#philippine passport

Recent news and social media posts claim that Canada is now visa-free for Philippine passport holders. Here’s What You Really Need to Know: Canada has expanded its Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) program to include Filipino passport holders, but only under specific conditions. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has announced that it is opening five special off-site locations on July 7 to provide an additional 177,500 passport appointment slots to the public in the NCR Plus area. Dulay mentioned that the DFA Temporary Offsite Passport Services (TOPS) offices will open at SM Mall of Asia, SM City North Edsa, SM Aura, Robinsons Place Las Piñas, and Robinsons Place Magnolia. “The DFA is aware of the demand for passport appointment slots during the pandemic and so we prepared a temporary expansion of our consular operations in off-site locations to address this need while maintaining health and safety protocols”, said Undersecretary Dulay. With all sites operating at full capacity, 177,500 additional passport appointment slots have become available until the end of September on the DFA’s online appointment system on top of the regular appointment slots at the Department’s ASEANA office and its consular offices all over the Philippines. Furthermore, according to Undersecretary Dulay, the DFA will open TOPS sites in other regions with a significant demand for passport appointments. Read more in our articles including "Canada is not fully visa-free for Filipinos" and "DFA opens additional 177,500 passport appointment slots in NCR Plus".