How to get to the new NBI Clearance Center Alabang

if you're coming from the Las Pinas part of the south, take the jeepneys with the Starmall or Metropolis signs in front. These jeeps will terminate their route at your place of destination: Starmall Alabang.

Upon reaching Alabang, there are 2 things that can happen depending on what time you get there and depending on kuya drivers mood.

Time Factor: Starmall seems to have closed off certain walkways when it opens. I noticed that almost 90% of the time i get there by 10:00am onwards, the jeepneys take the ramp route up. Anytime earlier, they seem to make the ground floor drop-offs.

Driver Factor: this accounts for the other 10% of the time after 10:00am that the driver decides not to take the ramp up but instead do a drop off at either of the 2 ground floor entrances to the mall. Alight at the first entrance and walk to the basement. You should see a terminal of several jeepney routes. Walk towards the end and you should see a staircase leading up to the 2nd floor.

the jeep can take the spiral ramp up the parking lot onto the 2nd floor. 

Get off at the part facing Laguna de bay and look for a staircase leading up to the third level. If by chance your jeep doesnt take the ramp up, then get off near entrance of the mall and walk towards the parking area. There should be a staircase leading up to the upper floors. 

Taking the South Station jeep would only bring you halfway to Starmall. There'd  still be a considerable amount of walking youd need to do to get to Starmall. Its not the death march, but more than a little exercise. 

Getting off at the South Station, you have several options on getting to Starmall

Option 1: walk through South Station and up the stairs towards the overpass heading to Festival Mall. You should see the Muntinlupa Police and Fire Department as well as Crimson Hotel. Descend the stairs and walk your way towards Starmall Alabang which should be in sight.

There are 3 overpasses you will come across. The fastest way would be to take the 2nd or 3rd overpass which connects directly to Starmall.

Option 2. From South Station take the overpass to get to Festival Mall. Hail a jeep with a Starmall or Metropolis sign. Should the jeep go up the ramp and up to the 2nd floor of the Parking Lot, get off at the staircase facing Laguna De Bay. Take the stairs to the 3rd level and voila! NBI Alabang! 

How to get your NBI Clearance in Alabang - New Process! New Location!

New Location! New Process!  – NBI Alabang Muntinlupa Satellite Office

As of April 1, 2015, NBI Muntinlupa has moved to their new home at the 3^rd floor of Starmall Alabang (also known as Metropolis). There have also been a lot of updates to the NBI Clearance process. The previous process had 6 steps were the following:

1. Issuance of Form 
2.  Data Check
3.  Cashier 
4.  Data Encoding 
5. Biometrics and image capture 
6. Printing/Date of Release

With the new and improved online NBI Clearance process, steps 1-5 have been updated. Rather than lining up 7 different lines per process, these steps can now be conveniently done from your home or within the vicinity of a bank, bayad center or computer shop.

The NBI Clearance Form: 

The NBI Clearance form is now digitized. Everyone must accomplish the form prior to arriving at NBI for processing. Registering like you would a Facebook account, access the site at http://clearance.nbi.gov.ph/. NBI has also provided an awesome PDF step-by-step guide together with screenshots on how to register your account. (You can even upload your own picture on the profile and no, it isn’t what’s used in the NBI Clearance photo). This online registration and application takes the place of steps 1 - 2 and a little bit of 4.

 If you don’t have access to a computer or the internet, there is a shop right beside the NBI clearance office that offers to encode your details and create your online NBI profile for a fee. They have around 5 PC’s available with 2 reserved for attendants who will encode your personal information. Not quite sure if they open earlier than NBI to accommodate the early birds queuing but when we got there at 8:30AM they were already busy.

After successfully creating your account, you’ll be asked to select an NBI Center where you would like to take your biometric and claim your actual clearance at. You’ll also be asked to set the date of your appointment on certain pre-set dates.

Payments

The processing fee is still P115.00 plus the P25.00 fee IF you choose to avail of the outside payment options totalling P140.00. I also read that the fee would differ depending on the purpose of the clearance and can range from P115.00 to P400 something. Payments can be made through several options:

Over-the-Counter Bank Payments – BPI, Metrobank, Landbank, RCBC etc...

Online Bank Payments or Epayments – BDO Online, BPI Express Online, Chinabank Online, Metrobank Direct etc.

Bayad Center - Any authorized Bayad Center 

Per the NBI website payment could also be done at the Clearance center itself, however NBI Alabang didnt have this option. I was also able to see some people with slips from LBC with their registration number. Also it would be wise to note that if you decide not to continue your NBI clearance the payments done are non-refundable. (refer to paragraph on Forfeiture of Fees)

After selecting your preferred payment option, you will be given a reference/registration number. Print, write or download as a PDF on your device as you would need to present it when lining up at the NBI Center.  

**If you would like to know how to get to the new location of NBI Alabang Muntinlupa please look out for my article on Getting there: New Location for NBI Clearance Center Alabang Muntinlupa 2015  

Whichever payment option of your choice, its best to settle these a day or so before your appointment at NBI. If by chance you weren’t able to make your payments before the day of your appointment a Bayad Center outlet and BDO bank can be found inside the Starmall which opens at about 10:00am. The downside to this is that even though the process has been greatly improved and made efficient, it doesn’t downsize the number of people queuing to get their clearance. 

