sorchaine

NOTE: The exceptions are Fiancé(e) Visas (K-1/2) which still require use of the forms DS-156 and DS-156K, and the Treaty Trader/Treaty Investor visa "

needed for K1/2 visa are DS 157, DS 156 and DS 156K and NOT the DS160

Those should be the forms you need to fill out. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me, but at least in Brazil they say

*Note:

1) DS-156 and DS-157s are still required for K and Refugees Visas, until further notice. DS-160 will NOT be accepted on those cases.

If you can get an email from the embassy or consulate there telling you which forms you need (which would probably the ones they told you over the phone), then I would just go ahead and do the ones that they tell you to do (the most up to date ones of course) and then also print off the email to show that that is what you were told to fill out.

If you are able to demonstrate the inability to pay based on the following situations and criteria, then I would say go for it. The worst that they can say is no and that you have to pay the full filing fee.

* Whether the individual has demonstrated that within the last 180 days, he or she qualified for or received a “federal means-tested public benefit”. This may include, but is not limited to, Food Stamps, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, and Temporary Assistance of Needy Families or other public benefit.

NOTE: Each agency’s public benefits are determined based on a unique set of criteria. Therefore, even though an individual has qualified for another agency’s benefits, it should only be one of the factors in determining the USCIS fee waiver request and should not be used as a definitive factor.

*Whether the individual has demonstrated that his or her household income, on which taxes were paid for the most recent tax year, is at or below the poverty level contained in the most recent poverty guidelines revised annually by the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ “Poverty Guidelines”.

*Whether the individual is elderly (age 65 and over, at the time the fee request is submitted).

*Whether the individual is disabled. Applicant should submit verification of disability (see below, How To Apply for a Fee Waiver.)

*The age and number of dependents in the individual’s family’s household who are seeking derivative status or benefits concurrently with the principal applicant or beneficiary.

*Humanitarian or compassionate reasons, either temporary or permanent, which justify a granting of a fee waiver request. For example: the applicant is temporarily destitute; the applicant does not own, possess, or control assets sufficient to pay the fee without a showing of substantial hardship; or an applicant is on a fixed income and confined to a nursing home.

*Any other evidence or factors that the USCIS Officer believe establishes an applicant or petitioner’s inability to pay the required filing fees.

I believe that you can apply for the fee waiver, but unless you sufficient evidence for the USCIS of why the fee should be waived, they will probably deny it and then you would have to resubmit everything with the appropriate fee.

Thanks everyone! My Portuguese is very bad, almost non-existent, but he is fluent in English, so we have no trouble communicating at all. Often when chatting if he pronounces a word wrong in English I'll immediately say it correctly, then he'll say it back a few times the way I said it. It's almost become automatic that we do that, but it doesn't happen very often. He's always concerned if people will be able to understand his English, but I've almost never had any problems to understand what he's saying. We have been studying what papers we needed and going over them and reviewing that they are filled out correctly since we got the NOA2. I'm always worried that I forgot something so I'm always having him check or checking the copies of the pdf for the forms I sent him that I saved on my computer. About two weeks ago was went I sent him all the forms that are requested, since it was easier for me to print them for him. I also sent him an entire copy of the I-129F with original evidence paper-clipped to the copies in the I-129F. I have it all split into folders for him, the new forms required for the interview, the new evidence (not submitted yet), the I-129F with evidence and the affidavit of support information, which I hope is enough. I sent both I-134, one from me, one from my mother. I included a letter explaining why I am not required to file a tax return (no income) and my mothers last three years of tax returns, her three most current paystubs (copies printed from internet as she doesn't get paper copies) that were as close to the interview that I could get without the package arriving late. Also a letter printed from her employer's website showing her job title, annual salary, employed since, and a copy of her German birth certificate as well as her US citizen born abroad paper.

I am a bit concerned about the lack of showing daily contact. We do have the email history that shows we email back and forth quite a bit, about 420 emails starting in January 2009, but sadly I'm unable to provide the proof that we talk daily. Instead of using Skype or Yahoo Messenger to talk over the internet to one another, we use Ventrilo. Which I have been unable to find a way to show history. I pay for the service which I have had since August 2008 (for gaming) and we have always just used it to speak to each other privately with a password because it's easier for us to use. I did put in a letter that I submitted with the original I-129F explaining that we do communicate via Ventrilo and that it does not have a feature to show history on it as far as I can tell. It does go back to the beginning of the current month, but all it can do is show the login name, date/time and IP address. I originally submitted a copy of that for one month showing them the amounts of time that it shows us connected vs. disconnected to try to explain the situation. I just hope it won't end up hurting us later on. We are connected to it almost 24 hours a day. The only time we are not on it are when we are rebooting or have to shut down our computer for some reason, otherwise we have a "sleeping" channel we made to put ourselves in to let the other know when we are sleeping or when we are awake.

