CFO question. Unusual circumstances

[timk 1]

Hi all, 

It's been a few years since I have requested help/opinions on Visa Journey.

My journey has been very long and drawn out, so I will try to summarize best I can. 

 

2014-2015: My then fiancé received her K-1, attended the CFO seminar in Manila, and received her certificate. 
                      Visa arrived all in good time, but we were unable to make the transition to America due to rotten circumstances that lasted MONTHS. Visa expired out. No Sticker.

 

2018: We married in Phil, filed for CR-1/IR-1 one year later, and she just received her second Visa 2 weeks ago. 

 

It is my understanding, that her CFO certificate does not expire. Since we already have her new Visa and the certificate of completion, does anyone know what with the "new normal" online classes, how we would obtain the sticker?

I have been having a heck of a time trying to contact CFO via phone. 

 

Thank you all.

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to Philippines regional forum; topic is country specific.

[flicks1998 1,044]

It does expire out and there is an expiration date on it. Ours was good for slightly less than 6 months. Also you don’t need the “sticker” to leave. They will email you the “certificate” and that can be used at immigration.  Don’t wait around for them to mail it to you. It may never come. Print the certificate from the email. We just did all this last month. 

The class is just a phone call with a consular and last about 15 minutes. That is the class. After as long as they have all the documents they asked for they will email the certificate. 

Edited April 1, 2021 by flicks1998

[timk 1]

Flicks, thank you for the info.

Weird.....ours does not have an expiration date on the certificate. Thank you again.

[Joe Kano 327]

4 hours ago, timk said:

Flicks, thank you for the info.

Weird.....ours does not have an expiration date on the certificate. Thank you again.

I haven't seen a expiration on CFO sticker either

 

If no expiration date then you should be good to go

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

2 hours ago, Joe Kano said:

I haven't seen a expiration on CFO sticker either

 

If no expiration date then you should be good to go

I just looked at my wife's certificate and there is no expiration.

 

Perhaps the passport stamps had an expiration?

[John & Rose 7,239]

No expiration on my wife's either.  She did the seminar for our denied K-1 so she never got her sticker until over a year later with our CR-1.  They never questioned it.

[flicks1998 1,044]

We had an expiration date of 

15 hours ago, timk said:

Flicks, thank you for the info.

Weird.....ours does not have an expiration date on the certificate. Thank you again.

Ours was issued on February 8th 2021 and in the bottom left corner there is "Valid until July 31st, 2021."  We left the Philippines on February 19th.

[flicks1998 1,044]

15 hours ago, timk said:

Flicks, thank you for the info.

Weird.....ours does not have an expiration date on the certificate. Thank you again.

I just checked a few immigration law websites and it appears the CFO has no expiration date.  However, I am clueless as to why ours was given an expiration date of July 31st.  It wouldnt have had an effect as the visa expiration was much sooner.  Maybe the expiration date is a "new thing"?  🙄  As others have said, if you have no expiration date you should be good to go.

Edited April 1, 2021 by flicks1998

[angeljolie 188]

If I read it right, the temporary certificate expires. 

[flicks1998 1,044]

20 minutes ago, angeljolie said:

If I read it right, the temporary certificate expires. 

That could be. That’s the one we used to leave the country. It would have been a few weeks to receive the permanent one by mail. 

Edited April 2, 2021 by flicks1998

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

4 hours ago, flicks1998 said:

That could be. That’s the one we used to leave the country. It would have been a few weeks to receive the permanent one by mail. 

Yes, that is it.  There is a post with a picture:

 

 

[flicks1998 1,044]

8 hours ago, seekingthetruth said:

Yes, that is it.  There is a post with a picture:

 

 

Yes great find.  Thats exactly what ours looked like.  Appears the temporary certificate does have an expiration date.  The expiration date may not be an issue that its so far out that it appears the visa would expire before the CFO temp certificate. 

[timk 1]

I finally got in touch with a CFO rep via FB chat. Calling was a nightmare of course. They basically said the certificate does not expire, but that we still need to register via the "pink button" on the CFO website, in order to get the sticker she needs. 

I guess the pink button is the registration link for people that have already completed the seminar, but were in a holding pattern for various reasons. 

 

Has anyone experienced a similar procedure in recent times?

(Ironically within the past 48 hours, that Facebook page no longer exists. Unreal....)

 

 

 

[timk 1]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to try and revise this thread, as I have another question.

My wife was successfully able to amend her original CFO certificate, from her single to married name. 

We now have her temp. certificate, which will expire on July 31, 2021.

 

THE CFO rep has not exactly been clear with us regarding the use of the temporary, vs the official document with sticker that they will send in a few weeks.
 

"You may use your OF-CORS temporary certificate on your departure if you have a scheduled flight prior to July 31, 2021 (the validity of the temporary certificate). As the OF-CORS temporary certificate is only valid until July 31, 2021, you will still need to receive your original CFO registration sticker and GCC which do not have expiry dates."

 

So I am either an idiot, or the above comments from the CFO rep does not make any sense to me. 

 

My question: Are we able to fly using the temporary certificate prior to the expiration date? She is ready to go, so we do not want to wait another "few weeks" if we do not have to. 

Thank you everyone. Much appreciated if somebody can help us out here.