The Honolulu office of the Philippine Consulate General has announced that it will begin accepting applications for the new machine-readable passports on June 2.

Anyone renewing a passport or applying for one for the first time must appear in person at the consulate in order to provide fingerprints, a signature capture and to have other data verified, officials said.

Applications filed with the Honolulu Consulate or other Philippine consulates or embassies will be sent to the main passport office in Manila to be processed. Passports will be released six weeks after an application is received.

A fee of $50 will be charged for the new passport.

Current Philippine passports will remain valid until the expiration date.

For more information, call the Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu at 808-595-6316, extension 234, or email the office at honolulupc@hawaii.rr.com.