CFO - Need Advise

[Pedrito Papa 0]

My wife and I were married in Hong Kong 18 years ago and have been residing in the Philippines since shortly after getting married. She has been approved and recieved an IR1 visa from the US Embassy Manila. The only thing we need now is the CFO sticker. The CFO is telling us that we can not get that because our marriage contract was not authenticated by the Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong and we do not have a NSO registration of our marriage. We are supposed to go to the United States in July. What do we do now? Please help.

[redvelvet 12]

I suggest call NSO and ask how you can register your marriage.

[TnJ 131]

Sounds like you are in need of reporting your marriage. You will have to have it reported to the Philippines govt. in order for the NSO to have record of it. This link to the Philippines Consulate HK might help: http://www.philcongen-hk.com/cru/index.htm

In any case, if a Filipino national gets married abroad, the marriage has to be reported to the government in order for the civil registry and NSO to have a record of it. Since it hasn't been reported, CFO has no way of verifying your marriage.

[Pedrito Papa 0]

I've studied the CFO websit and the Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong website. The CFO states, "photocopy of marriage contract duly authenticated by the Philippine Embassy/ Consulate (if married abroad)" is required to go to the seminar. The Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong has a precedure for "Report of Marriage". Once you do the "Report of Marriage" at the Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong you will recieve a Report of Marriage signed with seal from them. I wonder if this would serve as the marriage contract being "authenticated" when taken to the CFO???

Thanks for all your help.

[Pedrito Papa 0]

Also, will the Philippine Immigration in Manila Airport let my wife fly to Hong Kong to do the Report of Marraige at the Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong if she already has a US Visa, but no CFO stamp? Maybe they will think she is trying bypass the CFO. That would be a real catch 22.

Thanks again.

[Tahoma 2,291]

Also, will the Philippine Immigration in Manila Airport let my wife fly to Hong Kong to do the Report of Marraige at the Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong if she already has a US Visa, but no CFO stamp? Maybe they will think she is trying bypass the CFO. That would be a real catch 22.

Thanks again.

I haven't read the Philippines Consulate Hong Kong website, but if reporting your marriage to them is anything like reporting your marriage to a Philippines Consulate in the U.S., then you can report your marriage by mail.

The way I understand the process is that you report your marriage to the Philippines Consulate which has jurisdiction over the place where you got married. In your case, that would be the Hong Kong Consulate. Then, the Consulate forwards the information to the NSO where your marriage is recorded. I understand the process can take up to a few months. I hope you can find a shortcut.

On the other hand, I've seen posts where the fiancée/spousal visa was issued by the U.S. Embassy Manila and the visa holder tried to fly to a non-U.S. destination, but were not allowed to leave the Philippines because there was no CFO sticker in the passport.

[Pedrito Papa 0]

I haven't read the Philippines Consulate Hong Kong website, but if reporting your marriage to them is anything like reporting your marriage to a Philippines Consulate in the U.S., then you can report your marriage by mail.

The way I understand the process is that you report your marriage to the Philippines Consulate which has jurisdiction over the place where you got married. In your case, that would be the Hong Kong Consulate. Then, the Consulate forwards the information to the NSO where your marriage is recorded. I understand the process can take up to a few months. I hope you can find a shortcut.

On the other hand, I've seen posts where the fiancée/spousal visa was issued by the U.S. Embassy Manila and the visa holder tried to fly to a non-U.S. destination, but were not allowed to leave the Philippines because there was no CFO sticker in the passport.

Man, this is a huge problem. How long is the visa valid for once issued by the US Embassy Manila? My wife medical was approved on March 6, 2013. Also, if she can not fly to Hong Kong I wonder how long it would take to register our marriage in Hong Kong with the NSO in Manila?

Thank you again everyone for the help.

[Tahoma 2,291]

Man, this is a huge problem. How long is the visa valid for once issued by the US Embassy Manila? My wife medical was approved on March 6, 2013. Also, if she can not fly to Hong Kong I wonder how long it would take to register our marriage in Hong Kong with the NSO in Manila?

Thank you again everyone for the help.

Generally, the visa is valid for six months from the date of the medical. The expiration date should be on the visa.

I'm not sure if the process would be much faster if your wife flew to Hong Kong to register the marriage. Even if she flew to Hong Kong, it's my understanding that the Philippines Consulate would still have to authenticate the marriage certificate and forward the info to the NSO. I'm not sure, but I don't think she would be able to leave Hong Kong with the authentication in hand, and then take it to the NSO herself.

The same thing goes if you were the one to fly to Hong Kong and report your marriage. I'm not sure that you would leave Hong Kong with the authentication in hand. I think the process involves the Consulate forwarding the information to the NSO. However, this is something you may want to ask the Consulate. Also, if you can't get the authentication yourself, maybe there's a way that the Consulate can expedite the process.

