CFO (Mis)information

[RnB 0]

I would like to start on a positive note. Today, I (with my husband) was finally able to pick up my visa from 2Go and right away proceeded to the CFO along Quirino Avenue to get my sticker. I already have my ticket for our US flight tomorrow so at this point we were really ecstatic. I expected to have a smooth and quick transaction at the CFO since I already have my Guidance Counselling Certificate..but I was wrong.

It all started when I finished filling up the registration form. I brought it to a lady in one of the windows. I right away requested that they print my sticker in my maiden name since that's what's in my passport and visa. She assured me it would be better to have it in my married name or else I would have to get another certificate later if I decide to renew my passport and have it in my married name.

She then went on to verify my educational attainment...I had checked "post graduate level" on the form since I have a few masteral units but I didn't finish it. She then asked me what college degree I have so I told her. Then she asked why did I check "unemployed" on the form. I said it's because I am unemployed now. She asked where was I employed before and I mentioned the government agency I was part of (one of the few highly regarded ones). Then she went, "so you have all your clearances already, right?" I was surprised and asked why would I need it since I resigned more than a month ago. She said I absolutely have to have it and a faxed or scanned&emailed copy won't do. She said the immigration officer at the airport would need the original. This is when my panic began.

I started calling our regional office in Mindanao and tried to get them to send me my original clearance. (I went back to my hometown after resigning so the regional office is far from where I've been living since then.) I really didn't care much about it before as I thought I wouldn't need it since I'm resigned (unlike if I'm still incumbent and going on international travel which necessitates a travel authority). They were able to send me fax and scanned copies but the original was a big problem since flights are getting cancelled there today due to the typhoon. My mom suggested I go to our national office here to get the clearance but it turned out I would still need the regional clearance or at least some sort of endorsement.

Thankfully, God guided my husband to suggest to me that instead of going to our national office here, we should go to the Bureau of Immigration to get a checklist and clarify exactly what they would ask of me at the airport. To get to the end of the story, an airport immigration officer whose name I made sure to take note of (he told me his name and I saw his ID too) told me I would only need my passport, visa, and CFO sticker AND NOTHING ELSE. I had to ask him again and he was amused and assured me that it's really all I need. I even told him the whole story and he said it does not really matter now. I felt like a ton of weight was lifted off my shoulder...and my husband was beaming.

Now, in all of these, it makes me wonder WHY DID THE CFO HAVE TO CAUSE ME SO MUCH PANIC AND WORRY BY GIVING ME WRONG INFORMATION? And if they were right about the clearance, WHY WAS IT NEVER MENTIONED WHEN I WENT THROUGH THE GUIDANCE COUNSELLING SEMINAR? It's just frustrating. I wish they would have regular meetings with the Bureau of Immigration so they can update each other on the requirements and pass on those relevant information to their clients who they claim to be protecting and helping to have a smooth travel and life abroad.

I hope and pray that our departure tomorrow would go well and no unpleasant surprises would turn up. I am sharing this rather long story so others would be warned. In hindsight, it makes more sense to go straight to the BI office since it's their people who do the screening at the airport.

Edited October 24, 2012 by RnB

[Tahoma 2,292]

...What a great story! Thanks for posting your experience. I have never heard of this issue before. This is a new one from the CFO. If I were in your shoes, I would have panicked too. I'm really glad you got it straightened out.

What would you have done if you hadn't talked to the BIA guy? Would you have tried to board your flight with the emailed document you had in your hand already?

Message to the CFO: I hope you are reading this thread and you have the courage and humility to post here that you were wrong and that you caused your kabayan unnecessary stress. Not only do you owe her an apology, but you should apologize to all of your other kabayan who you misled.

[neodragon0l 6]

Thank you for your story. My fiancee also works at a governmental unit. I would hate for her to panic. Let us know what happens tomorrow. Good luck and welcome to US!

[Freyja1208 2]

1351098768[/url]' post='5777159']

I would like to start on a positive note. Today, I (with my husband) was finally able to pick up my visa from 2Go and right away proceeded to the CFO along Quirino Avenue to get my sticker. I already have my ticket for our US flight tomorrow so at this point we were really ecstatic. I expected to have a smooth and quick transaction at the CFO since I already have my Guidance Counselling Certificate..but I was wrong.

