Visa Expiration Date and CFO Sticker

[An D 27]

We signed up for online GCP back in May. The counselor emailed us at that time told us to email her a scan of the visa once we have it on hand so that we can proceed. We are now finally expecting the visa to be delivered next week, 2 months later. She is not replying since that initial email, and we are not sure if we will be able to proceed with online counseling at this point given the above message (which has been floating around for a couple days). Her flight is scheduled for August 23rd but it is out of Clark, not Manila, in case that matters. Some people said you can show up in Manila with your visa and flight leaving same/next day and complete the counseling but that won't be possible in this situation. I'm not even sure if it's true anyways. 

 

I'm not entirely sure why they have made this process as painful as possible, but mission accomplished. 

[RO_AH 1,659]

3 hours ago, NeonParticles said:

Apparently they're no longer doing online counseling, unfortunately.  We just signed up for face-to-face counseling without visa on hand yet and the closest appointment was at the beginning of OCTOBER.  Insane... 

Have you tried calling or emailing them?

[top_secret 2,417]

13 hours ago, An D said:

We signed up for online GCP back in May. The counselor emailed us at that time told us to email her a scan of the visa once we have it on hand so that we can proceed

 

I'm guessing they are taking that very literally.  My impression is that at this point you have nothing coming without "visa on hand".  If her last instruction was to email her a scan of the visa.  Most likely she is stubbornly and deliberately refusing to even acknowledge you until her last instruction is completed.  It is what it is.  Traditionally CFO usually somehow comes through at the last moment on an emergency basis.

[GinoNiña 182]

On 7/14/2023 at 7:21 AM, An D said:

We signed up for online GCP back in May. The counselor emailed us at that time told us to email her a scan of the visa once we have it on hand so that we can proceed. We are now finally expecting the visa to be delivered next week, 2 months later. She is not replying since that initial email, and we are not sure if we will be able to proceed with online counseling at this point given the above message (which has been floating around for a couple days). Her flight is scheduled for August 23rd but it is out of Clark, not Manila, in case that matters. Some people said you can show up in Manila with your visa and flight leaving same/next day and complete the counseling but that won't be possible in this situation. I'm not even sure if it's true anyways. 

 

I'm not entirely sure why they have made this process as painful as possible, but mission accomplished. 

CFO counseling visa not required, it’s in their website instructions.  

[An D 27]

20 hours ago, top_secret said:

 

I'm guessing they are taking that very literally.  My impression is that at this point you have nothing coming without "visa on hand".  If her last instruction was to email her a scan of the visa.  Most likely she is stubbornly and deliberately refusing to even acknowledge you until her last instruction is completed.  It is what it is.  Traditionally CFO usually somehow comes through at the last moment on an emergency basis.

 

We just received the visa and sent her it finally and CC'd a few extra CFO emails we collected. Hopefully when they re-open Monday they can take care of us. 

 

4 hours ago, GinoNiña said:

CFO counseling visa not required, it’s in their website instructions.  

 

Not sure what you're saying here. CFO GCP registration requirements include a copy of the visa. 

[top_secret 2,417]

2 minutes ago, An D said:

We just received the visa and sent her it finally and CC'd a few extra CFO emails we collected. Hopefully when they re-open Monday they can take care of us. 

 

Best of luck. CFO definitely does not lift a finger from Thursday afternoon until Monday morning Manila time so remember that.  Honestly the best tactic for dealing with CFO is appeasement.  Just play along with whatever they say and don't go against them.  They also generally won't deal at all with the US petitioner and might even deliberately exclude you, so make sure all communication with them is directly from your wife. 

[Teedee428 11]

On 7/12/2023 at 7:24 PM, Chad9797 said:

My finace received her Visa yesterday and it seems there is not much time to get the CFO sticker because it is difficult to get an appointment at this time.. 

 

Her medical and Visa both expire on the same date - Aubust 18th..  So we have about a month to get the CFO sticker.

 

What happens if we are not able to get an appointment fot CFO by then and the Visa and medical expire?

 

Also. I heard that you can go to the airport at terminal 1 to get the CFO sticker.. I have tried to call there with no luck.. Do you already have to have a seminar completion certificate to go there? 

 

Do you have to have a plane ticket before you go to the airport at terminal 1?

