cfo new requirement?

[GinoNiña 182]

my fiancee is trying to schedule her cfo prior to obtaining her visa. I sent her all the required documents from me, like , us passport, birth certificate.  But she also mention about my police clearance? where do I get this document from? do I need to produce this? 

 

[RO_AH 1,659]

This is what is required:

1. Valid passport;
2. Valid visa or visa grant notice; and
3. Petitioner's passport
4. Marriage certificate or Report of Marriage - ROM (in PSA security paper) (if married)

 

They can request more things but you don't need to worry about until they request it.

 

Additional documents may be required in the event that the counselor determines it to be essential to complete the guidance and counseling process.

1. Divorce decree/certificate (of Filipino spouse or foreign spouse, if previously married);
2. Annulment paper (of Filipino spouse or foreign spouse, if previously married);
3. Proof of residency/Alien Registration Card-ARC (of foreign spouse);
4. Proof of relationship (picture together, e-mails, among others);
5. Death certificate (of Filipino spouse or foreign spouse, if widow/widower);
6. Certificate of Family relations / registration (of foreign spouse);
7. Declaration of undertaking of travel in letter format to include the following activities to prepare for travel, Itinerary of Travel and How to ensure safe travel and stay (if will be required by counselor/facilitator);
8. Affidavit of invitation and support (financial support/safety/medical insurance) notarized and authenticated by the Philippine Embassy or Consulate who has jurisdiction over the destination or host country (if will be required by counselor/facilitator);
9. Explanation on why the foreign partner cannot travel to the Philippines in letter format (if will be required by counselor/facilitator);
10. Valid no criminal records certification/clearance or any equivalent document to indicate lack of criminal derogatory record or medical/psychological condition (if will be required by counselor/facilitator).

Edited May 12, 2023 by RO_AH

[GinoNiña 182]

based on my researched, there are only 3 items that are coming from me(petitioner). 1)unexpired US passport. 2) divorce decree. 3) birth certificate. the rest are from her. 

[top_secret 2,384]

10 minutes ago, GinoNiña said:

based on my researched, there are only 3 items that are coming from me(petitioner). 1)unexpired US passport. 2) divorce decree. 3) birth certificate. the rest are from her. 

 

CFO is whatever the "counselor" says it is.  They absolutely have the authority to make up rules as they go along.  First look at what RO_AH mentioned about the difference between minimum requirements and possible additional requirements.  Did the counselor actually come back with a secondary request for police clearance after submission of the minimum basic requirements?  They certainly could, but it's less common on a visa case.  They usually reserve some of their crazier requests for applicants wanting to travel alone to meet sponsors or partners not connected to a visa petition.

[W199 329]

34 minutes ago, GinoNiña said:

based on my researched, there are only 3 items that are coming from me(petitioner). 1)unexpired US passport. 2) divorce decree. 3) birth certificate. the rest are from her. 

All she needs is your passport to apply for the CFO.  Then the counselor will decide, what if any additional documents are needed.

 

Nonetheless what we did is to also send then them our documented photo album in hopes when she see's how nice it is, that they won't ask for additional documents.

 

They just said since you applied for a K-1, and that requires all the documents, we don't need anymore documents and gave her the CFO. It only took 2-3 days from signing up online for the online CFO to get the certificate

Edited May 12, 2023 by W199

[GinoNiña 182]

8 minutes ago, top_secret said:

 

CFO is whatever the "counselor" says it is.  They absolutely have the authority to make up rules as they go along.  First look at what RO_AH mentioned about the difference between minimum requirements and possible additional requirements.  Did the counselor actually come back with a secondary request for police clearance after submission of the minimum basic requirements?  They certainly could, but it's less common on a visa case.  They usually reserve some of their crazier requests for applicants wanting to travel alone to meet sponsors or partners not connected to a visa petition.

Noted...Thanks!

she is working on  doing the tele seminar. 

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

As noted, what is required is what the assigned counselor requests of either of you. Failure to produce it could result in the CFO being denied. I had to get my police clearance for my fiancé. I had to request it through the FBI. All I had to do was fill out a form and go to a local office to get my fingerprints scanned. About a week or so later they sent me a report. My background was blank so I’m not sure if others may take longer. Our counselor asked for all kinds of obscure things. A lot of which had to be apostilized by the state of Texas. That took about a week and a chunk of change. Be flexible. The counselor is basically vetting you as a decent human being. If they don’t like something about you, you may get denied. 

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

I'm pretty sure this is the service we used:

 

https://www.identogo.com/services/history-check/fbi-history-check

[dnavinnie 132]

I was required to get a police clearance for wife's CFO in 2021. I went to my local police department, signed a form, then they sent me a document in the mail that proved I had no police record.

[Jason and May 79]

When my now wife and I were going to meet in Thailand for the first time and she needed her CFO, we gathered all the documents either she knew other couples had been requested to produce or that we thought might be needed. One of these was akin to a police clearance; what I actually produced was a statewide CIB (Crime Information Bureau) report run by my sheriff's department for me. For us, that document was sufficient for the CFO and immigration at NAIA. 

 

That said, our situation was different than yours: She didn't have a K visa to come to the U.S. We were just meeting in person for the first time, so the scrutiny at that point was much greater. 

 

Good luck with your journey!

[Erik and Glydyl 26]

An update for everyone. They recently changed the CFO process so that you cannot even schedule it until AFTER you have your fiance visa in hand, so no more scheduling in advance and , of course, theres a waiting list for the CFO as well so now its going to take even longer to be seperated from your loved ones. Someone correct me if Im wrong about this.

Edited September 20, 2023 by Erik and Glydyl

[madmanmike 191]

2 hours ago, Erik and Glydyl said:

An update for everyone. They recently changed the CFO process so that you cannot even schedule it until AFTER you have your fiance visa in hand, so no more scheduling in advance and , of course, theres a waiting list for the CFO as well so now its going to take even longer to be seperated from your loved ones. Someone correct me if Im wrong about this.

My fiancé had her CFO course scheduled for last Monday. This was scheduled without the visa. She received an email 6 days before the course saying she had to cancel because they no longer will do the course without a visa in the passport. 
 

Her interview is in 3 weeks. Now we have no idea how long it will take to get the CFO certificate after the interview. CFO is a giant black hole of zero information. 

[Steve & Erma 36]

20 hours ago, Erik and Glydyl said:

An update for everyone. They recently changed the CFO process so that you cannot even schedule it until AFTER you have your fiance visa in hand, so no more scheduling in advance and , of course, theres a waiting list for the CFO as well so now its going to take even longer to be seperated from your loved ones. Someone correct me if Im wrong about this.

My understanding is that you use to be able to attend the seminar online too, but they got rid of that as well, anyone know for sure? So now everyone is going in person to the CFO for it which is causing an even longer backup. I can see the scalpers who do the PSA appointments skirting the rules and making money somehow.

 

BTW you guys scared me for a minute... I thought I was going to have to send my physical passport to my wife. LOL

[Erik and Glydyl 26]

I thought the same thing. So its just copies of pages then?

 

[madmanmike 191]

7 hours ago, Steve & Erma said:

My understanding is that you use to be able to attend the seminar online too, but they got rid of that as well, anyone know for sure? So now everyone is going in person to the CFO for it which is causing an even longer backup. I can see the scalpers who do the PSA appointments skirting the rules and making money somehow.

 

BTW you guys scared me for a minute... I thought I was going to have to send my physical passport to my wife. LOL

As far we can research, there is no more online seminar. In person only.