The Philippine Consulate General

This place doesn’t answer the phones, and when they do answer the phones, they forward you to a voice message. I tried to report my birth to the civil registry, and I’ve been waiting since May 13, 2015. Six months, and no response. I spoke to Consul Kerwin Tate back in May pleading him to consider my documents for Philippine Citizenship. I can’t begin to tell you how difficult it has been to get anyone to assist me. I’ve tried for 2 years now, and still no results. Can believe this organization exists. If I could give this establishment 0 stars I would. Frustrated, with no help. I tried calling the main telephone number and when I did get someone it was a receptionist who just forwarded my call to another number and it is a black hole! AWFUL PLACE check out the other Unilocal reviews for San Francisco, Washington DC, same thing. AWFUL. UNPROFESSIONAL. CROOKED. They even kept my money order, my original birth certificate, nothing was returned. Guess they are using my information for identity fraud or selling it back in the Philippines.

I have had the unfortunate experience of having to renew & secure applications for the last 10+ years. I generally have a fairly even view of consulates/​embassies in general but I think this takes the cake for most confusing and least productive. The employees are not only on the offensive most of the time but can’t seem to reach an agreement on what their policy is (I swear each time I go, there is a different policy involved). Also, forget about reaching out to them during the day via phone or email — it is a black hole. As a national, coming here is a necessary evil so I have no choice. My best advice is to read & print out their guidelines when you get here. That way, they can’t tell you that you were missing anything/​did anything wrong.
Update: I am now about to pick up my passport 8 weeks later. Unbelievably, I have been waiting almost an hour. For. Pick. Up. This place is a total s-​hole.

Galaxy S3 user everything went well on my visit the staff where very professional and courteous a little confused about there not being a flag in front i just walked by the first time.

Applying for Philippine Passport has improved in such a way that you do not wait that long and they’ll do your photo based on their specific requirements. However, allow weeks after the date they told you the passport will be released before you book flight to the Philippines (as Philippine Airlines will not refund). Otherwise, you will waste your time and money and they couldn’t care less whether you traveled as far as Boston or even Virginia. They rarely respond to your messages so I don’t understand the availability of text numbers or emails when you can’t get a concrete answer. Passports are only released on Fridays between, 3 – 5 pm –a perfect nightmare to commute to midtown Manhattan. Bring enough photocopies of all the papers they need including copies of your Driver’s License, and of your old passport. Or bring enough quarters to use their copier machine. Parking near the consulate will run you $ 40. for 2 hours. And most of all, pack a lot of patience and self control. These people aren’t kind to their fellow Pinoys.

I came in on a Tuesday morning to get a visa for my passport. I brought with me all of the forms and documents** needed (check their website for this; e.g.
). They don’t get a lot of visa business, so it was super quick and easy! If you get your visa paperwork submitted by 12 noon, you can pick it up around 4 in the afternoon. So convenient!
I waited in line with a number, sitting at one of the many desks you’d expect to see in a college lecture room. (I posted a picture.) While at times it felt like the workers behind the counter weren’t doing a whole lot, I was called up within 15 – 30 minutes. I was at the counter for less than two minutes before waiting another three minutes to pay separately at the cashier window. (Overall: much easier than I expected.)
When I came back (just after 4pm), the guy at the front door remembered who I was (I surely stick out as a white American) and let me go down to the passport area (in the basement) without checking in, and I was able to walk up to the visa window within two minutes. The guy behind the window had my passport-​visa right there, and I was out of there in less than 4 minutes total for my second trip.
**Their form asks for a 2×2″ picture, but I brought a 3.5×4.5 cm picture as stated on their website, which was fine.
TL;DR: I was impressed with the technologically advanced set up they have operating at the consulate for passport business. Just make sure you bring everything in advance and save yourself heaps of trouble!

At this place, you can expect both mean and very nice.
We were here for a musical concert at the Kaalayan Hall on the 2^nd floor.
It’s a decent size hall that can fit about 200 people comfortably sitting down.
They have a grand piano in the hall. I can’t remember if it’s a Steinway or a Yamaha. But a good piano nonetheless.
DOWNER: The lighting is TOO DIM!!! They have lights that can light the stage but the rest of the hall is too dim making it possibly not a good place to have a wedding reception or something of the like. You’d have to get extra lighting. The rent for about 3 hours was around more than $ 1000.
—-The person to talk to about booking the venue is VICTOR.
The Green Room is right behind the Hall.
We also had a reception we food and drinks after the recital downstairs in their main foyer.
I noticed the lady who is in charge of the hall that day was not very accommodating. We had specified that we needed the hall at 4:30. She kept saying that the reservation was starting at 6:00. But in actuality, the event starts at 5:30 p.m. So we needed to be there at 4:30 to set up. She was not at all understanding and gave us a big attitude about it. But clearly, there was nothing going on in the hall, so she let us in at 4:30 but she was just not nice about it AT ALL.
At least the man helping us set up and move the piano was very accommodating!
Anyway, Acoustics in the place are generally ok!

