The importance of authenticated documents has never been more in demand with it serving as our identity as a Filipino citizen with corresponding rights and benefits.
Amid the controversy of fake certificates that puts Filipinos as the top offending people when it comes to submitting fabricated credentials in Saudi Arabia, the need for a credible documentation has become crucial not only among applicants for jobs abroad but also those who wish to migrate or apply for scholarships.
The Department of Foreign Affairs or DFA issues a ‘red ribbon’ that can be used to be enable Filipino workers to work abroad. This red ribbon is to certify that your documents have been verified and found to be authentic by the DFA.
The DFA has a ‘Authentication Function’ in which the department is authorized to authenticate and act, deed, documents and etc. executed or sourced within Philippine legal jurisdiction by certifying it. With this, the respective embassies or consulates that would receive these documents can then be assured that the documents are legalized using proper procedures.
NSO Birth and Marriage Certificates, CENOMAR (Certificate of Singleness), copies of academic records and Notary Public Affidavit are just some of the documents that could be certified by the DFA. It is important to remember however that these documents should have been certified by the corresponding government offices in which they originated from. For the case of birth, marriage and certificate of singleness, the documents must come from the NSO. Academic records should be certified by the school that they student comes from then forward it to the Department of Education (DepED) for high school records and Commission of Higher Education (CHED). Affidavits of discrepancy that supports documents for travel should also be red ribboned and should be attached to the documents that it supports.
When red-ribboning any legal documents, affidavits, etc, be sure that it was already authenticated by the corresponding offices that it was issued from before bring it to DFA. Also, prepare one hundred pesos (100.00) as payment for the processing of the documents. It would take five (5) office days for the documents to be processed. However, if you are in a hurry, you will have to pay to hundred pesos (200.00) for rush processing that would take two (2) office days.
Beware of fixers, if you are planning to authenticate your documents, just go directly to the DFA office itself. The processing of red ribbon is at the old DFA office at Libertad, Pasay City.