Fiances, spouses and partners of foreign nationals are required to attend A Commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO) Guidance and Counseling seminar in order to secure a Guidance and Counseling certificate (GCC) and a registration sticker. The (Commission on Filipino Overseas) certificate is one of the requirements for applying a new passport or if you want to renew your passport using your husband's surname for the first time.
I set an online appointment from the website one month earlier just to make sure I can get a 9:00 am slot for March 3, 2015. Fill out everything and follow the instruction and then they email me my appointment schedule with Bar Code to print out. Bring the bar coded form with you during your seminar. If you wish to know the slots in your country of destination schedules are available here.
Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) location : Citigold Center, 1345 Pres. Quirino Avenue
CFO provides a LIST of their requirements however, I brought with me additional documents such as photo copies of our birth certificates, and my 2 IDs using my husband surname, photocopy of my husband legal capacity to marry from the Canadian Embassy, photos of us together for good measure.
Note: Student driver license is not accepted.
I went to CFO with my hubby. We travel from Malate going to CFO in a hurry because I want to be there early but heavy traffic ruined my day. My hubby is not allowed inside so, he just waited outside until I finished.
Upon arrival, I head straight to the security guard and handed my requirements and he told me to go to the reception area where a staff validate my appointment schedule. He ask me one valid ID and I gave my Postal ID. I was given a pink ID with a letter F on it. I'm not sure what it exactly signifies for. He told me to proceed to the 3rd floor.To make it fast I used the stairs instead of elevator.
On the 3rd floor I enter the room next to the stairs I give all the requirements to the lady original and photocopy since I only have 2 IDs with my hubby surname and since I already give my postal ID on the reception area then I use my student permit but sad to know they did not accept it, so i ask if its OK that I will give my SSS ID with my family name as single since I didn't update it yet to my married status. I'm quite relax because they accepted it. Then the lady handed me a form to fill out. Then after I finish handed it back to her. He ask me some few questions like my husband s name and birthday. The lady had picture taken digitally and told me to proceed to room 2.
I was in doubt because the room number is 2 but the name posted outside the door is Europe when I enter the room there was 10 people already when I came in and to make sure if I'm in the right room I ask the person behind me and yes I am.
We were 15 in the actual seminar room with only one man in attendance; the rest were women. I know everybody is nervous when a person who enter our room to conduct the seminar looks like very strict and he admit he is but for me he is nice though. He start calling out names from a handful of forms he was holding and handed the form back for some corrections. The lecture start almost 10:00 am already and started by introducing oneself. The seminar is very useful and discuss lot of topics, the Do and Don't which you can apply when you arrive in your country of destination. Some are only after for the certificate but i think both are very important.
After the lecture we go for a one-on-one interview. He ask me 4 questions. Some of the questions are base on the information that I wrote on the form
1. What dating site did I met my husband
2. Did we talk with my husband that he will not divorce me
3. Where did we get married when and where?
4. Name of the judge who did the civil right
After the interview he told me to proceed to the payment and releasing area at the ground floor.
Since we have registered beforehand, our documents have been forwarded already to the cashier for further processing while we were attending the seminar. Once the fee is paid, and an official receipt is issued, wait for the Certificate of Attendance to be released.
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