This post may seem like a rant but no, it's really not. I'm just really disappointed and a bit sad that our NBI clearance process here in the Philippines is not so efficient. I remember getting an NBI clearance some time in 2004 and my name got a HIT! At first, it seemed kinda funny that it will take some time to get my name cleared and I would have to come back to get it as soon as they get to check my records. All the while I wondered how many people in the Philippines had the same name as I do. MARIA CECILIA TAN VELASQUEZ - is that name common? Yes, I believe it is. It turns out after weeks of waiting and when I came back for my NBI clearance, someone (my namesake) has an estafa case. Oh well.

NBI requirements

Fast forward to 2012, a good 8 years later, I went to the NBI with my husband to get our NBI clearance as we were told to get it ready for our US VISA renewal interview. I really do not know if applying/renewing a tourist visa (B2) for the US really requires applicants to have an NBI clearance but as per the advice of many we should just have them ready. So 5 days before our interview (on a Thursday and I know we should have gone earlier but this one completely slipped my mind), we took a road trip to Tacloban City where the nearest NBI is, and that's some 2 hours away from Ormoc City.


I didn't have a field day at all because I seem to get pretty car sick a lot now that I'm older. But anyway, we got there and met my father-in-law's NBI contact *wink* and we were able to submit our request for clearance without lining up. We heard so many people murmuring that they've been there the whole morning and they're still waiting for their turn. I feel bad for those who came from especially afar, places around Leyte I've never even been to (or heard of)! It makes me wonder why can't the NBI have satellite offices or something? They ought to have something like the DTI which visits Ormoc every Thursday so people from my town don't have to go to Tacloban.

A short while after we paid P115 each for our NBI clearance, our names were called (probably to the dismay of others who were there before us), we got our photos taken and then... WE BOTH GOT A HIT! Que horror.

An NBI clearance HIT usually takes 2-4 weeks to get cleared!

Although we weren't totally surprised by the outcome since our first/last names are pretty common but I was hoping they've upgraded their system and that they would give out our clearances ASAP. But alas, they told us to come back on October 3rd! Dios mio. Our interview is in 5 days!

We then asked daddy's contact if there was some way to speed up the clearance process but we were told if it was in Manila, it should take at least 24 hours but since they have to send our data, it will take some time. PAK! So we drove for home...  again for another 2 hours including the 30 minutes of zigzag I hated to endure. Ugh.

The following morning back home while I was still trying to recover from the stress of getting an NBI clearance, my father-in-law dropped by to tell us that his NBI contact called him and said he had our clearances! Mierda! Then we have drive again to Tacloban! What's worse, I have to take my work with me because I was swamped with files from the previous day!

Yet we didn't have a choice, although plan B was to get a local police clearance and bring that with us instead to the US Embassy. When we arrived in Tacloban, sure enough we got our clearances. My namesake didn't have a pending case but since I had someone with the same name, then they needed to get it cleared. Seriously, how many MARIA VELASQUEZes are there in the Philippines?

Because that's the thing with the NBI... They ask you for your complete name and birth date and even your parents' information but all they see in their system database when they check for it initially is just your FIRST name (not even the second one) and your last name! So in Noodle Boy's case, they looked for a MICHAEL FRANCO not a MICHAEL VINCENT FRANCO. Can you guess how many guys had the same name as his? Apparently 3 of them, all named MICHAEL FRANCO, had cases and one was even a WANTED criminal! All of them had rape cases. Puta madre! 

That's why it takes quite some time (if you don't have any connections) for names to be cleared because it is only in their main office that they can check for names thoroughly. THIS SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE UPDATED AND UPGRADED!!! I can just picture the face of that poor old woman who came from some town called San Isidro which I can't even picture on a map and she had to wait all day for her name to be checked then unfortunately it turned out to be a "HIT".  She was asked to come back in 2 weeks! I can only imagine her plight. Tsk tsk tsk.

So then Noodle Boy signed a waiver stating he wasn't any of those guys and got his clearance. And here we have them...

National Bureau of Investigation clearance in the Philippines.

If not for our NBI contact, we wouldn't be able to speed up this process. Pfft. The NBI clearance is good for a year and it needs to be renewed annually. I don't even know if this clearance is really necessary at all when traveling. Is it? Because they sure didn't ask for it during our interview at the USEM. Can anyone shed some light regarding this? Is the NBI clearance needed at the immigration?




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