US Immigration from Brazil

Hello everyone,

Just figured I'd share my experience regarding my Immigration process hoping it could help someone if need be. So I got here on a K-1, got married, got the EAD, got the green card with conditions and applied for the green card without conditions over the last 5 years. As I was waiting for the removal of conditions for my green card (I-751) to be approved, I became eligible for citizenship. I started to research online others' experiences about what happens if you get called in for your citizenship interview without actually having your full green card. The consensus was that it was based on the officer you got because they could either expedite the application and do the interview for the I-751 at the same time as the interview for citizenship or they could send you home and tell you to contact them once you receive your green card--there was no guarantee it would work.

I decided to go for it and applied. I received my citizenship interview appointment for August, 2023 in New York City and I got really lucky that the officer was fantastic; she was really helpful. I brought my wife, just in case the interview for the I-751 would be conducted right then, and told the officer about the situation. I brought all my documents regarding the I-751 and she went to the back to see what she could do. She came out maybe 10 minutes later and said she looked over our I-751, reviewed the application and checked the proof. She requested for it to be approved. She didn't need us to go back and interview since we gave enough evidence through our application, especially our tax returns as we file together.

Going this route, and with the luck of a nice officer, it did expedite my I-751 approval. After she requested approval for the I-751, she took me to the back and conducted the citizenship test. She asked me seven of the questions that were on the study guide as well as asked me to read a phrase out loud and write a phrase down in English. She told me I passed but couldn't officially congratulate me since my I-751 needed to be adjusted from pending to approved. She told me it takes about a month, which it did, for my I-751 status to update. Once that was done, I received a letter in the mail about my oath ceremony and officially became a US citizen a little over a month and a half after the interview in August!

Do you have to file for adjustment of status before the end of the 90 day period? Me and my wife are ready to file the I-485 but we ve had a lot of expenses getting married and it s a slow time of the year for my work. This is making it difficult to pay the filing fee at the moment. Her 90 days is over on February 3rd.

I ve heard some people say that it makes no difference as long as we re married. And others say that some people have been deported for not filing or that it can make the adjustment of status more difficult.

My brother had his interview two days ago in Rio and the immigration officer held on to his passport and the only thing missing is my brother's son (petitioner) original birth certificate. They said to simply submit that and he will be approved but how? Does it have to be mailed in since they are not accepting our attempt at submitting certified translated and photocopies? The travel.gov website says:

Sending documents to the U.S. Consulate in Rio de Janeiro  If you need to send us any documents, you can mail them to U.S. Consulate General, Immigrant Visa Unit, Av. Presidente Wilson 147 Castelo, Rio de Janeiro RJ 20030-020. 

Is this the way? Is there a way to submit this electronically?

Hello - I am going through the AOS Green Card process after coming to the U.S. on a K-1 visa and getting married. I recieved a Request for Evidence letter in the mail detailing that I have submitted an incomplete I-693 Form and that I will need to get another medical examination for the medical doctor to give me a packet to send to USCIS, this will need to be done by March 2024.

When I was in Brasil for the Medical exam on 1/17/2023, I only recieved a DS-3025 Vaccination Documentation Worksheet. Which is what I included in the AOS packet latter after getting married, but I remember back in Brazil, the Medical clinic said that they'd mail info packet (presumably the I-693) to the embassy... and I went along to my visa interview and passed it just fine.

The RFE letter I got is vauge and does not explicitly tell you what was wrong with the original I-693 form, but it does mention that civil surgeons must use the 03/09/2023 eddition and that USCIS will not accept the 07/19/2022 version if the civil surgeon signed the form after May 30, 2023.

Do I really need to have another medical exam? Is there anything I can do legally?

If I must get another medical exam here in the U.S., can I use a copy of the DS-3025 (Vaccination Documentation Worksheet) as my vaccination records, since what I have from Brazil is an old portugese card for vaccination that will need to be translated... again. That old vaccination card is literally what got copied to the DS-3025 I have... why would I need to do a translation again if I haven't had any new vaccinations since?

This is my 2nd RFE and I am incredibly frustrated but beyond tired with the process to even muster emotion. It's been a long taxing, confusing 3yrs.

Hello friends,

I'm asking for your help again. I asked about this similarly a while back and got some great advice. Unfortunately the situation has gotten worse for my mother-in-law and brother-in-law. My wife is originally from Brazil and came here on a K-1, we've been married for 12 years now and she became a USC 3 years ago. We're trying to see if there is anything that we can do for her mom and brother.

Long story short, her mom is in an abusive relationship and her brother usually gets the physical end as he has to defend his mother. He tried to commit suicide in November and was unsuccessful, thank God, but honestly has no remorse from it. Everyone is afraid that he might try to do it again. We're looking for a way out of the house and the relationship but I was wondering if there was any way to bring them here that doesn't take decades to do.

I'm open to any and all advice and I appreciate everyone's response.

Thank you!