendered nearly 50,000 consular and overseas voting registration services in 2023, delivering one of the highest volumes globally among Philippine foreign service posts.
During the Consulate’s Planning Meeting for Consular Services held on January 10, 2024, Philippine Consul General in San Francisco Neil Frank R. Ferrer said: “I am pleased to note that the consulate continues to deliver a high-volume of services to the public. These were rendered with excellence, professionalism, and courtesy, as evidenced by the positive feedback we have been receiving online and through our website.”
Consul General Ferrer added, “The provision of consular services and assistance to our nationals remain my priority and our numbers over the past year attest to this. We continue to improve our services through new initiatives such as the launch of e-payment and digitization of our processes.”
During the planning meeting, consulate personnel evaluated the accomplishments delivered in 2023, determined areas for improvement, and planned the major programs and activities targeted for implementation in 2024.
In 2023, the consulate processed 11,482 passports, 221 travel documents, 8,467 dual citizenship petitions, 2,512 civil registry documents, 481 visas, 17,427 legal/notarial documents, 24 videoconferencing hearings, and 29 other services. A total of 8,840 overseas voters were also registered, while 474 assistance-to-nationals services were provided.
In addition, the consulate successfully conducted seven consular outreach missions in various states in its jurisdictions, including Alaska, California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. A total of 4,594 services were delivered during these outreach missions.
Client satisfaction rating was recorded at 96.90%. Commendations were also received from the Commission on Audit on the high volume of services.
To make payment more convenient to the public, the consulate launched the acceptance of in-person e-payment services in October 2023. Clients are now able to pay for consular services using credit cards, debit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
To streamline its services, the Consulate digitized its processes, such as setting-up a tablet-based queueing system for passport and dual citizenship and the provision of a computer for civil registration applicants to digitally fill-out their documents. Application forms may also be filled out online for passport, dual citizenship, civil registration and visa.
For further details on accessing the Consulate’s services, including how to set appointments, requirements, and the indicative schedule of consular outreach missions in 2024, the public may visit the consulate’s official website: pcgsanfrancisco.org.
(PCGSF Release)