I heard that a CFO Certificate of Attendance is no longer required for a Filipino who is married to a foreigner when the Filipino is applying for a passport for the first time.

However, the CFO web site says that first-time passport applicants who are married to a foreigner must provide a CFO Certificate of Attendance when applying for a passport.

Also, the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) web site has a passport application form which shows the same requirement...the CFO Certificate of Attendance is required. The passport application form is dated November 2008.

Has the CFO requirement changed?

QUOTE (Tahoma @ Oct 14 2009, 11:03 PM)

I heard that a CFO Certificate of Attendance is no longer required for a Filipino who is married to a foreigner when the Filipino is applying for a passport for the first time.

However, the CFO web site says that first-time passport applicants who are married to a foreigner must provide a CFO Certificate of Attendance when applying for a passport.

Also, the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) web site has a passport application form which shows the same requirement...the CFO Certificate of Attendance is required. The passport application form is dated November 2008.

Has the CFO requirement changed?

Yes, CFO certificate is needed

Thank you for your response. Did you recently apply for your first passport? Did they require a CFO Certificate?

QUOTE (Tahoma @ Oct 15 2009, 01:20 AM)

QUOTE (NinJones @ Oct 14 2009, 10:03 AM)

QUOTE (Tahoma @ Oct 14 2009, 11:03 PM)

I heard that a CFO Certificate of Attendance is no longer required for a Filipino who is married to a foreigner when the Filipino is applying for a passport for the first time.

However, the CFO web site says that first-time passport applicants who are married to a foreigner must provide a CFO Certificate of Attendance when applying for a passport.

Also, the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) web site has a passport application form which shows the same requirement...the CFO Certificate of Attendance is required. The passport application form is dated November 2008.

Has the CFO requirement changed?

Yes, CFO certificate is needed

Thank you for your response. Did you recently apply for your first passport? Did they require a CFO Certificate?

I am yet to amend my passport to my married name, altho my passport is still valid, I called Pilipinas Teleserv for the requirements (just a month ago) and they told me that a CFO certificate is needed.

You may want to pm Shiela-Todd, I've seen her timeline before that reads "Ready to get passport in Married name" but never seen her update her timeline with anything-CFO, left me a bit wondering but I never really had the chance to ask.

I befriended a girl while having my medical at SLEC, she is a first time passport holder with a naturalized USC husband, she complied with the CFO before getting her passport and never had any problem.

btw, this is probably an inquiry on behalf of a friend, since you're already on AOS status, I won't assume this is for you. But anyways, it's always better to comply than be disappointed later on.

You do not need a CFO to get a passport. When you apply for the passport dont tell them you plan to marry just that you wish to travel. When my wife applied she told them she was getting married to me and they asked for the cfo cert which she didnt have, when she told me this I told her to go to another office and just say she wanted to travel and needed the passport. They then took her application and issued the passport.

QUOTE (Richard90027 @ Oct 15 2009, 02:51 AM)

You do not need a CFO to get a passport. When you apply for the passport dont tell them you plan to marry just that you wish to travel. When my wife applied she told them she was getting married to me and they asked for the cfo cert which she didnt have, when she told me this I told her to go to another office and just say she wanted to travel and needed the passport. They then took her application and issued the passport.

The OP is asking for a person married to a foreign national .. not getting married to a foreign national

Thanks NinJones. I got my GC already. Tahoma posted the question on behalf of someone.

Have a safe trip to the US.

~ Chinook

My Wife was already married to me when she applied for and received her first ever passport.

She didn't need to attend a CFO anything. She just applied for it and received it.

Maybe she'll chime in when she wakes about her experience.

hi tahoma!

i had my passport renewed and have it on my married name last aug'09.. at first i didn't know that CFO certificate is required.. so when i got to DFA Clark Pampanga, they told me that i have to attend the seminar first and secure the CFO certificates (the yellow one and the grean one) before i could have my passport amended to my married name.. i attended the seminar last aug 27, and the following day, returned to DFA, presented the CFO certificates, and that's it.. my new passport was delivered to me after 9 working days..

--osen

When I applied for passport using my husband's name in July '09, I was asked for a photocopy of CFO (the green one) certificate.

First time passport applicants and passport renewal applicants who want their married name to a foreign spouse to appear on their passport need to present the CFO green certificate (for cross-reference/verification) and provide them with a photocopy of it (they will take that and you have to keep the original for future use).

I had my passport amended in September 2009, they required the CFO green certificate.

hi sis when i applied for a passport February 2009 they never asked me for any CFO certificate. I just presented my Highschool Yearbook,my Nbi clearance and my postal ID,my birth certificate issued by NSO. and thats it. no CFO certificate or whatsoever. Im using my husbands last name on my passport and all of my other documents.

hmm .. seems like everybody's not the same afterall ... but still, CFO is required before getting out of the country anyways ... IF I were a first time applicant - married to a foreign national - and has the intention to get out of PH, there would be no reason for me not comply with the CFO. 2 cents

Thank you to everyone for your replies.

It looks like some people needed the CFO Certificate and some people did not need it. Maybe the rule has changed and some passport offices do not know about it.

The same thing is true here in the U.S. when a K-1 Visa holder applies for a Social Security Number. Some offices know the rules while others do not.

Of course, it makes sense for a Filipino to play it safe by attending the CFO Seminar before applying for a first-time passport, no matter if they are engaged to a foreigner or if they are married to a foreigner.

~ Tahoma

Yeah, it's required for GETTING OUT OF THE COUNTRY. As I understand it you need to show either your passport or a photocopy of the Identity Page to be admitted to the CFO Seminar. How can you get CFO Certificate which requires passport without first getting passport?

Sounds like a misunderstanding to me.

Maybe I should explain the situation better:

The people I'm trying to help are a married couple. He is a U.S. citizen and she is a citizen of the Philippines. At the time they met, they both lived in the Philippines. They got married in the Philippines and they still live there.

They do not plan to live in the U.S., nor anywhere but the Philippines.

She has never had a passport.

They simply want to be able to vacation in Hong Kong, China, or Viet Nam, etc. That's the reason she needs a passport. It seems unnecessary that she would be required to go through the CFO seminar.

As one poster said, maybe it's better to tell the passport office the reason you want a passport is to travel. Maybe it's as simple as that.

~ Tahoma

hi, i have just read your timeline, how was your medical and interview experienced? What laboratories you undergo? like blood test, urine test ? thanks

maybe if the last name sounds too foreign... then they'd require it. safer to just get one and bring it along when applying for passport. i renewed mine in July and the officer asked for it.