I was finally able to get my day at NBI Cebu. I arrived at 11:45. And I was able to leave at 4 pm. Sounds reasonable? NOT! I forgot to mention that I was standing in line the whole time!
Four lines, four hours. The first line was for the document checking. That took approximately 30 mins. The next line was for the cashier. That took 1 and a half hours! Next was the encoding line. That took another hour. Then there was the fingerprinting and photo. That took another 50 minutes. Then finally there was the wait for the printout. Thankfully that took less than 10 minutes.
The whole experience was too exhausting. My legs were shaking from standing too long. I felt near collapse. The drizzle and heat made things worse too. Though, that's no fault of NBI anymore. Surely there must be a better way to do this, NBI???
The only consolation I got from the new system was I didn't get a "hit" and was able to get my clearance without waiting for Manila to check my name for another two weeks. But for the long lines and exasperation (for the inefficiency of the system!), I'm not sure the change was worth it. Too awful!
