CFO Questions..?

[DanandClavs]

They don't make things easy for us Filipina lovers...!

You cannot book an appointment for the seminar and have to just show up early and hope you get a place.. Only 12 places per week..! This leaves me in the position of not being able to book my flight home until the seminar is complete and we have that sticker..

My wife is a bit worried about a discrepancy in her name. She thinks that she needs to change her name with the DFO before we fly.. I'm hoping this is not the case. We applied for the spousal visa in her old name so her passport and visa are in the old name. i told her to just do the seminar in her old name and book the flight in her old name.. Am i correct here ?

Is it easy to convert her surname once we are in the UK ? Do we have to send off for a new passport ?

She will fly into Cebu to take the seminar on Friday and we will meet in Manila on Saturday. Is this the final thing we need to get to be able to fly ? Once we have the CFO stamp we can just leave ? I don't wanna miss anything and get a shock !

Thanks Guys

[lastlid]

They don't make things easy for us Filipina lovers...!

You cannot book an appointment for the seminar and have to just show up early and hope you get a place.. Only 12 places per week..! This leaves me in the position of not being able to book my flight home until the seminar is complete and we have that sticker..

My wife is a bit worried about a discrepancy in her name. She thinks that she needs to change her name with the DFO before we fly.. I'm hoping this is not the case. We applied for the spousal visa in her old name so her passport and visa are in the old name. i told her to just do the seminar in her old name and book the flight in her old name.. Am i correct here ?

Is it easy to convert her surname once we are in the UK ? Do we have to send off for a new passport ?

She will fly into Cebu to take the seminar on Friday and we will meet in Manila on Saturday. Is this the final thing we need to get to be able to fly ? Once we have the CFO stamp we can just leave ? I don't wanna miss anything and get a shock !

Thanks Guys

My wife did the same. Retained her maiden name in her passport throughout. Without any problems. You just need all your paperwork including marriage certificate and any divorce papers.

My wifes maiden name remained in her passport during the CFO process. No problem. And she flew here under those circumstances.

Now that my wife is in the UK her surname still remains in her passport so to deal with that she keeps a copy of the marriage certificate inside it. This suffices. We will change her name in her passport when she is ready for renewal in 2013. It works well.

To minimise wasted time with the CFO, get there early to ensure a slot. And take all documentation with you known to man. I also made sure that I was on hand at home here to take any text queries from my wife. It worked well as there were a couple. She texted me and I texted her back the answer. A couple of her mates didn't take their hubbies divorce papers with them and had to go back for another visit.

[DanandClavs]

Great stuff.. Thanks Lastlid

That is a relief..! And once we get the CFO.. we are free to leave.. is that right ?

[lastlid]

Great stuff.. Thanks Lastlid

That is a relief..! And once we get the CFO.. we are free to leave.. is that right ?

Once you have a full set of CFO stamps / stickers. Yes. Unless things have changed recently.

[rhaichard]

be early is the answer about the seminars ...


my passport is still under my family name but when they give me the GCC and sticker my name is under my spouse name ..


i also plan to change my passport with my spouse name when im in england before i apply another spouse visa ..

[DanandClavs]

Yes , i have told her to be early, like 2 hours early...!

But, imagine if you booked the flights home, then for some reason couldn't get the CFO sticker.. I think i would cry ..

I'll get the sticker, then book my flight...

I never thought i'd be so excited about getting back to the UK ! I can't wait

[lastlid]

Yes , i have told her to be early, like 2 hours early...!

But, imagine if you booked the flights home, then for some reason couldn't get the CFO sticker.. I think i would cry ..

I'll get the sticker, then book my flight...

I never thought i'd be so excited about getting back to the UK ! I can't wait

Thats what we did. Just in case...

