Hi precious, the embassy only sent back the photos, cards, (boarding passes = we submitted to show where we went for our honeymoon). The original legal documents like marriage certificate etc were not returned. They sent the passport with visa along with the photos via courier (collect). My wife and I are very happy too that soon we'll be together. Thank you. Good luck.
Regarding the seminar, my wife only attended the guidance & counseling seminar for spouses of foreign nationals then she registered at CFO. It's a half day procedure. Unlike the PDOS wherein a schedule is needed; the guidance & counseling seminar accepts walk-in. She went to PRISM in Manila. For inbound Canada's schedule is every Tues & Friday 1:30pm, and there is fee of 650.00 pesos I think, You can check this website for more details
My wife also found out, that certain Airlines have promotional airfare for first time landing immigrant. Please check Cathay Pacific or Air Canada. In our case, the only available seats is in Aug. We could not wait that long anymore, so we opted to go with regular airfare. =) I miss my wife dearly. Can't wait any much longer. I hope that these answer some of your questions.
Have a nice day and good luck.
Hi Rob, so nice to hear you'll be flying back here with your wife.