It all started when I finished filling up the registration form. I brought it to a lady in one of the windows. I right away requested that they print my sticker in my maiden name since that's what's in my passport and visa. She assured me it would be better to have it in my married name or else I would have to get another certificate later if I decide to renew my passport and have it in my married name.

She then went on to verify my educational attainment...I had checked "post graduate level" on the form since I have a few masteral units but I didn't finish it. She then asked me what college degree I have so I told her. Then she asked why did I check "unemployed" on the form. I said it's because I am unemployed now. She asked where was I employed before and I mentioned the government agency I was part of (one of the few highly regarded ones). Then she went, "so you have all your clearances already, right?" I was surprised and asked why would I need it since I resigned more than a month ago. She said I absolutely have to have it and a faxed or scanned&emailed copy won't do. She said the immigration officer at the airport would need the original. This is when my panic began.

I started calling our regional office in Mindanao and tried to get them to send me my original clearance. (I went back to my hometown after resigning so the regional office is far from where I've been living since then.) I really didn't care much about it before as I thought I wouldn't need it since I'm resigned (unlike if I'm still incumbent and going on international travel which necessitates a travel authority). They were able to send me fax and scanned copies but the original was a big problem since flights are getting cancelled there today due to the typhoon. My mom suggested I go to our national office here to get the clearance but it turned out I would still need the regional clearance or at least some sort of endorsement.

Thankfully, God guided my husband to suggest to me that instead of going to our national office here, we should go to the Bureau of Immigration to get a checklist and clarify exactly what they would ask of me at the airport. To get to the end of the story, an airport immigration officer whose name I made sure to take note of (he told me his name and I saw his ID too) told me I would only need my passport, visa, and CFO sticker AND NOTHING ELSE. I had to ask him again and he was amused and assured me that it's really all I need. I even told him the whole story and he said it does not really matter now. I felt like a ton of weight was lifted off my shoulder...and my husband was beaming.

Now, in all of these, it makes me wonder WHY DID THE CFO HAVE TO CAUSE ME SO MUCH PANIC AND WORRY BY GIVING ME WRONG INFORMATION? And if they were right about the clearance, WHY WAS IT NEVER MENTIONED WHEN I WENT THROUGH THE GUIDANCE COUNSELLING SEMINAR? It's just frustrating. I wish they would have regular meetings with the Bureau of Immigration so they can update each other on the requirements and pass on those relevant information to their clients who they claim to be protecting and helping to have a smooth travel and life abroad.

I hope and pray that our departure tomorrow would go well and no unpleasant surprises would turn up. I am sharing this rather long story so others would be warned. In hindsight, it makes more sense to go straight to the BI office since it's their people who do the screening at the airport.

This is very informative.Thank you for sharing Good luck and God bless!

[wilfon 30]

I would like to start on a positive note. Today, I (with my husband) was finally able to pick up my visa from 2Go and right away proceeded to the CFO along Quirino Avenue to get my sticker. I already have my ticket for our US flight tomorrow so at this point we were really ecstatic. I expected to have a smooth and quick transaction at the CFO since I already have my Guidance Counselling Certificate..but I was wrong.

It all started when I finished filling up the registration form. I brought it to a lady in one of the windows. I right away requested that they print my sticker in my maiden name since that's what's in my passport and visa. She assured me it would be better to have it in my married name or else I would have to get another certificate later if I decide to renew my passport and have it in my married name.

She then went on to verify my educational attainment...I had checked "post graduate level" on the form since I have a few masteral units but I didn't finish it. She then asked me what college degree I have so I told her. Then she asked why did I check "unemployed" on the form. I said it's because I am unemployed now. She asked where was I employed before and I mentioned the government agency I was part of (one of the few highly regarded ones). Then she went, "so you have all your clearances already, right?" I was surprised and asked why would I need it since I resigned more than a month ago. She said I absolutely have to have it and a faxed or scanned&emailed copy won't do. She said the immigration officer at the airport would need the original. This is when my panic began.

I started calling our regional office in Mindanao and tried to get them to send me my original clearance. (I went back to my hometown after resigning so the regional office is far from where I've been living since then.) I really didn't care much about it before as I thought I wouldn't need it since I'm resigned (unlike if I'm still incumbent and going on international travel which necessitates a travel authority). They were able to send me fax and scanned copies but the original was a big problem since flights are getting cancelled there today due to the typhoon. My mom suggested I go to our national office here to get the clearance but it turned out I would still need the regional clearance or at least some sort of endorsement.

