Philippine Consulate in Charleston, SC
If you searched for the Philippine consulate in Charleston, the short answer is that there isn't one: jurisdiction sits with the Embassy of the Philippines. Consular Section in Washington, D.C., and 535 miles away, about 9 h 57 min by road. The longer answer, which matters more, is that you may not need to make that trip at all.
Which Philippine consulate serves Charleston
The assignment is by state: the whole of South Carolina belongs to the consulate in Washington, D.C., whose district covers Alabama, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, plus Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and most of the Caribbean. The detail, including how far each city in the state is from the consulate, is on the South Carolina page.
535 miles is 9 h 57 min of driving each way. From Charleston, flying is usually cheaper than two days and a hotel, which is exactly why the outreach missions matter more here than the opening hours do.
Watch for consular outreach missions before committing to the full journey. Consulates travel to underserved cities with passport biometrics and dual citizenship ceremonies; the appointments cost nothing, and for somewhere this far from the consulate a mission is usually the practical route. How they are booked is in the appointment guide.
Before you plan the trip from Charleston
Three of the most searched Philippine procedures in the United States are not consular procedures at all:
- PSA certificates, birth, marriage, death and CENOMAR are issued in Manila and ordered online, delivered to any US address.
- Apostilles on American documents come from the issuing state’s competent authority. Since 15 May 2019 the consulate cannot authenticate them.
- 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.