Tips: How To Get Your NSO Birth Certificate, NBI Clearance, SSS/UMID

A couple of weeks ago I had to claim some work documents, for which I needed two valid government IDs. All I had was my passport because I lost both my SSS and TIN IDs some years ago, thanks to a pickpocket (damn that person!). And since I was leaving my job, I no longer had my company ID either.

I started my research on how to go about replacing these essentials, and I was helped tremendously by several bloggers who listed the steps needed. As my way of paying it forward, I'm sharing these tips now with you.

In a twisted way, you need a valid ID to get a valid ID. (I know, right). If you want your SSS ID to be replaced, you still need to present two other forms of identification.  So here's the way to work around it:

NSO Birth Certificate >> NBI Clearance >> SSS/UMID

How to Get Your NSO Birth Certificate:

1. Go to https://nsohelpline.com/

2. Click Order Now, choose Birth Certificate, select Others under Request Purpose, and indicate "for ID purposes".

3. Choose Yes if you've applied for this before, No if you haven't.

4. Fill out the required fields in the form and just make sure all the names (especially spelling) and other data are accurate.

5. Follow the rest of the instructions, including those for payment, which will be done online. (The fee is P300).

This was literally the easiest thing to do. I submitted my request on a Saturday,  and by Tuesday morning they already delivered my NSO Authenticated birth certificate. On to the next step!

How to Apply for NBI Clearance Online:

1. Follow the instructions and fill out the required fields at http://nbi.njis-ph.com/

  *Take note of the registration code that will be generated after submitting the form.  You will need this.

2. Print the form (in triplicate, to be sure) once you're done.

NOTE: If you don't have a printer, you can save the form you filled out online as a picture file, and print it elsewhere. (To save the form, click Print when prompted, then select the Microsoft XPS Document Writer as the printer name. This will allow you to save the file.)

It's also possible that, in the excitement of completing the form, you accidentally click Done because you don't have a printer installed. You can access your completed form through http://www.nbiclearance.com/nbi-clearance-print-application-form-online . Just enter the registration code you noted in step 2.

3. Prepare P115 for payment since in our case we only need the clearance for local ID purposes. 

4. Proceed to the nearest NBI Satellite Office with your printed forms, valid ID (I only had my passport) and the NSO Birth Certificate. http://www.nbi.gov.ph/  has the most updated list of satellite offices.
In my case, I went to SM Center Las Piñas. It's best to get there early so you will be done before lunch.  I got there at 6:30 AM and I was already the 70th in line.

At SM Las Piñas, you will line up near the parking lot of the mall towards the entrance, beneath a building archway, so you will at least be in the shade. They also have separate lines for walk-in applicants and online applicants, so if you come with your pre-printed forms you are already a step ahead.

There is also an office at the Muntinlupa Victory Center, but if you have other options in the South, by all means avoid going there.  It is literally in the middle of a marketplace, and you line up on a sidewalk that is so narrow it can barely fit two people.  I tried to go there at 6 AM (before ultimately deciding to go to SM Las Piñas), and the line was already going twice around the block, with about 150 people waiting.  This office also apparently has a 500-person processing cutoff per day.

5.  Wait for the officials to give you a number. Around 9 AM someone will go down the line and write this down on your application form.  

6. Follow the directions which are posted on the windows.  The line started moving around 9:30.  The first step is payment (always prepare the exact amount to minimize the hassle). As an online applicant, you get to skip the second window which is labeled BioData (although to be honest I don't know what they do there. Do they check your manually filled out forms?) and go straight to the fingerprint scanning, then the photo (the chair is just in front of the last window, in view of everybody else).

7. Exit the area and wait for your name to be called once your clearance is ready. 

By 10:30, I was done with my duly approved NBI clearance and off to have my first meal of the day at the mall. Note that at no point was I required to present any of my IDs to complete this. I won't tell you not to prepare anything when you get your clearance. As with any government procedure, it is always best to overprepare. You never know when they will change something up, and it is no use to ever argue or rationalize your way out of any discussion. It's not worth the extra stress.

You will want to bookmark this site: http://www.nbiclearance.com/ 
It's one of the most useful sites for anything you may want to know about applying for your NBI Clearance.

How to Apply for Replacement SSS ID:

And now, the finale. Armed with my passport and NBI Clearance, I now have two valid IDs! Yay! I can now apply for my replacement SSS ID.

1.  Go to  https://www.sss.gov.ph/sss/Section_View and download the E4 and R6 forms.

2. Fill them out online or print them and fill them out manually. Prepare 3 copies of the E4 and 4 copies of the R6 forms.
I lost my SSS ID (the old one that looks like a driver's license), but when you apply for a replacement, you will get the Unified Multi-Purpose ID (UMID).  There is a space for the Common Reference Number (which they will assign you, so leave it blank). There is also a space for your SSS number, which you will need to complete.  Your SSS number is different from your CRN.

