CFO....A journey into madness

[nitrox]

My wife recently needed to change her status on her Philippine passport and we were informed that she would require the infamous CFO in order to do this, needless to say we had to take the two hour drive south to Manila to accomplish this.

We were informed that only 15 slots were available per day and were on a first-come first-served basis, which is utterly ridiculous. At 2 am we left the house to make the two hour drive to the CFO office in Manila to be sure we would arrive early enough to get ourselves one of the 15 slots.

Upon arrival at 3:20 am we were greeted by the sight of people already lined up, we were number 9. One poor couple had been there from 1 am and had traveled 18 hours just to get there. It is painfully obvious that this is a horrific system for anyone to have to deal with for such a document and I am really writing this so other couples are aware of what to expect with this documentation.

Considering the CFO is there to safeguard the protection of it's citizens abroad I found it unbelievable that at 2 am they had single woman waiting outside with no guard present and no CCTV. An easy place for anyone to be taken advantage of or robbed.

According to my wife the seminar covered such amazing information as "baggage allowance" and helpful tips such as taking a list of contact numbers with you when you travel. People really need a seminar for this type of stuff?!

I guess my point is that this is a horrible ordeal from start to finish and seems setup as a way to make more money out of people wishing to leave the country.

So, people beware.....Get there early, be prepared to wait, and don't go alone.

Dan.

[irishman12]

Dan - just wondering where those that travelled for 18 hrs came from?

[grahamw48]

I agree, the CFO is total nonsense .

However, it's their country, their system, and we're not going to change it.

Why would your wife need to change anything on her passport ?

[nitrox]

I agree, the CFO is total nonsense .

However, it's their country, their system, and we're not going to change it.

Why would your wife need to change anything on her passport ?

Her passport was out of date and also needing to change status as her previous passport was in her single family name. In order to have her married name added a CFO was required.

[grahamw48]

That's why my ex-wife DIDN'T change her name on her passport until she was safely in this country. Unless things have changed now, it's just not necessary.

The process is complicated enough, without adding to it...as you've discovered.