MowTin

I was told the stamp on her passport is a temporary green card good for a year. I wasn't in Guam. I'm in NYC. They let her in and she explained her need to stamp her passport before expiration. Her dad is undergoing surgery right now so she'll come to NY in a couple of months. That was our original plan before we were surprised that the visa expired when the medical expired on Feb 7th.

Thanks! We're so happy this is all over. She was able to get her passport stamped. I was also a bit worried about the POE questioning why she's going to Guam instead of NYC where I live. Next time she leaves the Philippines and reenters the U.S. does she need to do anything else? Any more Filipino rules?

Good news, they let her take the class and she got the certificate! Thanks for the advice. She didn't even have to beg. They were very accommodating. She has the certificate. Does she need a sticker from the airport CFO desk?

I had heard of this counseling certificate thing but when it wasn't requested during the Visa application process I just assumed that it was necessary for a spouse visa. I thought it was a fiance visa thing. So, you had to retake the medical? Did that mean the sputum plus 2 months wait and interview all over again? How long did all of that take?

So, reading between the lines, should I have her try to grease the wheels a bit if things don't seem to be moving?

They certainly didn't tell her at any point. If everyone who gets a spouse immigrant visa needs this document it only makes sense that the interview would be a good time to tell them this. It feels like you have to rely on googling stuff to know all the requirements. (just frustrated because this was the final step in a long process). Her medical was 6 months ago because she lives in Davao and went for the medical in August. She was told she had to return for the sputum. She returned in September then had to wait 2 months for results. The sputum second trip plus 2 month delay messed everything up. Plus we had no idea that the visa expired when the medical expired. They must know people come from all parts of the Philippines to the medical. It really would make sense to take the sputum if needed at the time of the original medical appointment. Because of the visa expiry, the plan was for her to go to Guam to get her passport stamped. She was refused boarding because of this. Now if she can't get the CFO stamp Monday I doubt I can get a refund for the Guam ticket ($800). Then we have to pay more back and forth between Davao and Manila for another round of medial and interview.

I really pray you're right and they let her in. I really thought we jumped through all the hoops. She lives in Davao so she had to fly to Manila for the medical. At the medical they tell her she needs to do a sputum so she had to come back to do the sputum and then wait 2 months after that to be cleared and schedule the interview. The result is we got the visa on Jan 24th and it expires on Feb 7th. If the visa expires does it mean she has to do the entire medical including sputum again and the visa interview again? This is so frustrating. I really should have gone online looking for gotchas like this.

Oh no. Her Visa will expire Feb 7th because her medical will expire. She needs to get on a plane Monday night Feb 5h. I was hoping she could take the seminar on Monday. Once we had the visa, I thought that was the end of it.

So my wife was not allowed to board her flight to Guam because she didn't have the CFO Guidance certificate. We rescheduled the flight for Monday night. I see there are CFO seminars on Monday but I can't register for them since the system is for some crazy reason down on the weekends. I see some information about a way to take the modules online and do a questionnaire but the one page I found the register link leads to a login page with no option to actually register. Can this be done online? If not will she be able to register Monday morning and take the seminar that afternoon? I don't understand why this CFO things is not simply part of the visa process.

Thanks for the info. But I wonder if she would have a problem at the POE if they ask why she's in Guam when her husband lives in NYC? I don't want to take any risk.

My wife has her Interview on Jan 18. She passed her medical which was in August and expires on February 7th. She had to wait 2 months for a sputum test. 1. Is there enough time if she has the Interview on Jan 18 for her to fly out? 2. Can she fly to Guam and return to Phils to get her passport stamped? The reason is we didn't expect that she would have to leave by Feb 7th and we want a little more time for her to setting things. She has a small business and is training her sister to take over. Also, Ideally I'd like her to arrive in the Spring into in the middle of Winter. Any ideas?