We'll probably go over the questions this weekend to see what his answers will be. Since we won't know exactly what they will ask, I have found some on these forums to help kind of see what they generally ask. And I'll keep drilling him until I am satisfied that he can answer these honestly and with good answers without sounding rehearsed. I know he will be very nervous, so I want to make sure we go over as much information as we can and make sure all the forms are in order, filled out correctly and not missing any information.

Right now we have the interview this coming Tuesday and the only thing he still needs to do is pay the Citibank fee which he is planning on doing the Monday prior. I told him I would feel more comfortable with him paying it on Friday (just to make sure it's done), but he said Monday will be fine.

Thank you again to everyone! We have been reading all the Rio interview reviews almost daily to see if there's anything we should focus on or that we're forgetting. I'm glad those are there and I can't wait to submit our own to help others as well!

My fiancé just completed his medical exam yesterday and I'm a bit confused. I've been trying to read up and figure out what we will need when it comes time to do the AOS and after looking at his DS-3025, I'm not sure about a few things.

It says that he has completed the Tdap and MR vaccines in the series, yet he has only had 1 of each. Am I right in thinking that he'll need at least 1 more of each? Also the MR vaccine, I thought he was required to have the MMR one, or does it not matter. According to the DS-3025, he had the Measles-Rubella vaccine, without the one for Mumps.

Also, if he requires more vaccines is he able to get those done there in Brazil before he comes here and have them added onto this sheet or a new revised sheet made? Or will he just have to submit his regular vaccine card along with this to the civil surgeon here in the US for the AOS form.

Thanks for any help!

My fiancé has his interview next week and we are wondering what we can expect. From the reviews that we have read it seems pretty straight forward and "easy" when it comes to the question parts. To give a bit of background, neither of us have been previously married, he has never overstayed a visa as he just acquired his passport this year and has never been out of Brazil. I visited him twice before spending a total of 6 months with him and his family in Brazil. Neither of us have children, his criminal record is clean, medical exam passed. We are both unemployed currently as we have been students during this time. I have a co-sponsor, my mother, who makes more than enough for the affidavit of support. The evidence we are including are the boarding passes from both trips I made there, photos taken from both trips of us as well as a few with members of his family, cell phone records, email history through screen shots showing the inbox, some sample emails, and a few snail mail letters that I was sent while I was there showing my name and his address sent by my parents.

We've been reading a lot of posts and interview reviews from many different countries. We have noticed that Brazilian interview questions seem to be normal and not so much "tricky." I've noticed that some other countries have trickier questions such as what high school did you fiancé(e) attend, the name. Are these tricky questions common to be asked at the consulate in Rio de Janeiro? Have they had the question where you are asked to locate your fiancé(e)'s place of residence on a map or questions about why you decided to do the K1 vs. K3? I will not be able to attend the interview with him as I have university classes starting that week that I have to attend. So I hope that doesn't look bad for us that I won't be able to make it there.

So far things have gone well. We have not had any RFEs and have not had much trouble with anything, so with the interview coming up in a little less than a week we're getting a bit nervous and are hoping for the best!

Any feedback would be much appreciated!

RELAÇÃO DOS PROCEDIMENTOS A SEREM REALIZADOS PELOS CANDIDATOS AO VISTO DE IMIGRAÇÃO

Consulado Geral dos EUA / Seção Rio de Janeiro.

CONSULTÓRIO DO DR. JOAQUIM DUARTE SILVA

Médico Credenciado pelo Consulado dos EUA (Rio de Janeiro)

Endereço:

Rua México, 21 / sala 1901-A (Em frente ao Consulado Americano)

tel.: (21) 2533-1311

Documentos necessários para a consulta:

- Passaporte;

- 3 Fotos 3x4 (recentes).

- Se possuir, o No. do Processo ("Case Number").

Obs.: A consulta poderá ser feita até 1 (um) dia antes da entrevista.

Valor da consulta: R$ 220,00 (duzentos e vinte reais)

PROCEDIMENTOS:

Exame de sangue:

Necessários para todos os candidatos a partir de 15 anos.

Exame: V.D.R.L. (sífilis) Só poderá ser feito no Município do Rio de Janeiro, nos laboratórios indicados abaixo ou através de encaminhamento pelo consultorio, onde o resultado sairá no mesmo dia. Não é necessário estar em jejum.

SÉRGIO FRANCO - Somente na filial da rua do Ouvidor, nº 75/8º andar.

LABORATÓRIO LÂMINA - Somente na filial da rua do Ouvidor, nº 88.

Rx de Tórax:

Necessário para todos os candidatos a partir de 15 anos. Só poderá ser feito no Município do Rio de Janeiro, na Clinica Radiologica Dr. Lauro Coutinho - rua Araujo Porto alegre, 71/606 - tel: 2220 4688.

Laudo Ginecológico:

Necessário a todas as candidatas a partir de 15 anos.

Laudo médico descrevendo o estado das mamas e genitália, que deverá ser fornecido por um ginecologista de sua confiança, em papel timbrado com assinatura e carimbo (c/ registro profissional).

Opção para etendimento no Rio de Janeiro:

Dra. Márcia Grimberg - Ginecologista

Rua Uruguaiana, 10/504 - Atendimento às 3ªas feiras, das 09:00h até às 17:00h e às 5ª feiras, de 13:00h até as 19:00h - Tel.: 2507 3405/ 9989 9924

Vacinas:

Na documentação enviada pelo Consulado dos EUA há uma lista de vacinas que deverão ser tomadas até a entrevista. A indicação de cada uma delas é baseada na faixa etária do candidato e na verificação da carteira de vacinação pelo médico na hora da consulta.

Havendo necessidade de aplicação de alguma vacina, a mesma será providenciada por este consultório.

Vacinas:

Varicela (Catapora) - Caso não tenha tido a doença.

Faixa etária: a partir de 01 ano de idade

R$ 150,00

MMR ( Sarampo + Caxumba + Rubéola)

Faixa etária: de 01 a 52 anos

R$ 70,00

Hepatite B

Faixa etária: de 0 a 19 anos

R$ 70,00

Meningococcica

Faixa etária: de 11 a 18 anos

R$ 120,00

Pneumonia

Faixa etária: do nascimento a 59 meses e a partir de 65 anos

R$ 70,00

Influenza (Gripe)

Faixa etária: a partir de 50 anos

R$ 70,00

Vacinas exigidas pelo Consulado Americano, que só tem NO POSTO DE SAÚDE

TD (Tétano e Difteria) - Faixa etária: a partir de 07 anos

DTP - 2 meses a 6 anos

HIB - 2 meses a 4 anos

Pólio - 2 meses a 17 anos

Rotavirus (oral) - 2 meses a 6 meses

Hepatite A - 12 meses a 23 meses

Mais informações estamos à disposição.

Atenciosamente

Luiza / Joice - secretárias do Dr. Joaquim Duarte Silva

This is the medical exam review from my fiancé who had his medical done earlier today.

MEDICAL EXAM

Today I made my medical examination, with one of the registered Medical Doctors of the Consulate of the United States in Rio de Janeiro, Dr. Joaquim Duarte Silva.

As you can see in this link http://www.embaixada-americana.org.br/pdfs/InstrExmMedMarco2010.pdf there's a full list that the United States Embassy accept in many cities in Brazil. As for Rio de Janeiro, we have 4 options, being distributed in 3 different neighbors, Botafogo (2 Medical Doctors, same building, same office), one at Leblon, and Dr. Joaquim Duarte at Castelo (in front of the Consulate, just across the street).

After me and Sara read several reviews at the Visa Journey Forum, many people said very good reviews regarding Dr. Joaquim, that was a good thing, another, the fact his office is located just across the street of the Consulate of United States, made for me, a good difference.

Review:

My first contact with his office was back in April 16, I called his office and the lady (his secretary) asked me right on what was my e-mail and she would be mailing me all the instructions for the medical exam. In that time, she told me that they only schedule appointments after you have your interview date set. Well, very good, by the time I had hang off the phone, I opened my mail box and there was already their e-mail with all the instructions.

Later, with our interview date scheduled, I called again and could schedule my appointment. Again she sent me the e-mail with the instructions.

As the e-mail is all in Portuguese, I'll make it short with the information:

Documents required:

- Passport

- 3 pictures 3x4

- Case Number (if have)

The appointment can be made 1 day prior of the interview.

Blood exam:

V.D.R.L. (Syphilis) - Can be made at the Doctor office, or there's two laboratories that Dr. Joaquim accept: Laboratório Sérgio Franco or Laboratório Lâmina. Both in same street, Ouvidor Street.

If you have health insurance, I would suggest the Laboratório Lâmina, they have a very nice phone service support for all questions, good quality of employees, you can see your results before hand at the internet.

X-Ray:

Seems you can do it at the office of the Doctor, or also at a single clinic very close of the Doctor's office, Clínica Radiológica Dr. Lauro Coutinho, located at the Araujo Porto Alegre Street, the clinic accept health insurance, and the results you get as soon you make the exam, just a wait time of about 20-30 minutes.

