The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) requirements are not easy to understand and there seem to be no official websites that discuss how it works (there is cfo.ph which is supposedly the official government site but you can only link directly to a couple of specific pages there (item 3 below), with no general website.).
Since it's so relevant to the Philippine forum, perhaps it warrants a sticky?
My situation: American husband waiting for Philippine wife's US visa.
Getting the CFO certificate seems to require (for trip to the USA):
1) valid visa
2) a copy of my passport
3) completion of a pre departure seminar (the forums here seem to indicate they are in person only, but the CFO website has a site to view the videos online with no mention of in person requirements)
Online Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) – for Filipino Emigrants to the United States of America (USA) (cfo.net.ph)
4) Report of Marriage Abroad (ROM)
Step 4 requires a lot of other steps. I must first mail our marriage certificate to have it "apostilled" and returned to me. Then wife must mail me her PH birth certificate, which I mail along with mine and the apostilled marriage certificate, in quadruplicate, to the PH Consulate in the USA, and then eventually receive a Report of Marriage Abroad (ROM) which the Philippine authorities will ask for if they see a US VISA in her passport. A lot of paperwork, a bunch of fees, but I will do it if I absolutely have to.
Is the above correct?
Is step 4 absolutely necessary for her to leave for the USA?
We are considering a trip to Taiwan next month. It seems she needs government permission to leave the Philippines so this may also require CFO certificate, particularly if she mentions she is flying abroad to visit her foreign husband (also will they harass her about not yet registering in the Philippines as married? Should she say husband or fiance? Threads here say you are "single" in Philippines until you record your marriage with the Statistics Office.) How difficult is this going to be? Is she still going to need a copy of my passport, completion of the seminar, etc.? Should she even mention me at all? This will be a short week long trip.
Finally, I have read in a thread here that
Does this mean a CFO certificate is good for multiple trips? Once we obtain a CFO certificate for a meeting in Taiwan can that be used on future trips abroad? Can it be used for her emigration flight to America?
