Fw: NU12 Week10_Abrugena - Processing Passport Efficiently

Good evening Sir, resending my NUIdea for Week10. Thank you.

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Kristine Abrugena <kristineabrugena@yahoo.com>
Sent: Friday, June 1, 2012 7:09 PM
Subject: NU12 Week10_Abrugena

Good evening Sir, I'm sending herein my NUIdea for Week10.

Thank you. Happy weekend!

ABRUGENA, KRISTINE C.

June 1, 2012

NU12_Week10

Process and System Improvement

I recently processed the renewal of my passport and I liked how the initial step went so easily. It was to go online wherein the basic information like the personal data, previous passport details and others were encoded. The website of the Department of Foreign Affairs is very user friendly as it is able to lay down the step by step process of every transaction as well as properly list the documents required by the said government office. Moreover, I can say that the processing has improved because the applicants are given liberty to choose which date and time of the day suit them the most. This I believe is to promote efficiency and regulation during the whole process. True enough, although a number of heads are scheduled in a specific hour, at least there is orderliness and fairness.

However, during the process, my patience was still vehemently tested and I was a bit pissed on how I sat and waited for a long while after my number was called. Prior to that was the two-hour or so of waiting following the payment of the renewal fee. To start with, I chose to be scheduled at 9:30am and with all the 9:30's in the venue, it took only an hour for my previous passport and basic information to get checked and then off to the cashier. That I think is acceptable anyway. From there is where the two long hours of waiting started; after which is the next and last step which is the picture taking and verification. The place was crowded but I appreciate the air-conditioning. The moment my number flashed on the screen, I hurriedly went to the designated desk for the final phase. I approached that certain section only to find out there is still someone being served. Then my patience clock began to tick. I waited a long while when I thought that it is already my turn. The DFA employee and the applicant still managed to have chit-chats while I wait on the side with a number on hand that says it is already being accommodated. During that process, the printed personal data which applicants fill-in online is being scanned and retyped, the picture as well as the thumbprints are being taken. What I would like to suggest is that the system should have captured the data being provided on the very first step. The DFA staff could have just opened it and accessed it for verification. I do not see the use of retyping everything found on the form all over again. It lengthens the processing time instead of just calling on the applicants, verify the information, take the picture and thumbprints and then up they could go. I think that they defeated the purpose of the online application on that aspect. It is time consuming because of redundancy in the process. It is much better if there could be a system that would link the information supplied in the initial step up to the verification part which is the final step. 3