Thankfully, God guided my husband to suggest to me that instead of going to our national office here, we should go to the Bureau of Immigration to get a checklist and clarify exactly what they would ask of me at the airport. To get to the end of the story, an airport immigration officer whose name I made sure to take note of (he told me his name and I saw his ID too) told me I would only need my passport, visa, and CFO sticker AND NOTHING ELSE. I had to ask him again and he was amused and assured me that it's really all I need. I even told him the whole story and he said it does not really matter now. I felt like a ton of weight was lifted off my shoulder...and my husband was beaming.

Now, in all of these, it makes me wonder WHY DID THE CFO HAVE TO CAUSE ME SO MUCH PANIC AND WORRY BY GIVING ME WRONG INFORMATION? And if they were right about the clearance, WHY WAS IT NEVER MENTIONED WHEN I WENT THROUGH THE GUIDANCE COUNSELLING SEMINAR? It's just frustrating. I wish they would have regular meetings with the Bureau of Immigration so they can update each other on the requirements and pass on those relevant information to their clients who they claim to be protecting and helping to have a smooth travel and life abroad.

I hope and pray that our departure tomorrow would go well and no unpleasant surprises would turn up. I am sharing this rather long story so others would be warned. In hindsight, it makes more sense to go straight to the BI office since it's their people who do the screening at the airport.

Wow, what a story, I believe most people would have panicked, I know I would have. I am glad everything worked out. Good Luck & Best Wishes

[We Are The Art 46]

Wow. Sorry to hear of your troubles and thanks for posting this info. I suspect you were dealing with a CFO rep who was simply UNinformed and maybe even just wanted to make your life difficult. I've heard many stories of hassles coming from Philippino reps throughout the process, even at the Embassy. I think there's a combination of factors that contribute to "bad attitudes" from some of the Philippino reps,especially at CFO. One factor is what is commonly referred to as "brain drain". As you know, the Philippines is very weak economically and opportunities for decent employment are very limited, this naturally leads to a large percentage of the citizenry seeking employment overseas. For this reason, it is often the best and brightest in the Philippines who are leaving the country. Therefore the overall quality of the remaining employee pool (for internal/national purposes) is deminished. The PI govt. is in fact very concerned about this and as well they should be. If the PI economy is ever expected to be able to "recover" or improve, it will be largely dependant on the valuable and essential contributions of it's most capable and qualified citizens. It's a difficult situation for everyone involved.

Secondly; While I have no "proof" of this, I strongly suspect there's a certain amount of plain old jealousy involved with some of the Philippino reps. They mistakenly see themselves as being "in authority" in their positions (even though they are mere clerks or assistants) and attempt to inflict their own dis-satisfactions and frustrations on those they view as "lucky" or fortunate enough to be escaping the struggles and futility that they themselves (and all other PI nationals) are left to face on a daily basis. I suppose this is a "natural" human tendency to be jealous and can be expected to some extent but, when it happens in a legal process as complex and demanding as immigration is, it can have an unjustifiable and extremely negative impact. (as you can personally attest to) I dare say it is entirely illegal for reps like that do what they do but, there are few if any checks and measures to prevent it. If/when someone encounters this type of discrimination, I strongly urge you to immediately seek the direct involvement of the superiors within which ever agency you are dealing with and stand your ground. If you know what you are being told is untrue, or even if you have reason to doubt it, don't hesitate to seek correct answers from an actual qualified representative elsewhere. (Superiors or even other agencies if required) While taking this approach may involve certain risks and delays, failure to do so not only may negatively impact your own situation, it will undoubtedly continue from the rep in question and directly impact others who have the great misfortune of being forced to deal with this type of abuse. There is absolutely NO justification for this kind of deliberate abuse, not even in the Philippines!

I believe the majority of Philippino reps and employees are by and large professional and perfectly qualified to perform their respective duties, it's those few "bad apples" in the program that make everyone's life difficult and leave a bad taste in the mouths of those unfortunate enough to encounter them.

I'm glad you stood your ground and eventually got through the process! Bravo to you and your husband! Best wishes for a smooth departure and your new life in America!

[Hank_ 9,174]

Typical CFO rep.... mouth in motion, brain not engaged. Seems like they all work from what every thought pops into their head, no facts necessary.

[Tintin and Mike 127]

Too much inconsistency with PH agencies and if you don't know any better then you'll believe them and mislead you.

