Those who flocked the consular offices on Sunday lauded the effort to move offices in one compound
The recent move of the consular offices into one compound aimed to improve its services to Filipinos. Those who flocked the consular offices on Sunday lauded the effort but said there is still more to be done.
The serpentine queues, which used to be a common sight outside the Philippine consulate, were no longer there. People were made to queue inside the building.
"Although the place is more spacious, there are no designated areas for us to fill out our application forms. We end up doing it outside," said Mary Grace, a manicurist.
Information on consular procedures was also lacking. "Since the office here is new, it would have helped if they placed arrow signs or markers as to where people should go to next," Mary Grace added.
Cary, 48, an Indian national who is marrying a Filipina, said the services of the Philippine Consulate in India is more efficient than in Dubai. "The Philippine Consulate in India is faster than here because when I applied for a visa there, it only took four days. Here, it took 15 days," he said.
"It would be better if they had a computerized system on data processing. Filling out information sheets takes time, encoding it also takes time. Since our passports are now machine readable, they can just have it scanned and have our data ready right away," said J.B., an engineer who has been working in Dubai for the past five years.
Web designer Ahmad Robledo said: "It's understandable that people are being made to wait because they have just started operations today." He said that the offices are now easier to locate because of the Philippine flag outside the consulate
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