Cody&Razely

That is interesting ... and good to know about being about to get the certificate without the visa.   CFO has not been consistent with this during the beer virus lock down.
 
Thanks for the update.
 
As for CFO berating people .. like a shark they always "smell blood" when the person is meek, shy or timid.  Those that are self-assured and confident don't get the intense interrogations.
 
 

Cebu has an OK reputation for the CFO, same as Clark.  I know people who have traveled to both places to avoid Manila.  If the CFO was done right, it could be a valuable seminar, kind of like a cross cultural training and insight to rights as well as responsibilities in the new country.  Focusing on importance of paying and filing taxes, work place expectations, general laws, domestic abuse, even constitution rights.  But as you mention, it can be just a belittling of the applicants, manipulation, scare mongering, etc etc etc.

This has been the complaint for years about the CFO.  It was particularly bad when they were held in person.  Manila was notorious for a "bad" office.  The fiance doing the CFO needs to be a firecracker during this seminar and not put up with their BS.  

Well I booked the tickets for first week of December.  Manila-Istanbul-Panama on Turkish Airlines.  I'm flying in on Copa Airlines from LAX to Panama at the same time so we can rendezvous on the connection and fly from Panama into Costa Rica on Copa Airlines together.  Planning to get married in Costa Rica.  I'm still working out the details of that but there does not seem to be any major obstacles.  Marriage of foreigners seems very easy and straightforward in Costa Rica.  Maybe throw in a honeymoon in Cartagena Colombia while we are in that part of the world. 

Corruption? What corruption?
 
"There is corruption in every corner of the Bureau of Immigration (BI). In the 'pastillas' scam, we estimate that its masterminds [pocketed] P30 billion, that's based on the arrival data of non-VUA Chinese nationals," she said partially in Filipino. "
 
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/10/20/2051039/masterminds-behind-pastillas-scheme-pocketed-around-p40-billion-hontiveros-says
 
 
 

He does love the Chinese and so does Davao City.
 
You go to China town in Davao City, and it's huge and you will see each stall has flock of Philippines citizens working there, and the Chinese owner is in the back making all the calls like a "GodFather"
 
I read Chinatown in Davao city is the largest China town in the whole country.    Duterte seems to be be heavily influenced by the Chinese and has been for decades...

Yeah exactly, I think this is just to get the chinese back since dirty seems to be in love with all things communist. They got rid of the retirement visa and instituted this, but then announced it is only for those who previously held the same visa prior and now they can re-enter. You'd have to be crazy or chinese to think about wanting to fork money over into a failing economy.

lol, I love (sarcastic  ) Payxibka this guy (/girl) literally has to poke at everyone at any opportunity lol Boooorrriiiinnngggggg

lol, I love (sarcastic  ) Payxibka this guy (/girl) literally has to poke at everyone at any opportunity lol Boooorrriiiinnngggggg

Yes it is a scam. They use it to make money and give people a job.  Why do they tell US Citizens they need to take it? Scam
 
Why do they try to get you to sign up for Philippines Credit Cards while you are in the seminar? Scam
 
Why do they try to have you remit money back to Philippines for SSI? Scam
 

CFO is just a scam for the most part.
 
Play the game, pay them the money and finally get a pass to leave the Philippines.
 
Just another way the Philippines Government has figured  how to screw over their citizens

I wound't invest one peso into the Government of Philippines.
 
It's not a investor friendly country, most of the laws favor their citizens and put foreigners behind the eight ball on disputes or laws.
 
Corruption is still systemic in the Philippines, and beside when I head to Philippines it for pleasure/vacation time, not to worry about trying to make a peso.   $75K investment in Philippines, good luck with that visa.
 
Who would invest in country with poor infrastructure.  Who has corruption as normal part of life.

It's gonna be a pass for me.
 
Funny how they are trying now to do this visa

It is a huge benefit that she has successfully traveled before and especially if it was with you.  Bring proof of that.  Hong Kong doesn't stamp passports but she should have Philippine Exit and Entry stamps in her passport to show for it and you too.   Send her copies of your passport and Philippines stamps related to the Hong Kong trip.   If you both didn't throw out those little slips of paper HK Immigration gives you instead of stamping passports that would be good to.  The real key is that if she is dependent on you to be able to pay for the trip, she had better be able to prove that relationship.  IMO you would be a useless endeavor and just wasting your time e-mailing PH Immigration in advance.  
 