3.  For replacement SSS IDs, you also need to prepare a notarized affidavit of loss. You will present this with your other application forms at the SSS office.

.  Proceed to the nearest SSS office. The Sucat branch, where I went, is right across from the entrance to BF and SM BF. Be prepared to line up outside the office, with no shade and exposed to all the fumes. I got there at 6:30 AM and there were already about 25 people ahead of me.

5. Once the office opens (at 7 AM), tell the guard you are there for a replacement SSS ID. He will give you a number for the counter that handles replacement IDs.  There are separate counters for first-time application and other transactions, so make sure you clearly state your purpose to the guard and line up at the correct counter.

6. Present your documents and two IDs to the SSS person after your number is called. She will sign off on the document and direct you to the bank to pay the replacement fee.

7. The bank (BPI) is just beside the Sucat SSS office so you only have to walk a couple of steps to pay the fee.  Luckily I was ready to pay by 9 AM so the bank was already open and I was 7th in line.

8. Present your  copies of the R6 form to the officer (not the teller) and have it receipted.

9. Pay the P300 replacement fee to the teller. 

10. Go back to the SSS office and tell the guard you will line up for the photocapture.  He will direct you to a different area for your photo and fingerprinting.

11.  Present your forms to the person in charge and wait until your name is called. Once it's your turn, you will complete the fingerprint scanning and have your picture taken.  (I asked the person if it was ok to smile - he said yes, just as long as no teeth would show. Heh.) The SSS person will also encode the data from your forms on their database.

12. Verify that all the information encoded in the database is correct and get the claim stub. Presto! You will just have to wait 2-3 months to have your UMID delivered to your door.  In the meantime, you can keep the claim stub and use it as reference in case you need any proof that you have an SSS ID.  But for the moment you already have your two valid IDs (Passport and NBI clearance) so you're already covered.

And yes, after all these lengthy steps, I was able to claim my final work documents successfully.

Here are a few other tips that hopefully will help you.

1. Always choose the online option.

If you will notice, every procedure I listed above always starts with going to the website.  Always, always go the online route. Can you imagine the hassle of going to a government office, lining up just to get a form, then having to fill everything out by hand, while you are in line? Skip it! Go online always.

A lot of people complain that the NBI offices don't differentiate between online and walk-in applicants anyway, so why bother? (Note that as mentioned above, SM Las Piñas does). But worst case, even if they don't, at least you already have your filled out form versus  having to line up for it and having to write everything down. And definitely at the SSS offices, your pre-printed forms will save you a lot of headaches.

2. Go there early.

It's not an exaggeration to say that if you arrive at any government office at 6 AM, you will not be the first in line by a long shot. But if you line up early, even if you are just waiting around, you will be done in the morning as well.  The later you arrive, the more people will already be there. And remember, this number grows exponentially, not proportionately.  Meaning, if you arrive at 7AM, it doesn't mean you will finish one hour after the person who gets there at 6.  You will finish much much later because of the queuing and accumulated bottlenecks. Imagine if you got there at 10, 11 or noon.  Kiss your day goodbye.

3. Be prepared to wait.

As in just sit around (or stand, if there is no actual waiting area) before the line even starts moving.  But as stated in 2 above, once the line does start moving, everything will happen quite quickly.

Other people recommend going with someone else so you have someone to talk to.  I myself prefer going alone because I need all my energy for keeping my sanity while waiting in an unmoving line for 4 hours. I cope by going into a zen hibernate mode.  (This is why you will notice this post has no pictures whatsoever.) While in line for my NBI clearance, the two ladies behind me did not stop talking. Honest to blog. And they drove me crazy. Which leads me to my next tip.

4. Bring your iPod, phone, a book or a magazine.

You will wait for hours so bring some diversion with you.

On a sad note, I noticed when I was lining up for my NBI clearance that I was the only one in a line of 100 people who brought a book.  No one else was reading anything, not even a magazine. It seems people would rather stare straight ahead than read a book.

5. Overprepare.

Bring a black pen with you.  You don't want to have to borrow this from someone else. Print everything the websites tell you to print, and in triplicate. Bring the exact amount of cash for payments, plus extra.  Bring all your IDs, even if they end up not asking you for them.  And as I mentioned above, never put yourself in a position where you have to negotiate or discuss with any government employee. You will never get anywhere. Everything is in black and white in their world, and they don't look at it as their job to help you or to go the extra mile. Your job is to follow instructions to the letter and minimize any discussions or any situation where you have to ask them for anything.