Went here for my gf’s passport renewal. The semi bald receptionist had a ‘tude and thought he was Imelda Marcos, but his younger replacement was cool. We had 7 –10 people ahead of us, but we got out of there in 1 — 1 ½ hrs. They have applications in case you forget and you can use their photocopy machine once you go upstairs. The final step is «biometrics». WTF? Yeah they scan you and shit and the info goes into your «E-​passport.» I’m telling you Philippines is gonna be the new China with all this high tech wizardry. This biometrics room looks all makeshift and cheap, taped up carpet, oscillating fan like how 99% of offices in the Philippines do, and shabby walls. Main waiting area has high ceilings with huge light fixture in the middle (nice) and names of all the Philippine towns on the walls. No music or TV playing TFC so bring a book or something. Come on guys, you can do better.

The NY consulate came to Boston recently and it was embarrassing, they made everyone wait hours, half of the staff was just sitting around talking they could have absolutely cared less about helping anyone. Don’t waste your time, its fast just to fly to D.C. and go the embassy, the NY Consulate is a waste of time.

Incompetent workers! Thinks and acts like they’re high and mighty! Had the nerve to put a date for pick up, so I showed up on that day and viola,.my passport was not ready and the person who told us that its not ready says it so nonchalantly like its not a big deal. For Christ sake, i have to take a day off and fly from VA just to pick up my passport only to be told that it’s not ready,.and they couldn’t give me a straight answer on when is my passport will be available for pick up! Pointing fingers to the workers in the Philippines because they work so slowly is not going to cut it! CAn’t even accept accountability and that the least they could do was call ALL OF US who were there mostly from different States not to come in because our passports were not ready! Lazy, disorganize, incompetent, power trippers. that’s exactly the best description that i could find to describe them. BEWARE!
Is there a way to sue this Consulate for the damage (Financially) that they had done due to this in competencies? I will definitely look into this, what they did has cost me so much not just money but we had to move our already scheduled Marriage ceremony and reception!

I love the Consul General. I love gettingevent invitations from them. It makes me feel connected to my people. I get them because she loves magic. She’s very open and cool that way, and her peeps in her office are very nice.
I wish that they would hawk one of Imelda’s earrings and paint the place, maybe tear up that ghetto linoleum floor and put something nicer in.
Ok, I understand, it’s a 3^rd world country. I get it. But, I mean, it doesn’t have to be marble or anything, but come on now, can’t they go to like, Home Depot and just pick up something on sale? I just want to show NY that the P.I. Consulate represents a people who have contributed to the modernization of the world, aka, building the railroads, being cheap ass labor for NY fashion designers, etc.
Being in there reminds me of the corruption of the Phillippines and the explotation of its people in foreign countries and it makes me sad.
It makes me sad that boutiques in the L.E.S. look a lot sharper than the freakin Phillippine Consulate. I haven’t made any tours of the other consulates, but I betcha the Swedish Consulate has great design. I have to check on that.

My mom is good friends with the Consul General from way back in the day, and I happen to think she’s a very warm, savvy lady who is a great ambassador/​liason to the Philippines. She’s very approachable and strives to give the Filipino-​American community a home in NYC, including the younger 2^nd generation Fil-​Am crowd.
The Consulate hosts so many events. Some highlights include a reading of the newly Penguin Classics published _​Noli Mi Tangere_​, the launch party of the first ever Tagalog version of «The Vagina Monologues,» and the annual Christmas Mass celebration, Simbang Gabi. The lobby also showcases Filipino artwork and they will often have a «gallery» opening for the artist. (But it really doesn’t take much to get Filipinos to throw a party with plenty of food. In fact, I’ve seen gatecrashers stake their claim on the buffet line. It helps that the lobby has huge windows that overlook 5^th Ave. But no worries, the more the merrier.)
Since I“m a sentimentalist, I have to say that the Consulate will forever hold a special place in my heart for hosting the first public reading of my first full-​length play. It was an incredibly memorable evening for me, to say the least, and I was really happy to share it with my community.