[rhaichard]

getting sticker is easy and it take only for 1 day ..


you only need to do is too attend the seminar .. the office start at 8am and i arrived there last monday at 9am .. at that time too many people and its so busy .. your lucky if there's no much applicant that going to italy and uk to have seminar


my husband also booked our flight when im done the CFO and then get my chest x'ray

[DanandClavs]

Thanks for all the advice once again... great stuff

[elve_page]

They don't make things easy for us Filipina lovers...!

You cannot book an appointment for the seminar and have to just show up early and hope you get a place.. Only 12 places per week..! This leaves me in the position of not being able to book my flight home until the seminar is complete and we have that sticker..

My wife is a bit worried about a discrepancy in her name. She thinks that she needs to change her name with the DFO before we fly.. I'm hoping this is not the case. We applied for the spousal visa in her old name so her passport and visa are in the old name. i told her to just do the seminar in her old name and book the flight in her old name.. Am i correct here ?

Is it easy to convert her surname once we are in the UK ? Do we have to send off for a new passport ?

She will fly into Cebu to take the seminar on Friday and we will meet in Manila on Saturday. Is this the final thing we need to get to be able to fly ? Once we have the CFO stamp we can just leave ? I don't wanna miss anything and get a shock !

Thanks Guys

Hi DanandClavs,
I think its better if your wife will fly to Cebu on Thursday because she need to list her name before the seminar will start and fill out forms. And they have limited spot on the seminar per day. Its only 1 day seminar, i suggest she will stay at MANGO PARK HOTEL where i stayed before the seminar its only 20 steps walk going to CFO Office.

[DanandClavs]

Hi DanandClavs,
I think its better if your wife will fly to Cebu on Thursday because she need to list her name before the seminar will start and fill out forms. And they have limited spot on the seminar per day. Its only 1 day seminar, i suggest she will stay at MANGO PARK HOTEL where i stayed before the seminar its only 20 steps walk going to CFO Office.

Thanks Elve,

The Mango Park Hotel was the first place i stayed when i arrived in cebu. I really didn't like the place, was full of ants and cockroaches... yuk.... MCiti Suites in Fuente is much much better and just 1250php with breakfast. I have booked her flight already for Thurday ( Sorry for my rubbish wording ) and have booked her into Sambaguita suites http://sampaguitasuites.com/sampagui...-plaza-garcia/ which is apparently less than a minute away, also just 695php for a single.

Now she has no reason to be late...

[jlags90]

Thanks Elve,

The Mango Park Hotel was the first place i stayed when i arrived in cebu. I really didn't like the place, was full of ants and cockroaches... yuk.... MCiti Suites in Fuente is much much better and just 1250php with breakfast. I have booked her flight already for Thurday ( Sorry for my rubbish wording ) and have booked her into Sambaguita suites http://sampaguitasuites.com/sampagui...-plaza-garcia/ which is apparently less than a minute away, also just 695php for a single.

Now she has no reason to be late...

I stayed in Sampaguita.. Nice accommodation
When she arrive at the place for the seminar, make sure she tells the guard she is there for a seminar
so she can write her name in the log-book to be in the priority list...

Being first on the one-on-one interview would give her plenty of time travelling to CFO Office getting the stamp.

[filbrit]

Check the validity date of your wife's visa.

You can't get the CFO sticker until the validity start of the visa.

[DanandClavs]

Check the validity date of your wife's visa.

You can't get the CFO sticker until the validity start of the visa.

Oh God, i havent even thought of that.. I will check with her now

[DanandClavs]

Oh God, i havent even thought of that.. I will check with her now

Phew.. Valid from 10/09/2012.. But then again, a filipino would read that as 09 october, we would read as 10 sept... It must stipulate which is the month though surely...

[lastlid]

Phew.. Valid from 10/09/2012.. But then again, a filipino would read that as 09 october, we would read as 10 sept... It must stipulate which is the month though surely...

10/09/2012 ....... that should be in the UK format - 10th September

Ours was dated 14/09/2011 and not 09/14/2011

[rhaichard]

Phew.. Valid from 10/09/2012.. But then again, a filipino would read that as 09 october, we would read as 10 sept... It must stipulate which is the month though surely...

then its valid ... they will read that as september ... mine is 12/09/12

[jlags90]

Oh God, i havent even thought of that.. I will check with her now

Usually, the visa is valid from the date it was granted (unless you requested for a POST-DATED visa or you applied for a visa earlier than three months of intended travel date)

[bigmarco]

Is it right that you can only go on a Thursday to get CFO sticker if you are coming to UK

[lastlid]

Is it right that you can only go on a Thursday to get CFO sticker if you are coming to UK

Too long ago for us. Marco. The wife cant remember, unfortunately.

[rhaichard]

Is it right that you can only go on a Thursday to get CFO sticker if you are coming to UK

seminars for UK and Italy is only thursday ... but if u already have the GCC you can get sticker in any day ...

[Terpe]

Is it right that you can only go on a Thursday to get CFO sticker if you are coming to UK

Updated schedule, requirements and procedure on attendance to Guidance and Counseling Program (GCP), Pre-departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS), Peer Counseling Program (PCP) and Country Familiarization Seminar (CFS) please click the links:

- Guidance and Counseling Program (GCP)

- Pre-departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) and Peer Counseling Program (PCP)

- Country Familiarization Seminar (CFS)

For more clarification, please contact the Migrant Integration and Education Division of the CFO at telephone numbers: 552-4740-46/ 552-4769/ 552-4713 or e-mail at info@cfo.gov.ph or imiravalles@cfo.gov.ph.

Source:-
http://www.cfo.gov.ph/index.php?opti...108&Itemid=839

[Trefor]

We (well Rose) did the CFO seminar thing in Manila yesterday. There were 4 people in the UK seminar and around 200 in the US seminar (or trying to get into it!). They combined UK and Italy and I think there were 9 in total in the room at the time. Be prepared with information such as your partner's job, mother-in-law's maiden name, where you met etc. They will ask you in a 1-1 session after the seminar to ensure they are satisfied with your case.

When to arrive? hmm. We stayed in a hotel around the corner and got there at 5:30am. Registration starts at 7am for the UK group. When we got there we found around 100 people waiting already! Turned out 95% of them were for the US seminar. Many got turned away from that group. We actually dropped by and checked things out around 7pm the night before with the security guard. There were 3 ladies sitting there, we found out the next day they were the front of the America queue! By the way, there is no queue per country, just a big load of people waiting around the entrance steps, then a bit of a free-for-all to the registration desk when the doors open. People weren't pushing and shoving, but I'd suggest angling your way through as many people as possible.

In my opinion you cannot take a risk that a UK seminar will always have 4-5 people wanting to attend. Arrive early. VERY early.

Of course this was Manila, I'm not sure about the CFO in Cebu.

[rhaichard]

We (well Rose) did the CFO seminar thing in Manila yesterday. There were 4 people in the UK seminar and around 200 in the US seminar (or trying to get into it!). They combined UK and Italy and I think there were 9 in total in the room at the time. Be prepared with information such as your partner's job, mother-in-law's maiden name, where you met etc. They will ask you in a 1-1 session after the seminar to ensure they are satisfied with your case.

When to arrive? hmm. We stayed in a hotel around the corner and got there at 5:30am. Registration starts at 7am for the UK group. When we got there we found around 100 people waiting already! Turned out 95% of them were for the US seminar. Many got turned away from that group. We actually dropped by and checked things out around 7pm the night before with the security guard. There were 3 ladies sitting there, we found out the next day they were the front of the America queue! By the way, there is no queue per country, just a big load of people waiting around the entrance steps, then a bit of a free-for-all to the registration desk when the doors open. People weren't pushing and shoving, but I'd suggest angling your way through as many people as possible.

In my opinion you cannot take a risk that a UK seminar will always have 4-5 people wanting to attend. Arrive early. VERY early.

Of course this was Manila, I'm not sure about the CFO in Cebu.

100% agree