My Start Deutsch A1 Exam Result

It was such a nail biting week while waiting for the result. I was not confident and I knew I could/should have done better. Just think how happy I was when I receive a phone call from my teacher informing me of the Good News? Yes, I passed the exam! Yey! I know I still have a long way to go but at the moment, please allow me to savor this happiness.hehehe.

The Envelope carrying the Good News!

You have the option to have your Start Deutsch A1 Certificate delivered to your home. They will use a local courier to deliver it at your door step. With mine, I have them (Goethe Manila) send it to my teacher at school. This is how she found out that I passed. She get to teased me first too but I did not mind and I was jumping in joy at the end. hehe. 

Deutsch A1 Certificate

I have to be honest with you: I was sad after my exam because I knew I did not do well. I was fearful in fact and was hoping that time that I get the passing mark which is 60%. So yes, I am happy to get a grade more than that. But after the mixed emotion settled in, I started to have regret feelings and thought that I could have done better. Just incase you have the same feelings when its your time: I would like to remind you that irregardless if you get a 99 or a 60 passing mark, that the important thing is that you got the certificate. And anyway, had we not made it, we would only wish that we at least reach the cut off passing grade. :)

To those who passed, Congratulation! And for those who will have their exam soon, Good luck!!!

Umlaut for the English Keyboard

Here is the list of the Special German letters that is not available in the English Keyboard:

•      Ä     =     ALT0196  
•      ä      =     ALT132 or ALT0228
•      Ö     =     ALT0214
•       ö     =     ALT0246
•      Ü     =     ALT0220
•      ü      =     ALT129 or ALT0252
•      ß      =     ALT0223, ss
•      €      =     ALT0128, euro currency  

To use the code:

1. While pressing down the ALT key from your keyboard, key in the number code.
2. Release the ALT key and viola! The Special Character will appear.

Good luck!!!

P.S. Be sure your keyboard have the NUMLOCK on. You will know this if the keyboard indicator for this is lighted.

CFO seminar -- My Experience

I went to St. Mary Euphrasia Foundation - Center for Overseas Workers (SMEF-COW) Cebu branch which is located almost infront of the University of San Carlos (USC) North Campus' gate. Prepare an entire day if you plan to attend the seminar.

SMEF - COW
3rd Flr. Aya-ay Arcade
General Maxilom Avenue (mango avenue)
 Cebu City
Tel #235-3745 to 46

When you arrive at the building, go to the guard and have your name listed. Their maximum per day is 20 people. Have all the necessary documents photocopied. There is a nearby store who have a photocopier and they charge 2php per page. You can ask the guard about this.

On my case, my partner & I are both single and have no children. We are both of legal age and are not yet married. We are going to marry here in the Philippines. I decided to take the seminar in advance (yes, I am a living proof that this can be done).

I was ask to bring the ff. documents in Original & 1 photocopy (unless specified):
--- My Passport (front & back)
--- My NSO Birth Certificate
--- My Valid ID(s) with picture in it
     Note: If you bring your passport, you only need 1 Valid ID, otherwise, need 2 IDs.
--- Some  sweet pictures of you and your partner (no need to photocopy).
     Note: They will only pick one and will include it in their file.
--- His Passport (front and back) --- photocopy only
--- His Singleness & Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage --- photocopy only
--- FEE: 250php

The SMEF-COW's
Certificate of Attendance
(Blue Copy)

You will be ask to fill up a registration form of you and your partner. Basic information needed are Home address including zip codes, Mother's maiden name (surname while they were single), Educational attainment, Occupation, Name of workplace and address, his kids name (if applicable) and the likes. If you do not know the answer, they will insist that you contact your partner immediately to get the needed information.


During the seminar, they showed us 2 clips from a local TV show. We have a group discussion afterwards. It is like a marriage seminar and I personally find it important for those who have short courtship with their partners. After the seminar, we were ask to come back after lunch for our interview. The one-on-one interview will depends on the information you wrote.

They have different handbooks that specialize
in your Country of Destination
This is mine.

When they have no more additional documents to ask from you, they will release your Certificate of Attendance (blue copy). At this point, they will give you an option to buy a handbook with a compilation of basic things you needed to know of your Partner's country. This costs 100php. I choose to get it not because I felt I needed it but because it is my way to show them I support them.

Congrats and you can now proceed to Cebu's CFO office which is located near Cebu's DFA. When reaching there, you just need to present the SMEF-COW certificate (blue copy) and a photocopy of this. Just present these along with 400php and viola! You are done and now have your CFO (green copy) certificate. My waiting time is only 5 minutes. If during this time you already have your visa with you, you can claim the sticker as well.

The CFO Certificate
(Green Copy)

I still do not have the visa so I have 3 option to choose from for next time:
-- Go back CFO Cebu for it
-- Go to CFO Manila
-- Go to NAIA when about to leave/ride plane
You do not need to pay again. Just need to present your CFO certificate.

Other important facts:
--- Seminar schedule in Manila are dependent on what country is your destination. Be sure to check on their website. For Cebu, there is no segregation of destination. Just be sure to arrive early to list your name at the guard.
--- They will NOT allow you to leave the country without the sticker and the green certificate. Be sure to get them prior your departure.
--- Keep your green copy in a safe place. It will be costly if you lose it.
--- The certificates have no expiration date.

And there you have it! It wasn't so hard, isn't it? Have fun with yours!

CFO Certificate & Sticker

As requirement in leaving the Philippines thru family reunion visa, fiancee visa or working visa, the immigration officer will look for the CFO Certificate & Sticker that is affix inside your passport with the approved visa.

Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) handles concern for permanent residents and immigrants overseas including spouse & fiancee of foreign national. To gain the Certificate, you need to attend a seminar and undergo an one-on-one interview.

This may sound like wasting time. But for those who went home crying from domestic abuse and the likes -- they will say that this is important. What happen to their experience you can avoid by simply giving yourself a chance to reflect on what they have to say.

For other information, you can check the CFO official website.

Start Deutsch A1 Exam -- My Experience

Finally my examination is over. I have been worried about it the whole week. As most did, I also went to ask around to the people who took the exams before and passed. I was reassured over and over again that it is easy. Nevertheless, I continue what a good student would do: STUDY! And now, its my time to share my own experience:

Our Exam Information

A week before the examination, Goethe Manila will send you an email about the where to held the examination. They will also include the schedules. You will be numbered according to your Surname's first letter that is arrange alphabetically. For the written exam, your sitting arrangement will be strategically placed in a room full of long tables having 2 chairs in it. For the oral exam, we were group together by 4 based on the attendance list.

IMPORTANT:
Please arrive at least an hour earlier than your schedule examination with your Passport or NBI clearance.
-- No Passport or original NBI clearance =  no exam
-- If you arrive late = no exam
-- No exam = no second chances = no refund of your money

Greeting us at the Entrance

Not to scare anyone who read this, but I really have a hard time with my written exam. Specifically the listening part. After the exam, I really feel stupid and I was very disappointed with myself. I only realize that the exam was really difficult when everyone suddenly comment on how hard the exam was. But this does not ease my worry on passing the examination or not. Suddenly, the most important thing now is to get that passing grade of 60%. After all, its the certificate we really need irregardless what grade is printed on it.

During the Oral exam, the proctor will tell her instructions in German. I was smiling thru out because I did understand every word she said. It send such a good vibration. I portray myself very confident but in reality: I knew I made some mistakes. I did find the situation funny. lol.

So now it boils down to this: Waiting for the result. Hoping its good news! It will be 10 days or earlier a bit before we know who made it and not. I am planning to do my CFO seminar in the mean time and I will update you guys about it. This is all for now.

Thanks for reading!

P.S. Some of your batch mate might attempt to cheat and will try to convince you to "help" them. Please do yourself a favor and protect yourself -- do no such thing. Never mind if this stranger get mad at you. If you get caught of cheating or 'helping' this person, you are risking your own exam result. The penalty is that they forfeit your exam. I do not think its worth it, do you? Just my two cents.

Last Day of my A1 Deutschkurs

My, my. How time flies by. I have a silly grin on my face as I re-read about my first day in class experience. Yesterday (August 03) was our last day in school. There was lot of picture taking going on before and after the class. Overall, my German class experience was awesome. I truly have a good time & happy to gain good friends. We all be seeing each other again this weekend: for our Start Deutsch 1 examination. (dun-dun-duun).

The things to bring for the Examination:

1. Passport
-- Its a strictly 'No Passport No Exam' policy.
-- You can present an original copy of your NBI clearance if your passport not available.
Note: With NBI clearance they will allow you to take the exam but you need to present your original Passport in getting your Certificate.

2. Black Ballpen (at least 2)
-- The last thing you wanted is in between your exam, the ballpen stop writing. Eeeks!

3. Jacket (optional)
-- Just incase its too cold for you.

To all who are taking the exams: Good luck!!!

Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage Paper part2

Your German Partner finally receive your Philippine Documents for his Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage  Paper (yey!). If its already translated to German, then he can already visit his Standesamt with all your documents along with his Passport & his Birth Certificate.

The processing for this paper varies from each Standesamt, so do not panic incase you have a different experience. They are really case-to-case basis. Here are the 2 common experiences that I was able to gather:

1. There are some whose Standesamt requests for document checking first (of the Philippine partner) and ask them to pay around 12,000php equivalent. It took them 2-3 months to get their papers. The good thing about this is that they are no longer subjected to document checking when they process their visa.

2. There are some whose Standesamt did not ask for document checking anymore but they will be ask to pay an equivalent of 5,000php for processing the documents. Your partner can get this paper less than a month. Those who are done with their visa process mentioned that this document checking was ask from them after the interview at German Embassy Manila. It is safe to assume that most of the applicants will be ask of this.

On our experience, we were not ask to do the document checking yet. My partner must be extremely lucky and he got his paper on the same day when he filed. Cool huh?

After getting his 'Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage' paper, you still have one more step to go: Give it to the German Embassy in the Philippines and have them issue a "Consular Certificate". In this document, they will certify that your partner is free to marry you: they will put both of your names there. They will also put the validity period of the said Certificate. The Good Consul will have the certificate stamp and sign for. Your partner's paper will become its attachment. Then there you have it: you are done!

To have this step done, you have the following choices:

1. Have your German partner hand carry it and personally drop by the German Embassy either in Manila or Cebu.
-- Allot 2-3 extra days for the pick up just incase.

2. Have your German partner send it to-and-fro the Embassy via courier.
-- He can do this while he is still in Germany. Or if he chooses, he can bring it with him in the Philippines and send it via courier (maybe you are living outside Manila or Cebu). Again, allot extra weeks for this.

3. Have your German partner send it to you and you will be the one to visit the German Embassy.
-- It will be best that your partner includes an authorization letter allowing you to process it for him and that the purpose of the document is for your marriage.
-- bring your passport with you for identification purposes.

On our case, we did the third option at German Embassy Cebu. I also have his Birth Certificate translated. Like other documents, the rates are in Euro but you need to pay them in pesos based on the current market rate. Both the Birth Certificate translation and the issuance of the Consular Certificate of the Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage costs 2,000php. The certificate was ready to pick up after a day.

Hope it helps! Good luck!