I hope this post will help you if you're ever in a similar situation, and make your life a little bit easier.

Good luck!

Concert Etiquette

Rant-O-Meter: 5/10

I love going to concerts. In fact, I may or may not judge the success of my year by the number of concerts I go to. At any rate, I have been to quite a few of them so I want to share some do's and don'ts for going to shows. Rock on!

1. Be decisive.

Know which artists you consider concert-worthy, so when tickets go on sale, you can immediately
snap them up and not run the risk of running out. A lot of people complain that they weren't able to go to a show because it was sold out. This after checking for tickets one day before the big event! These are the same people who couldn't make up their minds in the beginning if they wanted to go to the show in the first place.

My friend and I have a running list of our concert-worthy artists. These are the acts that we know we will go to see, no questions asked.  So the moment tickets go on sale, we immediately get ours so we can sit in gleeful anticipation of an awesome show.

2. At the show, don't be any of these people :

2.1 The attention - seeking screamer

This role is usually filled by tweens who feel the need to scream every.damn.minute during the show. "Hello Manila!  *SCREEEAM* We're now going to sing this song about my friend who committed suicide. It's sad. *SCREEAM*

I sat beside two such creatures once, and they really prepared their lungs for it. Mostly they turned it up every time the word motherf*cker came up, because seriously, when else can overly privileged young girls get the chance, or the actual reason, to use that word?  The poor little dears.


2.2 The Know-It-All

This is the guy who talks loudly before the show and during song breaks about the artist's personal life, motivations for writing the song, recent interview, or the last concert in New York and how different it was when Know-It-All last went there.

Yes, huzzah for you if you've seen them more than once, but chances are, all the other people around you are fans too and already know quite a lot about the artist. If this is their first time seeing them live because they weren't able to go to New York, it's probably going to be the last time too. So don't ruin their experience by being such a loudmouth. Shut up and just let us enjoy the damn show.

2.3 The Banner-Wielder

This is pretty tricky, because banners are pretty harmless and can actually be creative. In fact, we once planned to bring our own banners to a show. We were very creative about it and even assigned words (and an exclamation mark) for each person to wave.  But just as we were about to step out of the car we saw the line of concertgoers, and we somehow lost our balls and left our beautiful banners in the car. Sad.

But if you must bring a banner to show your love for the band, just be considerate of the people standing behind you. Don't block their view. Talk to them beforehand and make sure everything's copasetic. So far though, I haven't had to deal with this yet.

2.4 The Seat-Stander

I was lucky enough to get 4th row tickets to a concert at Araneta.  Unfortunately , a certain person whose name rhymes with Shmianca Shmaraneta, who was sitting in the 1ST ROW,  felt that her view wasn't good enough that she had to stand on her chair for quite some time. Now you know that in the lower section, it's level with no tiers. So someone standing on a chair just blocks everyone else's view. Maybe Ms Shmaraneta felt that since her family owned the stadium, she had the right to be just plain rude. Whatever dude. The rest of us know how to be considerate of other people. (Surprisingly, her husband actually told her to get back down and stop being such a douche. Or something to that effect.)

Don't be like Schmianca.

3. Take very few pictures and videos.

It might sound counterintuitive - you're probably thinking that you have to document every single moment of this amazing night. But every time you take a picture or video, you take away from the pure enjoyment of the moment. Nothing beats the memory you will have of your favorite band singing your favorite song.

Instead, take a couple of pictures when they're singing a song you don't like that much - and let's be honest, we all feel this way about certain songs even if we love the band.

If you're lucky enough to go with someone who is willing to help you, ask them to take the picture or video of your favorite song for you.

And if you're only taking selfies at concerts to post on your instagram, I JUDGE.

4. Wear appropriate clothing.

By this I mean, no heels or cocktail dresses. If you're one of those ladies who dresses like that, people are just looking at you and automatically thinking: groupie!

The question of concert tees also comes up. Is it, in fact, cool to wear a concert tee of the band you're going to see? The answer is: who cares? Wear whatever shirt you want. If they're selling merch outside, by all means go buy a shirt and change in the bathroom.

Also, try to avoid bringing your designer purse. You don't want to be jumping around lugging a heavy tote. A nice practical body bag would be perfect.

5. Above all else, enjoy yourself!

For the real music fan, the chance to see their favorite artist in the flesh and hear their favorite songs live is an awesome experience. You probably listen to their albums on repeat on your earphones, and to have that multiplied 10000 times could be life-changing. So even if you encounter any negative people who might harsh your aura, block them out. When the lights go down and the music starts, just know you're in for some of the greatest 90 minutes of your life.