My attitude towards the Philippine exit immigration is they are mostly actually trying to protect their citizens from dangers they may face overseas.  Although they do mess it up bigtime in the implementation sometimes, and I know two women who had trips unjustly destroyed by Philippine exit immigration, their intentions are mostly good and they are mostly trying to do what is right.  So prepare to prepare to  work through it with them rather than taking an adversarial attitude with Philippine exit immigration.
 
Do look at what the penalties may be if plans get upset because they very much may get upset.  We had about $2,000 prepaid resort reservations in Cancun but when we got tossed out of Mexico but we at least got those got those canceled and refunded in full.  We had free changes on airline tickets as well.   Due to COVID, allot of airline and other travel related industries are offering very favorable change and refund rules at the moment to bring back tourists.  Give your business to those that do have favorable terms for unexpected changes.
 
We are now also currently planning to try to get to Costa Rica in early December where we will marry at that time.  As far as I can tell, all foreigners need to marry in Costa Rica is passports and money to pay for a notary/attorney to process the paperwork.  I am trying to arrange the details of the notary/attorney now.   Then I will petition as CR-1/CR-2  (CR=Costa Rica😉) instead of K-1/K-2. The only other hang-up is my fiancée has a new passport application in with DFA in the Philippines getting her surname corrected and somehow (?) expedited processing is unavailable so she needs to wait until the end of November to get her passport back. So probably early December we will try.
I discovered an interesting fare rule with Turkish Airlines that may be of interest to some.  Outbound Turkish Airlines tickets purchased in the Philippines are often as much as $500 cheaper that the same tickets purchased outside the Philippines.  IE, If I buy the ticket from a Philippine travel agent rather than online.  We will probably fly Turkish Airlines Manila-Istanbul-Panama and then get a separate ticket from there to Costa Rica.
 
For fairly definitive information about travel restrictions and document requirements always check with the IATA (International Air Transport Association) web site.  That is perhaps the most accurate and definitive source of that information since they exist to serve the airlines and it is the exact same information the airlines will use in their check-in system to decide if they should let a Filipina board a plane headed for Costa Rica.
 
https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/passport-visa-health-travel-document-requirements.htm

Fingers crossed. Let us know how it goes!

My fiancées ill-fated trip to Mexico in August transited Frankfurt Germany going to Mexico, who tossed her back to Frankfurt Germany,,,,, where we rebooked her from airside to Brazil.  The Germans were actually quite friendly and helpful the whole time.  Mexico, not so much.  There are a few exceptions but yea, transiting 'most' Schengen states is no problem at all for a Filipino Passport so long as the final destination will allow it.

Head's up, the Schengen states are starting to lock down again so a transit through any of the affected countries may become difficult again.

I have sent documents from Texas to Bacolod using FedEx.  It cost a fortune, but it was received in four or so days.

Sooooo, My fiancé (after 4 days of sweating unnecessarily about it lol)  Did as the CFO told her to do in the first place and skipped the part where the Visa upload was required completed the rest based on the information of what will be her eventual need for CFO (K-1Visa which is still pending "At NVC) and got her Seminar within hours with no email asking for any more information. But Upon going into the seminar (which is not a seminar but simply they give you a phone number and a time to call and then you listen to someone talk for 20+ min) the CFO counselor was very nice and gracious but told her that she did not need and would not be issued a CFO certificate because she did not have a visa of any kind (not that a visa is required to get a CFO) but that because she is technically traveling only for tourism and is not coming to my home country to do so, then she can go anywhere else in the world she wants to and meet with anyone she wants fiancé or not with no CFO cert. 
 
So I was hoping she could get it just for in the future and to make things smoother at the airport but no such luck. 
 
