DFA recommends to have your Philippine passport renewed if you’re one of the following:

• You have an expired passport. Note: Philippine passports now have a 10-year validity so expect the number of expired passports to dwindle over the next few years.
• Your Philippine passport has one year (or less than one year) of validity.
• You’re married and you want to change the maiden name in your passport to your married name, regardless if your passport is expired/expiring or not.

The first two reasons are a no-brainer. You can’t travel if you have a passport that is invalid either because it’s expired or there are no pages left for the immigration officials to stamp on.

However, if your passport is on the following list, it will be treated as NEW APPLICATION instead of RENEWAL:

• Brown passports issued before 01 May 1995
• Green passports issued after 01 May 1995
• Machine Readable (Maroon) passports issued in 2007
• Any older passports
• Lost valid or expired ePassport
• Frequently lost passport
• Mutilated or damaged passport

In addition to the passports mentioned above, applicants who used travel documents to travel back to the Philippines, as well as those who lost such travel documents, will be treated as NEW APPLICATION.

For a complete list of documentary requirements needed to replace the above-mentioned passports/documents with the latest Philippine passport, click here.

If you own one of these passports, follow this step-by-step guide on how to get a new one. 

Go back to the main article: How to Renew Philippine Passport: An Ultimate Guide