DenisBlack

i know this is an old thread, but i just want to bump it for those who might be going through a similar experience. it was amazing for me to find this thread because people (understandably) tend to not talk about this. reading all these stories and the way people deal with this really helps a bit.

we just need to stay strong and believe that everything is happening for a reason and things will work out for the best.

Thank you. It's good to have actual proof this is possible (at least somewhere). The story of the couple in that post is pretty... messed up. After all they've been through, to have to wait another year at least and go through all the paperwork and stress again...

My situation is the following: I applied for CR-1 for my wife and step-daughter (CR-2) and the visas were approved in July. The father of my step-daughter has been very difficult about this whole situation and we've been fighting with him in court over custody, visitation rights, and travel authorization. It is very obvious that he's more concerned with inflicting as much pain as he possibly can on my wife and I, rather than the future and well-being of his daughter.

We were able to combine all three processes into 1 (which will save us a lot of time) and there were 2 hearings on this already. Based on everything I've heard from my wife about the hearings, judging on the amount and quality of evidence both parties presented, his appearance and idiotic behavior in court, and reaction of the judge, we have very good chances of winning this fight. However, the time factor is against us. My step-daughter's visa will expire in the beginning of January (my wife entered the US shortly after the interview, so she's a permanent resident now).

I've read somewhere that the embassy is able to grant extensions on a case-by-case basis. Does anyone have any experience with this? I've contacted the embassies in Brazil and waiting for their replies, but I'm interested in personal experiences.

Also, if the visa does expire for her, how do you think this will affect her (the step-daughter) chances of getting a tourist visa later on or permanent (family reunion) visa (in case the father changes his mind after realizing that you actually need to take care of the child, and give her attention, and spend money, and sacrifice the valuable party-time for her.... or, better, he gets hit by a bus). Would it be possibly to expedite things since we've already gone through the process? Or would we have to go through the whole thing again? And would it actually hurt her chances of getting another visa since we let this one expire?

Any information concerning this would be greatly appreciated.

things that go BUMP

just got off the phone with NVC.

our interview is July 9th. woo hoo!!!

Entered: 05/07/2008

Completed: 05/16/2008

Country: Brazil

Found it on the general Interview Preparation page. In case anyone else is interested:

Interview Notices

Thank you all for your help.

Sanjiv, that's exactly what I'm looking for, only for the embassy in Rio. Unfortunately, there are no equivalent document for Rio (in fact, there are no special instructions at all). Thanks.

What you're looking for is contained in the FAM.

http://www.state.gov/m/a/ips/c22793.htm

Thank you. This is definitely getting warmer. I remember seeing this a long time ago but couldn't remember what it was called and how I found it. It seems like it should be buried somewhere there. Although a thorough look through

Consular Affairs > Acquisition And Retention Of U.S. Citizenship And Nationality

which sounded like the most logical place to find this information didn't yield any results. I'll keep digging.

Thanks again.

Thank you both for your help.

Let me clarify a bit what I'm asking and why. We are going for the CR-1 visa and we are ready to send the DS-230 packet out. So potentially, we are looking at an interview date in roughly 3 months. I understand that the visa expiration will be printed on the visa itself. However, I would like to add this to my case now in hopes of speeding up the procedure. Meaning, if I present to the judge the fact that according to US law, the intending immigrant must enter the US within 6 months of issuance of visa, this might be encouraging to get the case moving along quicker. I want the judge to know this now and to know that we are getting close, so when we do get the visa, that would (hopefully) speed things up even more. I see this information on VisaJourney and just about any commercial Visa Service site, and it seems to be known as a common knowledge, but I can't find anything official about this anywhere.

I know that visa automatically expires if the intending immigrant doesn't enter the US within 6 months of issuance. But could anyone provide a link to an official government site where this is stated. I couldn't find anything on sites such as travel.state.gov or embassy in Rio. I'm trying to get the permission for my step-daughter to exit Brazil through Brazilian court and I think I might be able to speed this extremely slow process up if I could provide some proof of this regulation. I figured I'd ask the knowledgeable people of visajourney before I contact the embassy.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I am a USC married to a Brazilian. I'm back in the States and would like to start the

CR-1 process. My question is, once the process is underway and I submitted all the

papers required from me, is it possible for me to "move" to Brazil temporarily only

to be with my wife while the process is going on? I will need a co-sponsor either way,

so not being employed for a while is not a concern, as far as affidavit of support is

concerned. I understand that as a sponsor, I need to be residing in US. But I'm not

sure how being abroad for a little while can be checked and used against me. I'm sure

there are some cases where someone while the Visa process is going on had to go

abroad for a business trip. And it doesn't seem logical to me that that can affect the

visa process for a spouse.

Any clarifications about this would be greatly appreciated.

Brazil is once again allowing DCF. According to the website of the embassy, the

petitioner must be a resident of Brazil for at least the preceding 6 months prior

to filing. I would like some clarification on the usage of the word "resident." Do

I need to be a holder of Permanencia (permanent visa) prior to applying? Or

would simply having a protocolo (pending case for permanent visa) be sufficient

to start the process (after 6 months of physically being in Brazil).

If someone could clarify this for me, I would really appreciate it. Also, if anyone

has gone this route since March (when the policy changed again), I would love

to hear about your experience with this.