How to Get an NBI Clearance in Manila

I got my NBI clearance today and it took me 2.5 hours only! Yipee! The last time I had to get one, it took me 6 hours. It was in the NBI office in the Quezon City Hall and the queue of people was already a mile-long when I arrived there as early as 8am. Obviously, 8am was not as early as I thought it was.

So this year, I did a little research first and I found out that there are NBI satellite offices in Robinsons malls. And I also discovered that the Robinsons Mall in Otis has the fastest processing time. It's a little tricky to get there because there are no jeepneys or buses that passes that area but there is still a way to get there. (See directions below)

NBI Clearance Application Procedure

The NBI office in Robinsons Otis is located at the 2/F of the mall. They only process the first 500 applications per day so be there early. Per my experience, there were already about a 100 applicants or so when I arrived at 8am. I am not sure if the 500 applicant quota has been reached by the time I left at around 10:30am but the waiting area was already empty.

1. Proceed directly to the waiting area located in a vacant stall near the NBI Office. There is a sign there that states, "NBI Application Starts Here".
2. Wait until an NBI personnel approaches and hands out the clearance forms.
3. Fill out the forms. (refer to a detailed account below)
4. After a few minutes, the NBI personnel will instruct you to proceed to the payment window to pay the processing fee. Clearances for local employment is charged with P115 fee.
5. Next step will be the biometrics encoding. It simply means the data in your application form will be encoded in the system. There is a duplicate screen facing you where you can check if the details being encoded are correct. If you note any incorrect info, let the encoder know so he/she can correct it immediately.
6. Finger-printing is up next. This process is now done electronically. Thank God! Gone are the days of dipping your fingers in blank ink and then stamping it on the form. Lucky you if you have a piece of wet tissues to wipe it off. Otherwise, you may have to buy from those vendors who over-price this little items.
7. Then you will be asked to stand in front of a white background where your digital photo will be taken. Smile =)
8. If you have no derogatory record or no namesake with problematic record, your clearance will be released within 5 minutes after your picture was taken. Otherwise, you will be requested to come back for your clearance to give the NBI staff time to verify your record.

Requirements

• Bring two (2) valid IDs, government-issued IDs are preferred.
• Old NBI clearance (if for renewal)

Filling Out the NBI Clearance Application Form

Most of the items are self-explanatory so I will just focus on the items that I think might be a little confusing. As a married woman, I found filling out the Last Name and Middle Name portion of the form a little bit puzzling. Suffice to say I got it wrong and the data encoder had to ask me to correct it. So for married women, remember this:

LAST NAME : Indicate the surname you used when you were still single (normally this would be your father's surname)

MIDDLE NAME: Indicate the Middle Name you use when you were still single (normally your mother's surname before she married your father)

Directions to Robinsons Otis from United Nations (UN) Avenue - Taft Avenue
There is a tricycle terminal at the back of McDonalds UN Avenue-LRT Station Branch. The tricycle seats 4 persons (2 inside the sidecar and 2 behind the driver) and the fare is P10 per person. If you want to go solo, you might have to pay the whole P40. Tell the driver that you are going to Robinsons Otis and he will drop you off right in front of the mall.

To go back, cross the street to the other side and wait for a tricycle. Tell the driver that you are going to UN Avenue. The fare is still P10 per person. There are pedicabs in front of the mall but they charge extravagant fares so if you are really not in a hurry, I suggest practice a little patience and wait for a tricycle instead.

If there are other ways of going there or any other items worth noting about the NBI clearance application in Robinsons Otis or elsewhere, please feel free to share them in the comments below.

Thanks for reading and hope this helps.