Also, Yes she will be fully prepared I will be sending her the following. (as was the case with our I-129f I like to bury nosy people with mountains of docs lol)
Affidavit of Undertaking / Guaranty Notarized and Apostilled by the Attorney General Affidavit of Support & Sponsorship Notarized and Apostilled by the Attorney General Declaration of Support with Invitation Notarized and Apostilled by the Attorney General My Bank Transcript issued on a bank stationary signed by the branch manager for the last year with totals, deposits, averages, etc... My Employment Verification listing my employer, my standing with the company, my hire date and my salary My last three years of IRS Record of Account transcripts My last 6 months of pay stubs An Authorized User Credit card in her name to my credit account at my bank A large sum of money to her bank account, a few thousand $ My Credit report in full My FBI Criminal history  Signed & Dated letters of statement Attesting to my character and the credibility of our relationship from various family members listing how they are related to me and how long they have known me Signed & Dated letters of statement Attesting to Her character and the credibility of our relationship from various family members listing how they are related to her and how long they have known her 12 pages of photo's of us together in person just us and also us with her family at gathering and at home 12 months of conversation transcripts between me and her and screen shots and photo's of us video chatting Round trip tickets full Travel & Medical & Covid Insurance Pre-booked accommodations for the entire duration Negative RT-PCR Test Results etc... there's some more but I forgot what else lol As well as printouts of legal outlines for exiting BI Law, IATF Exiting Guidelines, the Law allowing Apostille in stead of Consulate Authentication, etc... 
 
Should be fun, wish us luck lol
 
 

I just arrived in the Philippines today to visit my wife. I posted in another forum about securing a visa first and that was less painful than expected. I flew on PAL from JFK to Manila. In New York the airport was empty and check in was fairly quick. They just ensured that I had a Valid visa before issuing my boarding pass. They also have you fill out a health declaration form you hand in at the checkin counter. I flew business class and the lounge was closed so they gave a $25 food voucher which could only be used at Hudson News since everything else was closed.
 
The flight boarded a little early and left early too. On board they announced that masks and face shields were required at all times except when eating and they handed out face shields to all passengers. I noticed only about 50% of passengers wore the face shield on board and they did not enforce it. I was surprised that business class was 100% full. The flight itself was similar to other flights I have taken with them. The food was basically the same except it wasn’t plated and still in the containers it was heated in and covered and plastic utensils and cups were used. Before landing they handed out 5 different forms to fill out. Two were the normal customs and immigration forms and the other 3 were for health and contact tracing. Upon landing we were told to remain seated as the Coast Guard would board to give us instructions.
 
I was expected chaos when deplaning and figuring out where to go for the COVID test. To my surprise it was very well organized. You first go to a booth to pay for the test which was $86. Be aware that you do have to register for the Covid test 3 days before your flight and present a QR code you receive by email. Next you go to the next booth for the test. After that it is on to immigration. A word of caution that despite having a Visa they asked for the marriage certificate and entered all that information into their system. Very few questions were asked and it was off to get my bag. The bags were all off of the carousel and ready to be picked up. Next it was off to the hotel registration desk where they ask for your booking confirmation and they take down the details. They offered a private car to the hotel which I know is more than a taxi but in light of the circumstances I thought it was best. I got in the car and was in my hotel in short order. To my surprise I got my Covid result in about 8 hours by email. Next I had to apply for my quarantine certificate. I did that online and am waiting for that. You need both the certificate and negative test result before the hotel will let you check out. I did confirm after I get that I can check out and go be with my wife in Makati for the remaining 14 day quarantine period. Happy to answer any questions you have.

Yes, she had docs in hand in Marikina by mid mornings on Monday. So three days to Marikina. When I Fedex the first set of docs to her in Legazpi it took 5 days. 

I finally got all of the documents (I hope) and have mailed them to the Philippine Consulate in NYC today.  They will probably get my documents by Thursday and I have paid the expedite fee so hopefully will have a positive response by early next week.  
 
It took about a week to get the documents from the Philippines that are needed for the application.  

I just sent docs to my wife who is from Legazpi , but currently staying with family in Marikina on Friday evening.  I used FedEx.  Cost was 85 dollars. Arrive there today.  She has doc  now in hand. 

Back in 2011, I was in hurry and left my credit cards at my house on my way to Philippines.
 
Had them Fed Ex there and seem to take about a few days, I was in the Davao region if that matters