My NBI Clearance Ordeal

Part of the requirements for my Chinese Visa was to secure this oh so difficult document.  Where to go, what to do, there have been several blogs posted about this because of the sheer time, effort and sacrifice you have to endure just to get one.

I got a tip from my friend who made her assistant cue early.  So far, blogs say the best kiosk to go to is at Robinson Otis, in Manila.  Our friend too, got his after 3 hours. But time constraint and responsibilities (aka Busy Boy) had us selecting the nearest kiosk (Robinsons MetroEast).

Early this morning, Nanay C lined up and 3am and there were about 200+ applicants already.  By sheer luck, she was able to move up the still unorganized ‘line’ when she sat by the benches to rest.  When the guards started allowing the line to go up the 4th floor by 6am, she was number 120. I had to prepare Busy Boy for school first and met up with her around 7am already.

And the waiting begins.  I armed myself with a book, borrowed Ipad and fully charged cellphones.  I didn’t drink water because the line to the bathroom was just as long.  When the guard officially distributed the numbers,  I was surprised to be

Thank you Lord!  I don’t know what time I’ll finish, but the first 250 out of 500 were supposed to be served in the morning.  Past 8am, we were ushered inside and were made to wait some more in lines.  Nanay C had to be left outside until the mall opens at 10am.

Next 2 photos from Urbandud

And the process started..

There are 4 steps in getting your NBI clearance once you reach the end of the line:

1. STEP 1: Payment – amount depends on the purpose
2. STEP 2: Encoding – make sure to look in the screen as they type in what you wrote in your form. I had to move to another encoder since mine had to really specify the country for visa purposes (not just generic travel abroad)
3. STEP 3: Photo and fingerprint 
4. STEP 4: Releasing - they print fast so barring any common names, you get yours at once. In this case, you have to go back for it on a specified day. You don’t have to line up that early anymore, since you’ll only have to go straight to the Releasing counter with your receipt to get your clearance. 

While in line, it was just disheartening that you have to waste a day, tire yourself, wait for so long and to me, hearing people around calling up their parents or spouse just to ask where where they born.  Duh? 

I timed myself from the time I got to pay the processing fee of P115 till the time I got my clearance. I started 10:17am and this was handed to me by 11:30am.:

(note: you can’t smile here either, as the NBI dude reminded me)

Goodness gracious! I really dread the day when I have to secure another one. I heard renewal lines are just as long and the document is only valid for 1 year.. Or in my case, single use since Visa requirement has to be specific.  I just hope that by the next time there’s a need, we won’t go through the same difficulty.  

Here’s a shout out to our beloved Nanay C, who did half of the battle for me, then waited until I was all done.  Thank you so much :)