First things first. What should you bring?
- Your current/expiring license
- License receipt (for safety, but not required)
- Black pen
- Money - P600 should be enough if your license is still valid
- Water and candy to tide you over - not sure if food (as in burger/sandwich, etc) is allowed
- Book or a smartphone (Candy Crush, anyone?)
Not sure about how other offices look, but the SM North office was very cramped
so you might want to go earlier so you can have a seat. I arrived at 9:40am and
there were very few seats left. All LTO satellite offices are open from 9am to
6pm, Mondays to Fridays, except holidays.
Step 2: ID submission. (10:00am)
The windows were numbered so it'll be easy to know which one you'll need to
approach first. Or so you'd think. Window 1 was empty but almost everyone
seated were filling out some sort of form. I had to ask someone where to go
first. Turned out there's this small table on the left corner where you submit
your expiring license. I hope they put up a notice next time. Once you've
submitted your license, you wait for a few minutes to be called. Mind you,
there's always a LOT of waiting in government offices so best to follow step 1.
Step 3: Pay up. (10:10am)
The guy from step 2 gave me my license back and asked for P100 for the medical
exam. He also gave me a number and 2 medical forms to fill out. They're not
carbonized because according to the guy, 'naghihirap na kami'. Haha!
He's a chatty old guy who greeted me a happy birthday when he saw my license. :)
Step 4: Medical exam. Not. (10:20am)
The same guy called out 5 succeeding numbers for medical exam and asked
me to sit on a separate bench.
Step 5: Real medical exam. (10:25am)
The doctor called out my number for the actual medical exam which lasted for,
like, 5 minutes max. She just asked me to step on the weighing scale, threw a
few questions like 'Have you always been thin?' and the like. Then she asked me
to read the optical board and that's it! No more drug test, by the way. Yey to
that! :D
Step 6: License form. (10:30am)
The doctor asked me to submit my medical form, license and receipt to Window 2.
Window 2 officer gave me the license form to fill out. You just have to give
back this form to Window 2 once you're done.
Step 7: Photo op. (10:40am)
Window 1 was the photo op window. Now, my tip is to always be prepared. Who
doesn't want to be pretty in IDs? Before, I always ended up looking like an
escaped convict. But now that I know better, my ID pictures look so much better
(and I look so much happier in them too!)! The trick is to fix your hair and
add color to your face, be it your cheeks or lips. Their cameras serve up
washed out/bland pictures (which have NOTHING at all to do with us by the way)
so these are important. Flash your most disarming smile and you're good to go!
Step 8: Pay up! (10:45am)
Window 3 officer asked me to pay P418 for my license.
Step 9: Photo finish. (10:50am)
Window 2 officer gave me my license and receipt, and I'M DONE!
Can I just say, I'm so relieved they scrapped the drug test because it was a
waste of time and money. It's not even effective! I mean, obviously, if you're
an addict and you wanna pass a drug test, you simply don't take drugs before
the test and it'll turn out negative. I don't understand how this didn't even
cross their minds. Or maybe it did, but they still pushed through with the test
because it's another money-making medium. Anyway, I digress.
I finished my renewal in less than 2 hours and paid a total of P518 for my license that's good for 3 years. I hope your LTO experience is just as efficient, if not more.
