My OFW Diary: EMBASSY

Today I woke up at 6am to make sure that I would get to the embassy early before the gates open. I managed to do just that, managed to take a bath, dress up & take the bus at about 6:45. It didn't take long for the connecting Bus to arrive so it just took me roughly 30 minutes to get to the Bus stop in front of the British Council. I crossed the street to the other side & slowly walked towards the corner, which "I thought" was the one going towards Nassim Road it has been a long time since I went to our embassy & maybe because I was still half asleep... I think I have walked quite a bit already about 10 -15 mins from the main road and it felt a bit funny because I know that the embassy is not that far. I was thinking, I should have seen the old Saudi Arabian embassy by now, that was when I saw another Filipina walking towards the opposite direction. You know how Filipinos are, anywhere we go we would still make small talk as a form of greeting a Kababayan =) "Uy baligtan yata lakad mo, pakabila yung Lucky Plaza" she said jokingly. "Hindi po sa embassy po ako pupunta..." "Ah hindi dito, Nassim Hill ito, sa Nassim Road ka pupunta, duon pa yun sa kabilang kanto malapit sa Tanglin Mall, halika papunta ako ng Orchard turuan kita" Thank God for the kindness of Filipinos!

I would usually be so pissed at myself at this point but fortunately Ate was very nice. We had a very sensible & fun chat on the way to the embassy. She's been here for a very long time, her first contract was with a local family for 3 years & now with an American family for over a year. Sometimes all we need is a good chat with a stranger to calm our nerves.

Aside from the fact that Ate guided me, I was so sure that I was on the right path because just a few steps away, I could already see a long queue. I reluctantly went to the end of the line and started posting on my fb wall to entertain myself. 

the early morning queue

After a few minutes, one of the guards called out to those who were there for OWWA Membership & OEC and instructed us to move to the line on the other side of the gate. The line that I was in was actually for passport renewals only. So I had to walk a bit further down, luckily though our line was shorter that the other one. At about 8:15 they opened the gates and made us make 2 lines inside to register on the log book & take the necessary forms to fill out. We then proceeded to the waiting area in front of the counters where we were given Q numbers from the machine. Cool! Glad that our embassy has now adapted the widely used system in all government offices here in Sg. Got my number 4014 (the 14th person to be served at Counter 4). 

my queue ticket

nice roof right?

I patiently filled out the 2 forms, one for my OWWA membership renewal & the other for the OEC request, while listening to the lady beside me whine to her husband about the arrogant & impatient family right next to them on the queue. She was ranting about how impatient & rude they were, I actually wanted to butt in "so, you're no different from them" but chose to keep my mouth shut as I waited for my number to flash on the screen. 

making use of the electronic queue board

I didn't wait for a long time because in about 20 mins since I got my number I was done with the whole process. This was a big improvement from the last time I got my OWWA membership & OEC.  Waking up early, taking an unplanned walkathon & patiently waiting for your turn was definitely worth all the effort after all. To celebrate my success I took the longer bus ride home, alighted at Bukit Purmei & had a Roti Parata breakfast =)

breakfast!

For those of you going to the Embassy for the first time or just like me needs to be reminded of how to go there, here's a simple guide:

1. Go to the Bus stop behind the Orchard MRT Station opposite Orchard Parksuites and take SBS Bus Nos. 7, 123 or 174. Alight at the bus stop in front of The British Council (the stop right after Tanglin Mall). 

2. Cross to the other side and walk further down until you see the corner of Nassim Road (Landmark: La Forketta on your left). Turn left, walk further down until you reach the first intersection, turn right & you would see our Embassy.

remember this building

3. Requirements for OWWA Membership:

- Original Employment Contract

- Original Passport

- Original Work Permit / Spass / Employment Pass

- Application form (available at the gate)

- $42 fee

This round they did not ask me to submit photocopies of the above requirements, but since they did last time, I guess it wouldn't hurt if you would prepare 1 set in case they would ask for it.

  4. Requirements for OEC:

- OWWA Certificate

- Original Passport

- Original Work Permit / Spass / Employment Pass

- Air ticket 

- Application form (available at the gate)

- $5.50 fee for each OEC (Multiple certs is now valid for 1 year from the date of issue)