 

Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

We managed to book the CFO counseling in Cebu two days ago. The first appointment they have available was September 12, which we took. And yes you can book an appointment without having a visa yet. I know we’d still have to go back to get the CFO sticker once we get this visa. Btw at this point we only have NOA-1 and likely may not get NOA-2 until sometime next month or early September based on current processing rate assuming no RFE. From talking to a few people we decided we’d just go ahead and schedule the initial counseling and then go back for the sticker immediately we get the visa. Maybe try one of the other cities (Davao, Cebu or the third one, can’t remember) and walk in. Explain the situation and you might be able to get it done same day or faster. 
good luck 

[GinoNiña 182]

3 hours ago, Teedee428 said:

We managed to book the CFO counseling in Cebu two days ago. The first appointment they have available was September 12, which we took. And yes you can book an appointment without having a visa yet. I know we’d still have to go back to get the CFO sticker once we get this visa. Btw at this point we only have NOA-1 and likely may not get NOA-2 until sometime next month or early September based on current processing rate assuming no RFE. From talking to a few people we decided we’d just go ahead and schedule the initial counseling and then go back for the sticker immediately we get the visa. Maybe try one of the other cities (Davao, Cebu or the third one, can’t remember) and walk in. Explain the situation and you might be able to get it done same day or faster. 
good luck 

Thanks for confirming about no visa required. I read this somewhere in their instructions. I don’t know why some people making it so complicated. They’re just making us confused. And don’t need the sticker anymore. It’s now in digital form. 
My fiancée is having a seminar next week as well. Waiting on nvc number still. The problem is she never got the barcode from them. She got confirmation number and date of seminar but no time of the day. I hope they’ll accept her. 

[An D 27]

2 hours ago, GinoNiña said:

Thanks for confirming about no visa required. I read this somewhere in their instructions. I don’t know why some people making it so complicated. They’re just making us confused. And don’t need the sticker anymore. It’s now in digital form. 
My fiancée is having a seminar next week as well. Waiting on nvc number still. The problem is she never got the barcode from them. She got confirmation number and date of seminar but no time of the day. I hope they’ll accept her. 

But you do need a visa to complete the process. You can complete the face to face seminar without one but you still need the visa to actually receive a certificate. You would have to go back again when you have the visa.

 

You replied to my post about the online counseling saying no visa is required. That's wrong. If you're doing it online you can't proceed without a clear copy of the visa. For face to face, just straight up saying no visa required is false. It is required to complete the counseling process. 

Edited July 16, 2023 by An D

[GinoNiña 182]

1 hour ago, An D said:

But you do need a visa to complete the process. You can complete the face to face seminar without one but you still need the visa to actually receive a certificate. You would have to go back again when you have the visa.

 

You replied to my post about the online counseling saying no visa is required. That's wrong. If you're doing it online you can't proceed without a clear copy of the visa. For face to face, just straight up saying no visa required is false. It is required to complete the counseling process. 

Yes you correct. What I meant to say is you can go ahead and finish your seminar getting it out of the way without visa on hand. So when you get the visa no need for another seminar and get the digital certificate. No more sticker. 

[Teedee428 11]

22 minutes ago, GinoNiña said:

Yes you correct. What I meant to say is you can go ahead and finish your seminar getting it out of the way without visa on hand. So when you get the visa no need for another seminar and get the digital certificate. No more sticker. 

Good to know that people no longer require a physical CFO stamp after getting the visa. Makes the process a lot easier. 

[Chad9797 7]

My fiance was able to get in touch with someone who is going to arrange an online appointment.. We had to pay them a fee..

 

She sent her all the information yesterday..  As I mentioned earlier, her Visa and medical expire Aug 18th

 

We will see if it is possible to get everything completed on time.. Thank you everyone for your input

[Chad9797 7]

ok, So we were able to get the face to face appointment for July 24th.. She was able to find someone that had contacts in the office and she made the arrangements for us.. We paid her a fee and she was succesful.

[GinoNiña 182]

1 minute ago, Chad9797 said:

ok, So we were able to get the face to face appointment for July 24th.. She was able to find someone that had contacts in the office and she made the arrangements for us.. We paid her a fee and she was succesful.

Can you give us the person info, we might have to do the same. Congratulations by the way. 

 

 

[Chad9797 7]

Thank you.. Sure.. I will have my finace contact her to see if she wants to accept another case.. After she talks to her I will let you know.

 

Have a great day!