how to finish vehicle registrations at the LTO in under two hours

For the past few years, I've always stayed at the Land Transportation Office (LTO) for several hours either for vehicle registration or for driver's license renewal. At the worst, I spent more than five hours waiting for my registration papers to be processed (this was before the rule against "fixers" inside the LTO was enforced) AND the time I had to get a replacement for my license card... which, at the end of the day, misspelled my name.

Today, I am glad to note, that I finished the whole process of vehicle registration in 1 hr 40 mins, my best time yet. If you're tired of spending more than half a day in registering your vehicle, these few tips might help:

NOTE: These are all based on my experiences only. If you have other ideas, please feel free to post a comment at the end of the post.

• A few days before registration, renew or sign up for the vehicle's compulsory third-party liability insurance (TPL).

That should give your insurance agent enough time to process and mail the current policy to you. There should be two copies: one for you and one for the LTO (the one with the certification printout right in front). If you don't have a TPL policy by registration day, just sign up for one with agents within the LTO compound. I don't know if processing is fast there but time spent getting the insurance policy will definitely add to the processing time.

• On registration day itself, head over to the LTO Calamba Satellite Office.

There are other offices of course. I've gone to three of them for vehicle registration. The Calamba office has got to be the most efficient among the different branches I've been to. Aside from relatively short waiting times, I like the way the staff there treat their clients. Maybe I'm just lucky with timing; each time I'm there, the front-line people are friendly and the officers don't get irritated. But then again, I must be very lucky to see these every time.

• Start with the registration process after lunch or mid-afternoon (even better).

Doing so allows you to successfully avoiding everyone who wants to finish before lunch but whose papers are still in the queue in the afternoon. The FREE parking lot is less crowded too! Of course, you run the risk of not meeting the cut-off time; it's your call. Better check with the LTO about the cut-off time.

• Alternatively, be in the LTO vicinity very early in the morning.

As soon as the systems are turned on, join the queue. Or line up as the LTO employees log in for the day. Just expect a whole lot of people there. For this one, you risk waiting longer because a lot of people are having their papers processed too. Plus, it's more difficult to find a parking space within the LTO compound. There are parking spaces outside, but they charge a fee.

• Go to an emissions testing facility accredited by the LTO branch you're registering in.

I've had the mistake last year of getting the test done in a facility outside the LTO compound in an effort to complete all documents and tests before going into the compound. The officer checking the registration form then told me to have the car reevaluated by another testing company. I don't know if the first facility I went to is not accredited or if the officer just trusted the results from the second one. To shorten the process this year, I went to the second one directly. The first one was closed so early in the afternoon when I drove by.

• Bring the vehicle's documents: originals of the Certificate of Registration and the Official Receipt of last year's registration.

Be prepared with photocopies of them too so you don't have to line up at the photocopying machine. Don't forget to bring the LTO copy of the TPL policy. The guys at the emission testing center organized the documents and instructed me to submit them directly to the LTO registration desk.

Once the documents are submitted, there's nothing more to do than to wait to be called for payment and collection of registration stickers. This may be the longest wait in the whole process, especially if there's a lot of people registering at the same time. Since this part of the process is no longer in your hands, just find ways to pass the time...

Come prepared to wait with a book, a portable music player, a tablet/ laptop computer, or a few munchies. Watch the afternoon soap in the waiting area. Or strike up a conversation with fellow applicants (if you're brave and really sociable). Or just enjoy people-watching. If you don't want to stay in the waiting area, there's should be a canteen close by; you can still hear your name being called via the PA system from there.

Of course, the pace for registration is fast if there's no problem with the vehicle's registration documents or with the LTO online system. Expect a longer wait if issues from either of these two crop up. To see more information about the LTO and the registration process, please visit the LTO Updates Website.

Good luck!