MANILA – Overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in Taiwan will be able to renew their driver’s licenses on Sept. 21 and 22 as part of the Land Transportation Office’s (LTO) pilot offering of digital services for overseas Filipinos.
In a statement Thursday, LTO chief, Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II, said around 400 OFWs in Taiwan are expected to participate, with 200 slots in Taichung and another 200 in Kaohsiung the next day.
“Hindi na kailangang maghintay pa ng pag-uwi sa Pilipinas ang ating mga kababayang OFWs para mai-renew ang kanilang mga lisensya dahil pwede na nila itong gawin malapit sa kanilang mga pinagta-trabahuhan at tinutuluyan sa Taiwan (OFWs wouldn’t need to go home to the Philippines to renew their license because they’ll be able to do so in Taiwan),” Mendoza said.
The pilot program is the result of an agreement signed between the LTO and the Department of Migrant Workers that aims to streamline the process of renewing driver’s licenses of OFWs by having the entire process done completely online.
It is meant to serve as a test of the LTO system and to gather feedback from OFWs to identify issues.
The Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), the host for the program, has pre-screened OFW applicants based on requirements such as having a driver’s license expiring within 60 days or expiring within two years with no revision of records to be made, having an active LTO Portal account, and a Comprehensive Driver's Education certificate from the portal.
It also requires applicants to have a medical certificate provided by an LTO-accredited telemedical facility, a reliable internet connection, and a smartphone with an Apple App Store or Google Play Store installed.
Once an applicant has paid for the license renewal, the LTO will print their license card and send a notification when it is ready for shipping.
The OFW may then initiate the delivery of their driver’s license through a courier of their choice – either DHL or FedEx.
“The transaction time to complete the renewal process can be completed in as fast as one hour provided that the OFW's application coincides with the office hours of LTO, comparable to the total processing time of a walk-in applicant as cited in the Citizen’s Charter,” he said.
With shipping, the total process can take anywhere from three to five days.
He said the digital services of the LTO would later be expanded to other parts of the world “in the soonest possible time,” particularly in the Middle East, United States and Europe. (PNA)
