PROPOSED NEW DESIGNS FOR PROTOCOL ID CARDS

TYPES OF IDS

Consultant/Expert IDs

Fig. H – Consultant/Expert

• This type of ID is issued to consultants/experts who possess 47(a-2) or 9(e-2) visas and are working for embassies or international organizations accredited to the DFA. These are personnel designated to assist in specific projects on account of special skills.

BROWN for personnel and experts of accredited international organizations, and other organizations of international nature officially accredited to the PHL (i.e., TECO), and their qualified dependents

TYPES OF IDS

Back side of current IDs

TYPES OF IDS

Fig. A – Head of Mission

Security feature

Other Official IDs

Chief of Mission (CM) Diplomatic IDs

Fig. G- Member of the Household

• Foreign private staff of members of foreign missions may also be issued official IDs if they are holders of official passports and 9 (e-3) visas.

To further discourage the misuse of the IDs, the following caption appears on the backside of every ID card:

“FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES ONLY.

NOT VALID FOR TAX EXEMPTION PURPOSES.”

This is in line with the fact that the purpose of the IDs is merely to validate the identity and status of the holder, and not the holder’s tax exemption privileges.

• Each new ID card shall carry a Quick Response (QR) code which shall take the place of the bar code in the old ID card.

RED for members of the administrative and technical staff of embassies and consulates, and their qualified dependents, who bear official passports.

GREEN for other members of the household

DIPLOMATIC

OFFICIAL

CM IDs are issued to Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary accredited to the Philippine Head of State. Pending presentation of credentials, ambassadors are given temporary IDs with the remark “Ambassadors-designate.”

GRAY for Honorary Consular Officers

ORANGE for private staff

Fig. E – ADB Staff

TYPES OF IDS

Other Official IDs

The new design features a bigger font size, allowing PHL government authorities and commercial establishments to clearly see the holder’s identity and status in the PHL. The white interface with the DFA’s logo on the center of the card makes the design visually simpler and easier on the eyes.

ADDITIONAL REMINDERS

Validity Period

NEW DFA PROTOCOL IDs

Fig. F – UN and other IOs

For dependents, another border with the label "DEPENDENT" shall be printed on the card.

OP implements a color-coded system in the following manner:

• This ID is also issued to the qualified personnel, their spouses and qualified dependents of international organizations (IOs) and other development agencies accredited to the Department, including the United Nations (UN) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Generally, persons issued Official ID cards are holders of official passports obtained from the country of origin and are holders of 9 (e-2) visas.

• Previously, IDs were given a validity period of three (3) years. However, as mentioned in the Department Circular Note No. 15-5069, dated 26 November 2015, the validity of the diplomatic/official ID is now based on the applicant’s visa validity.

TYPES OF IDS

Information Dissemination. OP shall provide the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Finance (DOF) and its attached agencies like the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the Land Transportation Office (LTO), the Judiciary, and other relevant government agencies with copies of designs of each ID type and their corresponding immunities for their information and to aid them in properly implementing and enforcing applicable Philippine and international laws, rules and regulations.

Diplomatic IDs

• Applications for DFA Protocol IDs will be received every Mondays and shall be released on Monday of the following week. In case of public holidays, Diplomatic and Consular Missions and International Organizations shall be informed accordingly of the changes in the dates of application and release of IDs. (Department Circular Note No. 15-0003)

• Applications for renewal of IDs may be applied one month before the expiry date.

• The new application form for IDs shall be used beginning January 2017.

• OP shall strictly implement existing measures to ensure the return of IDs upon the end of its holder’s official tenure or tour of duty in the Philippines. Among such measures is the withholding of the issuance of IDs to numerical replacements of personnel of embassies, consulates, and IOs who depart the Philippines without returning their IDs.

• Current IDs will not be recalled and are not required to be surrendered to OP. They will still be honored by other local agencies until expiry date.

Fig. B – Diplomatic

BLUE for personnel of embassies and consulates with diplomatic passports, including the Chiefs of Mission, Consuls General, Career Consular Officers, and their qualified dependents.

• IDs given to honorary consuls have a maximum validity period of one (1) year.

• IDs issued to experts and Filipinos working at the ADB are given one-year validity.

• OP’s move to start basing the ID’s expiry date with the expiry date of the applicants’ visa, as earlier indicated, is meant to harmonize the two documents.

• Diplomatic IDs are issued to accredited officials of diplomatic rank, and to their qualified spouses and dependents who are holders of diplomatic passports and 9 (e-1) visas.
• Related to this, qualified officials (and their qualified dependents) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) categorized under Section 44 of the Headquarters Agreement between the ADB and the Republic of the Philippines are also issued Diplomatic IDs based on existing agreements between the DFA and the ADB.

TYPES OF IDS

Other Official IDs

Fig. D – Administrative and Technical Staff

For members of diplomatic missions whose countries have visa waiver agreements with the Philippines, the following policies apply:

• Administrative and technical staff are members of embassies, consulates, legations, and other diplomatic missions, who are engaged in administrative, fiscal, security, clerical, and other technical functions. Included in this category are project officers involved in embassy projects in the Philippines, such as personnel of agencies attached to embassies.

• For countries whose visa waiver agreements grant exemption from visa requirements for entry only, the Department shall issue/renew their diplomatic/official ID depending on the validity of the visas issued to them by the Office of Consular Affairs subsequent to their arrival to the PHL, but with a maximum validity of three (3) years.

TYPES OF IDS

Consular IDs

Fig. C.1 – Career Consular Officer

• For countries whose visa waiver agreements grant exemption from visa requirements for both entry into the country and duration of their tour of duty, OP issues diplomatic/official ID depending on the length of tour of duty of the applicant, but with a maximum validity of three (3) years.

• Career consular officers and staff of the consulate, their spouses and qualified dependents are issued consular ID cards.

• Honorary consular officers are also issued consular ID cards, but their spouses, qualified dependents and members of their household staff are not entitled to such privilege.

Fig. C.2 – Honorary Consular Officer

NEW DESIGNS

FOR PROTOCOL ID CARDS

Department of Foreign Affairs

OFFICE OF PROTOCOL