[apple21 953]

Go to Hongkong and do the Report of Marriage thingy, then fly directly to the US. HK airport officials won't be looking for your CFO sticker.

You can have your NSO marriage certificate mailed to you by a relative if and when it's already available at NSO.

Edited April 26, 2013 by apple21

[Pedrito Papa 0]

Go to Hongkong and do the Report of Marriage thingy, then fly directly to the US. HK airport officials won't be looking for your CFO sticker.

You can have your NSO marriage certificate mailed to you by a relative if and when it's already available at NSO.

That's true that the HK officials won't be looking for the CFO sticker, but the Manila Imigration Officials think will when they see the US visa in her passport. That is the problem, I don't think they will let her fly to Hong Kong. And I am overseas working on a ship and won't be back to the Philippines until July. We are working on sending a representative to Hong Kong to report the marriage at the philippine consulate in Hong Kong for us. There is a process described on their website where you can do that.

Thanks for the replies.

[Tahoma 2,291]

That's true that the HK officials won't be looking for the CFO sticker, but the Manila Imigration Officials think will when they see the US visa in her passport. That is the problem, I don't think they will let her fly to Hong Kong. And I am overseas working on a ship and won't be back to the Philippines until July. We are working on sending a representative to Hong Kong to report the marriage at the philippine consulate in Hong Kong for us. There is a process described on their website where you can do that.

Thanks for the replies.

I too think there's a high likelihood that Manila officials will be looking for a CFO sticker along with your wife's visa. I think you are doing the right thing in reporting your marriage.

Your representative should ask the Philippines Consulate Hong Kong about expedited processing for your report of marriage. I spoke today with an acquaintance who worked in two different Philippines Consulates in the U.S. and he said he believes Philippines Consulates offer expedited processing for a fee.

How is it that your wife does not already have a CFO sticker in her passport? You've been married 18 years. Has she never had her passport amended to her married name (which requires a CFO sticker)? Did she amend her passport to her married name before the CFO requirement existed? Or, maybe she still uses her maiden name.

[Pedrito Papa 0]

I too think there's a high likelihood that Manila officials will be looking for a CFO sticker along with your wife's visa. I think you are doing the right thing in reporting your marriage.

Your representative should ask the Philippines Consulate Hong Kong about expedited processing for your report of marriage. I spoke today with an acquaintance who worked in two different Philippines Consulates in the U.S. and he said he believes Philippines Consulates offer expedited processing for a fee.

How is it that your wife does not already have a CFO sticker in her passport? You've been married 18 years. Has she never had her passport amended to her married name (which requires a CFO sticker)? Did she amend her passport to her married name before the CFO requirement existed? Or, maybe she still uses her maiden name.

That's a good point and yes we did ammend her passport to her married name 18 years ago. We had to go to the CFO then too and my wife remembers the certificat she got there. Unfortunatley we don't have it anymore or the passport with the maiden name that would of had the sticker. My wife will go there on Monday to talk to them about it.

We talked to the Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong. They said if you report your marriage today you can get the Report of Marriage the next day.

[apple21 953]

That's a good point and yes we did ammend her passport to her married name 18 years ago. We had to go to the CFO then too and my wife remembers the certificat she got there. Unfortunatley we don't have it anymore or the passport with the maiden name that would of had the sticker. My wife will go there on Monday to talk to them about it.

We talked to the Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong. They said if you report your marriage today you can get the Report of Marriage the next day.

That's fast. Good to hear that from the consulate in HK.

[Tahoma 2,291]

We talked to the Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong. They said if you report your marriage today you can get the Report of Marriage the next day.

Will the NSO accept the authenticated marriage certificate from you, or will you have to wait for the Hong Kong Consulate to forward the info to the NSO in order for you to get an NSO annotated marriage certificate?

[Pedrito Papa 0]

Will the NSO accept the authenticated marriage certificate from you, or will you have to wait for the Hong Kong Consulate to forward the info to the NSO in order for you to get an NSO annotated marriage certificate?

I'm not exactly sure of the process. I the Hong Kong consulate will forward a copy of the Report of Marriage to the Civil Registrar General and the Department of Foriegn Affairs in Manila.

The CFO has the following statement on their website:

"Quote"

Requirements for Attendance to Guidance and Counseling Program

1.Two (2) valid identification cards (IDs) with photograph;

2.Duly completed guidance and counseling form;

3.If married, original and photocopy of marriage contract on security paper from the National Statistics Office, or Local Civil Registry Offices; or original and photocopy of marriage contract duly authenticated by the Philippine Embassy/ Consulate (if married abroad)

4.Other documents as may be required by the counselors; and

5.Payment of P400.00 counseling fee.

"Unquote"

I believe the Report of Marriage that we walk away with from the Consulate in Hong Kong will meet the "authenticated by the Philippine Embassy/ Consulate (if married abroad)" requirement. We hope to confirm all this on Monday when my wife goes to CFO and talks to them.