My CFO Experience

Hello everyone! My appointment was this morning and I'd love to share my experience with everyone, especially those who have yet to attend the seminar. Will do bullet points for easier reading:

• It is important that you leave your house early to avoid traffic and be there early. They said to be there an hour and a half before your scheduled appointment for good reason!
• I got there a few minutes before 7am and the line has already snaked at the side of the building. Good thing though is that seminars for spouses and fiances are done at the 3rd floor - very minimal people. So don't be intimidated by the long lines and number of people.
• Once you're at the 3rd floor, approach the lady at the counter. She will ask you if you already have your visa. This is important because the forms that you need to fill out and issuing of sticker is dependent on this. I think the forms are longer for those folks with visa.
• Two things from the form really stuck with me, something that is highly probable that we don't talk about with our partners but are asked:
  • Partner's mom's maiden name
  • If college graduate, what's your partners degree
• Make sure you brought a pen with you! There are vendors outside in case you don't. A pen costs 10 pesos.
• Once you're done filling out all your forms, head back to the lady and submit them. She will ask you for the following documents:
  • Passport
  • Photocopy of your passport
  • Photocopy of your visa, if applicable
• She will review your forms and will ask a few questions to validate the information you provided. I've heard her asked the following:
  • Date of birth of your partner
  • If you or your partner were previously married
    • If yes to this question, how many times
• She only asked me my fiance's DOB. Then she proceeded to take my picture.
• If you finished early, she will then advice you that you can go downstairs to eat or do whatever. But don't be late for the seminar. It starts at 9am, room 2 is assigned for Europe. Not sure if this changes daily, I doubt.
• Make sure that you are in the right room! If you're not and you ended up finishing the seminar (for some reason), this won't be valid. You will need to reschedule and attend the correct one. I am not sure how different the seminars are but I am guessing it may be region specific because of what they will discuss in the culture part. I didn't attend that anymore but more on that later.
• To me the seminar makes a lot of sense. I understand now why it is needed. They provided insights that are important.
  • Cultural differences and how do we deal with those
  • Things we need to be talking about with our partners even before moving abroad
• Not all these are things that a lot of Filipinas have to deal with here and so being provided insights is very helpful.
• The participants will be grouped for a round table discussion to share experiences. During the break out session, the counselor will conduct the 1x1. These were the things that I was asked:
  • Where and when did I meet my fiance
  • When did we meet face to face
  • How many times I've visited Manchester
  • Duration of my stay in Manchester when I visit
    • This was when my counselor decided that I don't need to attend the part 2 of the seminar which is about cultural differences and living abroad as somewhat I already have an experience around it. She said that during this time I can just go downstairs, pay the fee, and wait for my sticker and certificate
  • She then asked me for my passport and to show her pictures of my fiance and I together
• After I went back inside, we discussed the break out session then that's when I was told I can already go down.
• There wasn't a queue to the cashier so that only took a couple of minutes.
• Wait time for the sticker and certificate took about 30 minutes though.
• I was out of the CFO by 12:30pm or so

So there you go! Hopefully, this will help any of our folks in here who are about to attend the seminar. Good luck and may the force be with you!

Great post firewomyn, very helpful to others treading the same path

Good post FireOmyn, thanks for sharing.

You're most welcome! I think it's important to share these details to appease others who are somewhat worried/nervous when they attend the seminar as they don't know what to expect. I'd say be confident when answering questions and share details during the group discussion as much as possible. I feel like the counselor is already assessing who is in a genuine relationship as early as then since they can provide as much info about their partners.

Hi.. any news about your visa? Did you get it already? I applied fiance visa also. Its three weeks tomorrow.

Yep, I already have it. Leaving on the 21st of this month.

Congratss!! How long did you wait to get it?

Thank you very much for this, me and Reichelle will be studying this till the 29th

About six weeks I think Thanks and good luck with yours!

Yw! Ask away of you have additional questions. Please make sure she has yoir complete address and contact details handy as those were asked on the form too.

I guess your be looking for flights now

I already have one April 21st!

Can I ask did you book up before your cfo ?
Reichelle has her cfo on the 29th so I don't know if I should wait or book now

I did a thorough search on skyscanner each day for days before my fiancee did her CFO. Then..as soon as she got her sticker..she texted me...and I booked a flight there and then for 5 days later. Prices were changing all the time. I paid £390 one way with saudia air one stop at riyhad..3 hours.

Chelle would like a direct flight being a bit nervous about changing flights at different airports
PAL direct is about £500 so not to bad

one way ?

Yep one way

when i was thinking of going over there last summer--direct PAL returns from heathrow were just over £400---return !

More like £700 return this year,it's about £150 more from my local airport via amsterdam but much easier

Very informative thread......thank you firew0myn