Lines can reach loops and layers at the Starmall 3^rd floor parking lot as the day moves on. The same principle applies: the early bird waits less and gets to go home earlier.

After you get in line, it’s pretty much a straightforward process. You line up till you get the white monobloc seats tied together and wait for your turn to get into air-conditioning (You’ve been warned). You get in 5-8 people at a time and wait for your turn to take your Biometrics. Just hand over your registration number to the attendant and your biometric scanning and image capture will commence. No more indelible ink, all fingers will be scanned and your picture taken with a webcam, the monitor slightly skewed to give you glimpse of the horror that is your un-Camera360’d face.

If you dont have any hits, your Clearance is printed instantaneously and you are home free! The actual queue and process at the NBI Center took us around 1-2 hours, given that payment had been done online and we arrived at around 8:30ish in the morning.

As for missing the date of your appointment, its a grey area i guess. The disclaimer from the NBI website states that:

" FORFEITURE OF FEES: Registrant/Applicant accepts the right of the NBI to forfeit fees collected under this agreement for failure of registrant/applicant to appear on the chosen schedule/date of appointment..."

BUT I'm not sure if this is firmly being implemented as when the boyfie had his appointment set on a Tuesday and saw the line was up to the ceiling (due to the fact that he arrived there at about 10:00am) he decided to go earlier on Wednesday to get ahead of the long lines. We were able to get his processed and no issues were incurred. Its still advisable though that you stick to the schedule, somewhere along the line, a nail that sticks out gets hammered. 

Tips! Wear comfy shoes, bring a gadget or better yet bring a buddy which functions as a dual time-killer and line-place holder when you have to go to the bathroom or would need to ask anything from the attending officers. As mentioned, the waiting or line area is a parking lot side walk that is exposed to open air facing Laguna de Bay. The early morning breeze did make our waiting cool and uh, breezy but I can only imagine how it would be at high noon time or when it rains. Yikes.

So there you go! Good luck and thanks for reading! 

Getting your NBI Clearance: The Process

Anybody who has tried applying for a job here in the Philippines has definitely come across the task of obtaining an NBI Clearance. 

If you are looking to get yours in the Alabang area here are a couple of things you will need to make sure you have before heading over to the NBI clearance center. 

Things you will need:

• Valid ID (see list below on #2 for what type of ID's they accept)
• 2 Pens (1 backup, you never know when it'll stop writing)
• A folder case/clipboard
• Cash and Change

For your sanity:

• Snacks (chips, biscuits, candy)
• Water
• Gadget + Power bank /Book
• Earphones/Noise cancelling headphones
• Fan
• Mirror*

Now that youre all set, here are the steps you need to anticipate in securing your NBI Clearance. Note that patience is a virtue and comfy shoes are a blessing.

Issuance of Form 

Fall in line, present your valid ID and get your form labelled “Clearance Application Form”. The form is free. No payments needed at this point. This is a 2 part form, 1 half for you, 1 half for NBI. You will be asked to fill out the usual information – Your first, last and nick name, current address, date of birth, place of birth, contact information and educational background. Be ready with your valid ID’s, knowledge of your height, weight, your mother and fathers full name and their city of birth. As far as I know this is the only form you’d need to fill out.

1. PRC License
2. Drivers License
3. Voters ID
4. Passport
5. TIN
6. Postal ID
7. SSS Card or E1
8. Police Clearance
9. Barangay ID with picture and number
10. Recent School ID
11. Recent Company/Employment ID 

Data Check 

line number 2. An NBI attendant will be checking your Clearance form insuring that you have filled out all necessary fields. If you are unwilling to fill out the complexion part, he is more than will to give you his opinion. 

Cashier

P115.00 flat whether for local employment or travel abroad. No additional fees unless you go the rouge route. They’ll issue you an OR and you need to note that on the upper left hand corner of your form. You’ll either be assigned to window 1 or 2. For faster transactions, please bring the exact amount. Saves time for everyone.

 Data Encoding 

my least favorite step, aside from steps 0.5, 1.5, 2.5 ,3.5 and 4.5. Here is the part where they take your form and the clerk encodes all your data on to the system. It is a dual screen and you will see all data input into what will be eternally known as your file with NBI. Be sure to check for spelling, dates and all that. This is official data.

Biometrics and Image Capture 

Finger print scanning (no more ink!) and your picture will be taken by the webcam inside the clerk booth against the white board behind you. No selfie screens here. You’d have to trust the good old fashioned photographer-subject relationship. The trust-fall exercise of this generation.

Printing/Date of Release 

This is another line in itself. You will get 2 copies of the printout. If i remember right, validity is 6 months. For those who have “hits” meaning you have the same name as someone with a record in the NBI database, then you’d have to wait for a week for them to clear it out and come back for your clearance. You will be issued a receipt as your claim stub.