Safe flight and welcome to US soon!!

[RnB 0]

...What a great story! Thanks for posting your experience. I have never heard of this issue before. This is a new one from the CFO. If I were in your shoes, I would have panicked too. I'm really glad you got it straightened out.

What would you have done if you hadn't talked to the BIA guy? Would you have tried to board your flight with the emailed document you had in your hand already?

Message to the CFO: I hope you are reading this thread and you have the courage and humility to post here that you were wrong and that you caused your kabayan unnecessary stress. Not only do you owe her an apology, but you should apologize to all of your other kabayan who you misled.

thanks! well, when i heard that no flight was going out that day and getting my original clearance was impossible and that the national office may not be able to help me, i was thinking of just letting my husband fly without me and asking him to rebook my ticket to next week. i was really sad at that prospect because my husband already extended his stay here for 10 days (meaning, asking his boss for more days off, paying for the visa waiver extension, paying for flight rebooking, expensive hotel stays, etc.). it was frustrating to think that in the end, we would just be flying to the US separately. i was really teary eyed at that thought and was having a hard time texting my husband to let him know what's going on (he was at the parking lot/waiting area while i was at the cfo office; they didn't let spouses in).

i was planning on doing that because i heard or read somewhere that once the immigration officer bars someone from leaving the country, they would cancel your plane ticket or something like that. i didn't want to waste what we paid for my ticket; paying for the rebooking fee and fare difference would have cost a lot less.

i am so glad that we made it through. my departure at NAIA 1 and my POE check at Honolulu went very smoothly. i'm in the US now, made it here 2 weeks after our first year anniversary. all's well that ends well. thanks to God! and all the helpful VJers, too. :-)

Edited October 28, 2012 by RnB

[RnB 0]

Thank you for your story. My fiancee also works at a governmental unit. I would hate for her to panic. Let us know what happens tomorrow. Good luck and welcome to US!

yeah, getting that a day before my flight was no fun at all. well, my interview with the immigration officer at NAIA went a lot better than we expected. in fact, there was no interview at all. it was even quite funny. i was lining up with my husband behind me and observing all the others ahead of us. i right away realized that we were just supposed to go to whichever window was vacant. there were about eight or so and it was going quite fast. when it was finally my turn, i walked quickly to a window with a female immigration officer. before i could even say, "good evening, ma'am!", she was smiling at me and teasing me in tagalog this way: "hey, why did you leave your husband? why didn't you not wait for him...he looked lost for a while when you quickly disappeared in front of him.." i had to laugh and say that i thought we can't both be in the same window and i wanted to avoid causing any delay to the people behind us. she couldn't seem to stop teasing me and she was making small talk while checking our passports. she commented that i'm lucky to be chased by my husband or something like that. :-D

the only "bump" in our departure was just the weather. we all got a scare when shortly after takeoff, the plane started shaking so hard that not a few people screamed. we left manila when the typhoon was raging so it was really quite scary. the plane stablized after 20 minutes or so. by then, i was crying because of both the scare and the thought that i won't be seeing my family for at least a year. :-(

[RnB 0]

This is very informative.Thank you for sharing Good luck and God bless!

thank you! just paying it forward..a lot of people here have helped me too with the stories they shared. :-)

[RnB 0]

Wow, what a story, I believe most people would have panicked, I know I would have. I am glad everything worked out. Good Luck & Best Wishes

yeah, i really panicked big-time. not only me but also my husband, my parents, and my ex-coworkers who were frantically looking for ways to send me the original clearance.(i heard our HR officer was even reprimanded for not making sure to send me a copy of my clearance right after i resigned.)

[RnB 0]

Wow. Sorry to hear of your troubles and thanks for posting this info. I suspect you were dealing with a CFO rep who was simply UNinformed and maybe even just wanted to make your life difficult. I've heard many stories of hassles coming from Philippino reps throughout the process, even at the Embassy. I think there's a combination of factors that contribute to "bad attitudes" from some of the Philippino reps,especially at CFO. One factor is what is commonly referred to as "brain drain". As you know, the Philippines is very weak economically and opportunities for decent employment are very limited, this naturally leads to a large percentage of the citizenry seeking employment overseas. For this reason, it is often the best and brightest in the Philippines who are leaving the country. Therefore the overall quality of the remaining employee pool (for internal/national purposes) is deminished. The PI govt. is in fact very concerned about this and as well they should be. If the PI economy is ever expected to be able to "recover" or improve, it will be largely dependant on the valuable and essential contributions of it's most capable and qualified citizens. It's a difficult situation for everyone involved.

