Dear PAO,

My father is planning to take my mother to live with him in the United States as he has now a stable job there. My father left the Philippines about nine years ago for a work opportunity, so my mother had to stay here and take care of me. Since I am an adult now and my father has a stable job, we have decided that it's time for them to settle there. The problem is we could not find my mother's passport. What does the law require for us to do? Is there also a longer validity of passport? As far as we can remember, her passport was only valid for five years. Please advise.

Thomas

Dear Thomas,

Pursuant to Republic Act (RA) 8239, otherwise known as the 'Philippine Passport Act of 1996,' lost or destroyed passports should be immediately reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) or the Philippine diplomatic and consular posts, for those residing abroad. An affidavit must be executed, detailing such incident. For those who are in the Philippines like your mother, copies of the affidavit must be given to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI). To be specific, Section 15 of RA 8239 expressly provides: