menina

Congratulations! Great news!

I don't remember exactly, but I imagine that it would say something like, "I certify that I have never married or divorced a Brazilian citizen prior to my current marriage." Then sign it and have it notarized. Since you are far from the consulate, you could do that instead of having to sign in front of them. I think the hard part will be getting the documents that you need. I hope it all goes well!

It's been awhile since we did it, but I remember that we had to go to the cartorio in Brazil to get a certified copy of my husband's birth certificate. The reason for this is that in Brazil, birth certificates list martial status. (number 8 ) For #6, you would provide your birth certificate, ID, and the written statement. According to this, it sounds like you can do the written statement and sign it at the consulate in front of the consular officer. That way they can tell you exactly what it has to say. I believe we did that instead of using a notary. The most annoying part was getting the birth certificate from Brazil. If you aren't planning on returning anytime soon, perhaps you could contact a relative in Brazil to see if there is a way for them to obtain it and send it to you. This would probably require notarized copies of your wife's documents. Before we got married, I had already found out about this process, so I just made sure that my husband got the proper paperwork. It is called certidao de nascimento de segunda via. It was a big argument between us as he kept insisting that his original birth certificate would do, but as it says on the consulate website, it has to be issued within 6 months of you applying to register the marriage. If you have all the proper documents, the process goes pretty fast once you register. 

We opted to do it. The consulate should be helpful. It's been awhile, but I believe we had to register first at our local Brazilian consulate. Then within 6 months (I belive) of re-entering Brazil, we had to register at the cartorio there. There was some kind of time limit for that, but it only started the moment you returned to Brazil even if it was just for a vacation. The process was pretty smooth on both ends. I believe having your marriage registered in Brazil can be very helpful in case you decide to live there someday.

Does he have passport stamps showing he was in Brazil? That together with plane tickets to your city should be enough. I also stayed at my fiance's house so no hotel receipts or anything, but the passport stamps and plane tickets were enough. Good luck!

Congratulations! You deserve every happiness.

Do you have a Safeway near you? I think if you sign up with their travel clinic advisor you can get it for less. I know when I was looking in to it recently, there was a shortage of the vaccine. Good luck!

I did get the vaccine to be safe, but in all my trips to Brazil, I have never been asked to show proof. I was just there in June and July.

Have a good trip!

He has to apply on his own merits, so saying you will sponsor him won't make a difference. Can he provide a letter from his university showing he needs to be back for classes at a certain point? If he is not currently working, it may be hard to provide strong ties to Brazil especially with the K1 in process. In my opinion, it's worth trying because he might get approved. Does he own any property in Brazil or have bills in his name? That could help show he needs to be back to take care of those responsibilities. Good luck! Hope you get an approval!

Make sure with the airlines that there will be no problem connecting through Mexico. When my then fiance and later my in-laws connected through Mexico they had some trouble due to not having a visa for Mexico. If the rules are the same, they are allowed one connecting flight only (cannot connect from one city in Mexico to another city in Mexico then on to US). They had to get a document at the airport stating something like "Transit without visa" and then they were escorted from the plane to  a room they couldn't leave until they were escorted to their flight for the US. Just something to be aware of. Good luck!

HI T_P-

We had the same situation as you. My husband is from Brazil. He did not need to change any documents such as RG/CPF because he wasn't changing his name. After reading the response from julis82, I seem to remember that we did need that brazilian marriage certificate from the consulate before going to the cartorio. There was some kind of timeline associated like once we had that certificate from the local consulate in the US, we had something like 6 months from the time we entered Brazil again to go to the cartorio. The consulate website should be able to give you more info but I think you will not be able to register the marriage at the cartorio during this trip. I believe that timeline won't start until you do the first step here in the US and then enter Brazil again. Hope that helps!

Yes, you need to go to your local cartorio. It's been awhile since I did it, but I remember needing both of our passports and our marriage certificate. There might have been something more like the RG. Due to the holidays, the cartorio may have limited hours. We were only in Brasil for a short time for Christmas, so we had to request that they expedite the paperwork so we could have our passports back to travel. I remember too that we went to our local Brazilian consulate here in the US to register our marriage as well. I believe we did that prior to registering in Brazil, but I'm not sure if that is a necessary step or not. Hope that helps!

If you submit the original, you will not receive it back. Better to make a copy of the original (that has a seal, it sounds like), and keep the  original with you.

As long as your documents are in either English or Portuguese, you do not need translations. Good luck with your interview.

Congratulations! The same thing happened to us during ROC. I think that office has trouble keeping track of things!

Several weeks ago, I  sent in time sensitive paperwork for job re-certification. Following the instructions on the form, I sent everything to their PO box using USPS certified mail. I tracked the progress online and saw when the package arrived at the PO box. 2 hours later, the tracking changed to show that it had been forwarded to a different address. When I contacted the post office, they verified that the package had been sent to another state. I called the re-certification help line and was told that the post office forwards mail to a lockbox. The USPS tracking shows no record of the package arriving at such lockbox, and I have not received the return mailing receipt (green card) for certified mail. Nor has my check been cashed. The help line people are useless and keep telling me to wait 4-6 weeks by which time the deadline will have passed. My question is: what happens at a lockbox? Is it like a post office box where a note is left until someone can come pick up the package, or are people physically there to receive mail? Wouldn't the package need to be scanned again when it arrives there or when it is picked up since it was sent certified mail? I'm hoping someone here has some insight since a lot of the immigration paperwork goes to lockboxes and maybe had the same experience. USPS is also usesless saying the last known location was when it was forwarded. Thank you for any advice or help!

You can put as much as will fit and then attach a separate piece of paper with the complete address. Just label the top of the extra paper with Attachment to form ___ question number ___ and  put the complete address. Good luck!

Yes, you will need both passports. Before you board the flight in the US to go to Brazil, they will require your passport as proof of being able to enter the country. Once you arrive at immigration in Brazil, they will also require it. If it is going to expire before your trip, you can renew it here at the Brazilian consulate. It looks like your local office is in Los Angeles. I believe there is a consulate there. If  you go to their website, there should be instructions on what you need to do to renew the passport and if it can be done by mail or only in person. I don't remember exactly, but in our case, we just went to the consulate with all the necessary documents and had the new passport in a couple of weeks. It was pretty easy. I saw  your other post about waiting until you have citizenship to travel (once the green card is expired). Even though it is possible to go with the GC and extension letter, my husband and I decided to just wait for the new green card so that we could travel worry free. You never know with those Brazilian airlines how much they understand US immigration stuff. In our case the ROC was  not that long, so the new green card was in hand before citizenship was an option. Hope that helps!

You can maintain your Brazilian citizenship and obtain US citizenship. I believe you can apply for citizenship while ROC is pending as long as you are eligible. If you search for that topic here on VJ, you should be able to find some members that have done that. Hopefully it won't take that long!

That's a good thought. I asked them to double check those dates as well. Thanks for your input!

Asking for a friend...his fiance entered the USA on a K1 visa, and they were married 2 weeks later. They recently submitted the AOS packet and received an RFE with the box checked for "The petitioner and applicant did not marry within 90 days..." Clearly this is incorrect. I told him to make an Infopass and to double check that the certified marriage certificate was sent in and not just the license. Anything else they should do to prepare for the Infopass? Thank you!

Agree with fabyralph. The easiest way is to do the medical in Rio around the same time as the interview date. Good luck with your process!

Has your check been cashed? That would be another way to verify that the package arrived at USCIS. I've had lots of times when the post office forgets to scan things so there is no tracking info available. Hopefully you will see the check was cashed and/or receive some kind of notification from USCIS that your package has arrived. Good luck! Also, save a copy of your medical form. You may have to take it to a civil surgeon to have it transcribed to an I-693 if you get an RFE for medical.

I accidentally put the wrong consulate on my paperwork too, but they corrected it without a problem. I was really worried about it, so I understand how you feel. Hopefully you'll get good news soon. At least you know the case is in process, and before you know it the interview will be scheduled. Good luck!

My advice is to attach a separate sheet of paper referencing the form and the question number such as Attachment to form DS-260, question # xx (former names) exactly how the question is worded. Then on that page list our her full former names. This frequently happens with long names or addresses that do not fit.

I just realized that you may be filling out his form online. In that case, I am not sure exactly the best suggestion. Perhaps write as much as possible and then take the separate sheet with you to the interview? Good luck!