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!