tomcougar

Hello,

My wife just received her Advanced Parole documents and we will travel to Brazil to visit her family in November. Her status is pending AOS and her passport is still in her maiden name. It is my understanding that it is taking months (as in many of them) to obtain new passports in Brazil so when she travels, what, in addition to her passport and her AP documents will she need to be granted reentry to the U.S. upon our return?

Will our marriage certificate be required, if so, will we need to carry the original or will a copy suffice?

How long will she be able to travel between Brazil and the U.S. with her passport? Until expiration?

Are there any Brasileiros here who are currently facing a similar situation?

Thanks!

It is great to be optimistic, but someday you WILL need to buy electronics, for example, and the jobs you can get that a Brazilian can't do aren't going to be that great. Both koolaidman and I worked in professional capacities doing jobs only an American/English speaker could do and did not earn much at all per month. When your Portuguese is a lot better, you might be able to work in your field, but try to think of some other ways you can earn money before that time. Teaching English is actually a viable option in most places, but it pays terribly (like everything else).

You are going to do what you want to do, and I think Brazil is a great place, but you might consider removing the rose-colored glasses for a day. If you are going to be living in SP maybe there are some people we could put you in contact with re: the job search?

Rose colored glasses? I'm not sure what I've said that gives you that impression, I have no illusions about an easy life and a huge disposable income.

Concerning contacts in SP, feel free to ping me for my (or with your) email addy, I'll welcome any contacts whether professional or personal. At present, I'm attempting to get an interview with the Brazilian incarnation of my old U.S. employer and English is required to be spoken onsite. The pay isn't what I would make in the U.S. but sufficient to support my family, and *THAT* is my primary concern

Thanks!

Check out this link.

He helped me out a lot with information before I came to Brasil and married a Brasileira... also I met the guy after I came here. He lives in the same bairro as me and is very nice and helpful.

Thats great! I will try to contact him myself, I have a few questions for him, hopefully he has time to answer them, or point me toward some who can.

If you look at the link, something that Volker wrote is totally correct... you do want to apply for the Family Reunion Visa through a Brasilian Consulate in the US. I have been here 26 months and I still have not received my ID card. If I had gone through the Miami Consulate, it would have been a couple of months.... but oh well, we are leaving now anyway.

It is my intent to apply in the U.S., as your advice has been echoed by a number of brasileiros.

But if you decide to get it in Brasil, the Policia Federal will give you a temporary card which is the same thing.

Okay. There was some confusion about what was what in regard to what my wife told me, so it appears that I still must go through the visa process even though my wife is Brazilian.

What field do you work in

Information Technology. We are becoming more and more rare stateside and the best places to pursue IT opportunities are Brazil, India, and China.

or are you independently wealthy?

Heh heh heh... I can dream, can't I? ;-) No, I earn a modest living. My wife and I live without need in regard to a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, and clothes on our backs.

Of all of the ex-pats I know, I am the only one that had work (under the table) and the pay wasn't so great, only R$1200 a month. And I was very lucky to get the job I had, as it was in English doing some consulting for a friend who is a lawyer and works from down here.

There are some concrete opportunities and I have many contacts in Brazil, it is just a matter of finding an opportunity that cannot be filled by a brasileiro. They exist, it's just a matter of patience and persistence.

My advice to anyone moving to Brasil is first, ask yourself if you can live without certain things.

I can live without my Ale-8 provided I have a steady diet of Guarana ;-) Seriously, I think my biggest challenge would be learning to drive in Brazilian traffic... I'll probably start with a moto if I even need that. I'll miss shopping at Walmart at 2am... fast mail delivery... and a big fat internet pipe, but all of those things are not necessities. On the other hand, I'm addicted to flip-flops, love the warmer climate, love the friendly nature inherent in many of the brasileiros I know, and my wife's family treat me as if I'm their own. Portuguese... well... eu estou apprendendo mais todas as dias. Eu nao fala muito bom aindo mas logo eu vou :-)

I am a pretty tolerant guy, but the little differences in Brasil were the things that bothered me the most. Like when you buy something, there are no refunds.

Sort of like RTA furniture, once you put it together, it's yours... or electronics from ebay... the source of my stereo and computer equipment.

Real vanilla ice cream only exists at McDonalds.

Heh heh heh... Ice cream is my wife's passion. She had several little shops that we would frequent in her home town.

Good quality clothing is fairly expensive, at least in my experience.

Yeah, discovered that just purchasing a good pair of speedos.

Electronics are 2x to 3x more expensive, at the least.

I've got my own equipment although I'm not sure how much I could get through customs before they start wanting to tax it. Mostly vintage stereo equipment and OEM computers, not worth a whole lot, but still, I take care of it and it looks pretty good.

Brasil has the worst wealth distribution ratio in South America.. seeing high rise condos next to favelas is commonplace.

One of the most striking visions noticed during my first visit was the busride from Sao Paulo, I noticed some homeless people under an overpass had marked off their patches of "territory" with string on the ground... several blocks away, posh businesses and fancy apartments.

Are you fluent in Portuguese?

Nao muito mas eu falo um pouco e apprendo mias, obrigado para minha esposinha e amigos.

Still make lots of mistakes, but after each trip I noticed that I could speak more and more and have more meaningful conversations with my wife's parents.

Will you live in a safe area? Or at least relatively safe?

Relatively safe so long as I temper my presence with a modicum of caution and common sense.

I live in a neighborhood where going outside after 9 pm is generally not advisable.

We could be outside but travel after dark was ALWAYS by car.

Is this a problem for you?

Not at all, although I will miss the superficial security of having fast access to a .45acp for home defense. Those are for military use only in Brazil ;-)

Noticing things like this doesn't happen when you are here for a few weeks of tourism, but when you live in it, it is completely different.

