Good news to our kababayans in Qatar! The Philippine Embassy is conducting mobile consular services in Mesaimeer and Al Khor. Initial schedule is every third Friday from March to September 2018.
The mobile consular services include overseas voting registration, passport renewal, consular services inquiries, and SSS and Pag-Ibig membership concerns. This is a perfect opportunity for Filipino workers in Qatar to accomplish transactions they may have with the embassy.
Filipino Expats Invited to Avail of Consular Services
The Philippine Embassy in Doha aims to provide convenient and accessible consular services to Filipinos in the country. The current population of Filipinos is about 234,000.
Through the mobile outreach program, the embassy can bring closer to the Filipino community services such as registering for overseas voting, renewal of passport and getting assistance with SSS and Pag-Ibig memberships. This program will be held every third Friday of the month starting from March until September 2018. Venue is the Arabia Hall, Religious Compound from 9AM to 12 noon. Person to contact is Mr. Toots Garduce (CFC-ANCOP) at 5583-2718. Meanwhile, on April 6, 2018, the mobile consular services will held in QP Compound in Dukhan. Mr. Clark Avilla (FAD) is the contact person, and can be reached at 5535-8836.
In general, the embassy serves the Filipino nationals who have consular concerns and those who need assistance. Consular services that are commonly needed are help in replacing travel documents , assistance in case of accident and illness. Jobs for Filipinos are either household work or company work. They are usually agency-hired or direct-hired.
Meanwhile, continuous membership to SSS and Pag-Ibig will be beneficial to OFWs in the long run. SSS provides pension, which can be a source of income during retirement. SSS has two coverage programs for OFWs: Regular OFW Coverage and Flexi-Fund Program. Pag-Ibig members can avail of savings program, avail of short-term loans and housing loans.