Philippine Consulate in Bakersfield, CA
Filipinos in Bakersfield are covered by the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles, 109 miles away, about 2 h 10 min by road. There is no consular office in Bakersfield itself, but there is more that can be done from home than most people expect, and it is worth checking before booking anything.
Philippine consulate for Bakersfield: which consulate covers it
The reason is drawn on a county map, not a state one: California is split by county between Los Angeles and San Francisco, and Bakersfield sits in Kern County, which belongs to Los Angeles. A neighbour a county away may be served by the consulate in San Francisco instead, the full split is on the California page.
From Bakersfield it is 109 miles, 2 h 10 min, so a same-day return is realistic. It stops being realistic the moment a document is missing, which is the usual reason people make the trip twice.
California also has a Philippine honorary consulate in San Diego. It does not replace the consulate, no passports, no oaths, no notarials, but it is a local first call, and honorary consulates are usually the first to announce outreach missions in their area.
What never requires the journey
Three of the most searched Philippine procedures in the United States are not consular procedures at all:
- PSA documents, the security-paper certificates everything else depends on, are ordered online and shipped internationally.
- An apostille is issued by the Secretary of State of whichever state produced the document. The consulate stopped authenticating on 15 May 2019.
- NBI clearance is applied for by mail to the Philippines; only the fingerprint card needs a consular officer.
The counter is unavoidable for exactly three things: passport biometrics, the RA 9225 oath and signing a notarial document in front of an officer. Everything else deserves a second look before you drive.
philippineconsulates.us is an independent information guide to the Philippine consulates in the United States. We are not the Philippine Consulate General, the Philippine Embassy or any government agency. We do not book, sell or manage appointments: every consulate runs its own system. We check the details regularly, but they can change without notice, always confirm with the consulate before you travel.