My wife has the CFO Certificate but, she doesn't have a VISA for anywhere yet so, she doesn't have the CFO Sticker in her passport. On the CFO FAQ ( http://www.cfo.gov.ph/faqs/2014-06-20-06-35-41.html ) it says: Question 14.: I already have a guidance and counselling certificate and hold a temporary/ visitor visa. Do I still need to register at the CFO and be issued a sticker? Answer: No. If you are fiancé (e)/ spouse/partner of a foreign national or a former Filipino and you hold a visitor/ tourist visa, you only need a guidance and counselling certificate from our office. Kindly present the CFO Guidance and Counselling Certificate (GCC) to the port of exit and show them your temporary/ visit visa and other requirements asked by your host country. So am I right in thinking that if she applies for a Schengen Category "C" (short-term visa) Visa she won't need the sticker but if she applies for a Schengen Category "D" (national visa) she will ? Or is it more complicated than that?
I know that if she was moving out of the Philippines she would definitely need it as she wont be able to fly without it even if she has a visa. For a visit visa if she has attended the CFO seminar and has a certificate just wait until she has her passport and take it to the CFO centre and ask for the sticker. She will need her passport first though
Its a gray area. During my cfo seminar in cebu, i've met 2 ladies, one going to bulgaria and another to italy for tourist visa. In both instances, the respective boyfriends will pay for the trip and in both instances, they were required by the embassies to get a cfo seminar. So they went. I dont understand the rules but if the embassy requires it, then i guess you have to comply in order to apply for a visa. Any hesitation on getting the cfo sticker? Its not expensive but if you are in the province, its a hassle but i guess its benefit outweighs the hassle. If you and your wife will travel purely touristic stuff, a return ticket will be enough proof to satisfy on the ph immigration officer. The thing will settlement visa, they wont ask for a return ticket just the cfo certificate.
I guess I must have missed something along the way, but my wife never attended any CFO seminar, she doesn't have one and was never asked for one. I guess our circumstances are maybe a little different, we married in Seychelles and registered our marriage with the nearest Philippines Embassy in Kenya, all arrangements taken care of by the wedding organizer. Our NSO red ribboned marriage certificate was delivered to us in Dubai by courier after about 4 months. She renewed her passport in her married name at the Philippines Consulate here in Dubai, took approx 4 weeks. I had never heard of a CFO before joining this forum. Prior to our wedding we had travelled to Singapore and Sri Lanka for holidays and never been asked for a CFO.
you only need a cfo certificate to leave the philippines----not to enter any other country.. so--if shes not in the philis--dont worry about it.
Thanks - yes as Matt and Maley say it seems to be a grey area and that for peace of mind the easiest thing to do is to get "the sticker" - you may not need it but it can come back to bite you later (perhaps if your wife is outside the Phils but will be returning there and flying out again in the future...). I was looking at it more from the Schengen VISA point of view... and just hoping to find out that I could avoid getting the Sticker if it wasn't really needed - we're in the provinces and it takes a day or two to do anything here.