Secondly; While I have no "proof" of this, I strongly suspect there's a certain amount of plain old jealousy involved with some of the Philippino reps. They mistakenly see themselves as being "in authority" in their positions (even though they are mere clerks or assistants) and attempt to inflict their own dis-satisfactions and frustrations on those they view as "lucky" or fortunate enough to be escaping the struggles and futility that they themselves (and all other PI nationals) are left to face on a daily basis. I suppose this is a "natural" human tendency to be jealous and can be expected to some extent but, when it happens in a legal process as complex and demanding as immigration is, it can have an unjustifiable and extremely negative impact. (as you can personally attest to) I dare say it is entirely illegal for reps like that do what they do but, there are few if any checks and measures to prevent it. If/when someone encounters this type of discrimination, I strongly urge you to immediately seek the direct involvement of the superiors within which ever agency you are dealing with and stand your ground. If you know what you are being told is untrue, or even if you have reason to doubt it, don't hesitate to seek correct answers from an actual qualified representative elsewhere. (Superiors or even other agencies if required) While taking this approach may involve certain risks and delays, failure to do so not only may negatively impact your own situation, it will undoubtedly continue from the rep in question and directly impact others who have the great misfortune of being forced to deal with this type of abuse. There is absolutely NO justification for this kind of deliberate abuse, not even in the Philippines!

I believe the majority of Philippino reps and employees are by and large professional and perfectly qualified to perform their respective duties, it's those few "bad apples" in the program that make everyone's life difficult and leave a bad taste in the mouths of those unfortunate enough to encounter them.

I'm glad you stood your ground and eventually got through the process! Bravo to you and your husband! Best wishes for a smooth departure and your new life in America!

thank you very much!

you have very good points which i agree on. many people who are paid to serve the public don't really have it in their hearts to be real public servants. it's just a job for them and they don't care much if they are actually making a positive impact on each client they serve. when i was still working for the government, we always had to face clients who were very suspicious of government offices in general. they would automatically give bribes and would be very unbelieving if we refused saying it's our job to serve them. they would be surprised that their transactions are done in 5 or 10 minutes because that's simply not what they expect. they would thank us endlessly if we went out of our way to help them like calling other offices to consult about their case so they don't have to go there themselves--little things that anyone who has applied for a government job and wanting to be a public servant should be glad to do. it is sad that that is not the norm yet or might never be.

as for the people specifically involved in visa and/or immigration process, i would say that there is both jealousy and also a bit of superiority complex in the sense that they think everyone who is applying for fiancee/spouse visa is someone who is just using a USC and desperately tying to get to america for a better life. they don't realize that many of us actually have comfortable lives already but just happened to meet and love a foreigner. that is not to say they have a right to look down on anyone applying for a fiancee or spouse visa for economic reasons; no one ever has a right to look down on a fellow human being. they try to emotionally and mentally abuse us by intimidation. i can only speak for myself when i say that i was not really intimidated by any of them as much as i was anxious to do everything right because i didn't want to spend any more time and money than necessary. my husband and i have been apart much longer than we liked and i really wanted to do my part well in our achieving our goal.

i am planning to contact the Office of the President or the CFO to call their attention to the need for more updated and accurate information dissemination. i was actually wanting to go back to the CFO right after i went to the bureau of immigration but my husband thought it would be best to wait until after i get here. :-D

[RnB 0]

Typical CFO rep.... mouth in motion, brain not engaged. Seems like they all work from what every thought pops into their head, no facts necessary.

yeah, there were actually two of them telling me the same thing. the lady who was handling my case tried to get the other lady in the window beside hers to agree with her when i asked why would i need the clearance if i'm no longer part of the government agency i worked for. the other lady said something about the immigration officer wanting to make sure that i really didn't have any pending obligation with my previous office. they also said something about how the database at the airport would show that when i applied for my passport, i was a government employee so even if i put "unemployed", they would still know my work history. it all sounded plausible so i felt i had reason to panic. oh, well..i'm glad but not really glad that they were wrong. :-D

[RnB 0]

Too much inconsistency with PH agencies and if you don't know any better then you'll believe them and mislead you.

Safe flight and welcome to US soon!!

thank you! it's been going well for me here, so far. :-)