The Office of Consular Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs announced the suspension of its consular operations nationwide on Tuesday, 1 April, in observance of Eid’l Fitr (Feast of Ramadhan).

In an advisory, the OCA said the suspension applies to DFA Aseana, all consular offices, and temporary off-site passport services (TOPS) nationwide.

To accommodate the affected applicants, the DFA will automatically reschedule their passport appointments for Monday, 31 March. Those unable to come on this date may be accommodated within 30 days of their original appointment, until 2 May.

Meanwhile, authentication applicants at DFA Aseana who will not be able to follow this schedule must send an email to oca.apostilleconcerns@dfa.gov.ph to reschedule their appointments.

“Authentication applicants of consular offices who will not be able to attend on the given date will still be accommodated within two weeks of their original appointment date until 17 April,” the advisory read.

“All applicants are instructed to follow the same time slot at the same location of their original appointment,” it added.

For emergency and urgent consular concerns, applicants may contact DFA Aseana via passportconcerns@dfa.gov.ph or oca.concerns@dfa.gov.ph. Contact details for consular offices and TOPS sites can be found on the DFA’s official directories at Consular Office Directory and TOPS Directory.

Regular consular operations will resume on Wednesday, 2 April.