I have no illusions of easy living and after three trips I feel I have a pretty good idea of what I can expect as a resident versus what I experienced as a visitor.

Sorry for the rant

I don't consider your post to be a rant, you appear to be speaking from the heart. Sincere expression is what it is and I appreciate that someone took the time to express it.

but when I arrived here, I thought things were going to be fairly easy, like finding work, learning Portuguese... but my experience has been particularly poor. Also, I dont want to make it sound like Brasil is some kind of hell, because it isnt... the people are generally very friendly and generous. But be prepared.

Muito obrigado por sua palavras meu amigo!

I do have a question or two I would like to ask privately, does this forum have a private messaging facility? Btw, sorry for reformatting your quotes in italics... the forum software rejected my post for having too many quotations ;-)

Thanks again!

Although my wife and I currently reside in the U.S., we may opt to move to Brazil at some point in the future. Is there anyone here who understands Brazilian requirements for U.S. citizens married to Brazilian citizens who want to relocate to Brazil?

I've already considered the "family reunion" visa but it has been explained to me that being married to a Brazilian citizen that the visa isn't necessary and that I am eligible for some other program where the Federal Police issue an ID card which grants permanent residence and authorizes employment. It is supposedly renewable every nine years so long as the couple remain married. If anyone here has knowledge of this program, I would certainly appreciate your input.

Thank you very much for your replies

I've been looking over this travel form and either I'm too dense to figure it out or it leaves much to be desired in regard to clarity.

My wife came to the U.S. on a K1 and we are now married. We are preparing to mail the AoS & EA and have questions in regard to the I-131 travel application.

1. Will she be applying for "advanced parole" which appears to be for someone abroad to gain temporary entry into the U.S. although the wording isn't consistent throughout the ten pages of bureaubabble on the form; or will she be applying for a re-entry permit?

2. Can the Application for Travel Document be filed with the Application for Employment Authorization and Adjustment of Status? I note that the I-131 specifies that a NOA on the AoS is needed.

3. Has anyone wound up in the hospital due to paper dust inhalation or insanity?

Well, #3 is obviously a joke, but all this paperwork is indeed an exercise in frustration. The I-131 and I-765 seem like nothing more than enacted bribes for expediting an intentionally slowly processed I-485 to generate revenues and cause people hire lawyers.

Oh well, answers to questions number 1 and 2 would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

You are not to far from the truth

You can file all three concurrently.

The ombudsman has slammed them for this. When the new fee hike goes into effect, there should be a reduction in the time for AOS as that no fees will be charged for interim benefits (EAD, AP)

Cool, that means only one envelope

But tell me, is it a reentry permit or advanced parole that we apply for under these circumstances? Thanks!

I've been looking over this travel form and either I'm too dense to figure it out or it leaves much to be desired in regard to clarity.

My wife came to the U.S. on a K1 and we are now married. We are preparing to mail the AoS & EA and have questions in regard to the I-131 travel application.

1. Will she be applying for "advanced parole" which appears to be for someone abroad to gain temporary entry into the U.S. although the wording isn't consistent throughout the ten pages of bureaubabble on the form; or will she be applying for a re-entry permit?

2. Can the Application for Travel Document be filed with the Application for Employment Authorization and Adjustment of Status? I note that the I-131 specifies that a NOA on the AoS is needed.

3. Has anyone wound up in the hospital due to paper dust inhalation or insanity?

Well, #3 is obviously a joke, but all this paperwork is indeed an exercise in frustration. The I-131 and I-765 seem like nothing more than enacted bribes for expediting an intentionally slowly processed I-485 to generate revenues and cause people hire lawyers.

Oh well, answers to questions number 1 and 2 would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Cool... thanks for your reply!

Thanks Meow and Ant!

My wife did come on a K1, we married, then applied for the SSAN. We were told at the SSO that it would take an extra week because DHS has to verify my wife's name change from maiden to married. I figure the sooner we file the AOS, the better, and if the SSO is going to have "mechanical delays", why wait to file if the number isn't necessary. Thanks again

What sort of explanation does USCIS expect from someone who is seeking an AP? My wife and I would like to visit her family (in Brazil) this November; however; there seems to be some indication that the processing center expects verification of some sort of crisis. It isn't a crisis, per se, my wife is very close to her family and they to her, they want to see each other. Denying her the ability to go see her family would pose a very difficult problem for her to deal with, so in that sense, it would be a crisis, but would that suffice for USCIS?

My (now) wife and I applied for a social security card a few weeks ago and was told to check back in a few weeks if it hasn't arrived. It hadn't so I called and was told "the machine that sends them screwed up" or something along those lines. Her card (or app) is no longer pending in the system so apparently the application has been approved, but we simply don't have our hands on the card at this time (or know the number.) Is it necessary to have a social security number to apply for the AOS? Our forms (AOS, Work Permit, and AP) are ready to send in, all they lack is the social security number. Thanks

Hello,

Just finished assembling my K1 application package courtesy of the information I have found here on this site. Was initially considering an attorney to do this for me but the process was so wonderfully explained here that I figured I would do it myself and only hire an attorney if I run into some sort of snag. Thanks to everyone who has contributed.

My fiance Pri is a Brasileira I met through our corporate chat at work (our employer is a global corp) and the chemistry just seemed right so I went to meet her this March. What a trip :-) Brazil, for all it's problems, is an amazing country, it was the best vacation I had ever taken, but of course, that assessment is probably signifcantly biased based on how enjoyable it was spending time with my sweetie in person. Am going back in August & again in December, hopefully for the wedding :-)

We are just starting the process, I'm finishing the package by scanning all the completed pages and will "wheelbarrow" this stack of paperwork to the post office tomorrow for dispatch to Mequite TX.

Tom