For women, is needed to make a gynecologic exam (well, that do not apply to me, hehe), Dr. Joaquim accepts the exam made by Dra. Márcia Grimberg located at the Uruguaiana Street.

Vaccines:

There's in many websites graphics or tables with the correct vaccines each person should have, regarding their age.

Since I lost my Vaccine registration, I had to take all the ones that applied to me:

At the "Posto de Saúde" I could get

- TD (only at "Postos de Saúde)

- MMR (also, this one you can get on the Doctor's office for a fee of R$ 70.00)

At the doctor's office, during the exam he applied on me the Varicella vaccine, as I've never had the disease before, this one has a price of R$ 150.00)

The Exam

I got 40 minutes in advance of my scheduled appointment time, the secretary asked me for all the required documents, plus my X-Ray and Blood Exams, she started to fill part of the forms, and soon I got invited to enter the Doctor office itself. Dr. Joaquim seemed to be nice, a bit serious, made the questions on the form in a straight way, without making trick questions or nothing like that, everything went fine and very fast during the questions (yes / no), I did a small amount of jokes due the content of questions we need to go through (besides me and Sara we had already read all the medical forms and what should I expect).

During the physical exam, he asked about my fiancée, where she lived, we could chat a bit as I talked good things about his specialization (as he is a "Intensivista"), my blood pressure was a bit high (my usual by the way) - 140 / 90 mm/Hg - he said that could be because my stature and weight, and he said " - Oh well, your interview is soon, you must be stressed, so that's also cause blood pressure to be high ", explained that would not be a problem at all at the documents and forms for the consulate, also kept chatting and saying that it's hard to see a K1 case be denied, unless the person has not clean criminal records, or has overstayed a visa before.

In the end, I had to ask " So Doctor, did I passed? Am I approved? (laughs) " and he answered a yes. Then he said " - Good luck on the interview and on your marriage Carlos, by the way, the interview is easy, the hard is the marriage! Good luck! "

Well, maybe it's a Brazilian way... all the bureaucracy we need to bring the medical exam forms sealed in a form and etc, but the secretary told me (and another patient, a fiancée in the case), we should go take xerox of the documents 2 copies of the first form (where goes our pictures), and 1 copy of the form DS-3025, the copy of DS-3025 we keep with us, to proceed for the Adjustment of Status when at the United States. By the next street, has a place that makes copies (xerox), and besides the long lines, we could come back, and wait again for the doctor sign all the new copies, the secretary put all the documents into a folder, staple it, and then put a seal over.

Interesting, when I was at the office, 2 weeks before, and got his requests of X-Ray and blood exams, his stamp was a Brazilian traditional medic, at the folder he use another stamp in English, with his name, MD, and what he is regarding the U.S. Consulate.

So, be prepared to wait a total of 2 - 3 hours for the total process, specially if you plan in do everything by the office. The exam with the doctor itself even with vaccines is very fast and last about 20 minutes.

Prices at office:

Appointment: R$ 220.00

Blood Exam: R$ 80.00 (might be wrong, didn't paid attention at the other patient talking)

X-Ray: R$ 20.00

Vaccines:

- MMR: R$ 70.00

- Varicella: R$ 150.00

For the ladies: Gynecological exam at the other office - R$ 80.00

Dr. Joaquim Duarte Silva

Telephone: (21) 2220-4688

FINAL REVIEW:

RECOMMENDED

If you paid by money order, you would probably have to get 2. One for the $1000 and then another for $10.

The I-134 is not legally binding.

Federal courts have consistently found that Form 1-134 is not a legally enforceable contract against a sponsor by a sponsored immigrant. See, e.g., Tornheim v. Kohn, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27914, No. 00 CV 5084(SJ), 2002 WL 482534, at *1, *5 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 26, 2002) (finding that because defendant signed the affidavit of support on Form 1-134, instead of on Form I-864, defendant had not signed a legally binding contract).

I think the one that you're thinking of skynaut is the I-864, which is legally binding for the times you listed. Though that one doesn't come into play until the AOS, after the marriage.

Good luck on your upcoming interview!

Thanks!

Thanks everyone! We'll get something from his medic stating the prescription for the medication to attach to the boxes he's bringing. Since in Brazil you don't actually get any sort of label or anything on the medication, just the boxes themselves so hopefully a letter stating that his medic prescribed these medications for him and the amounts and things will be enough.

Also one other question, should he carry these in his carry on luggage or can they be in his checked luggage? Should he list them on the customs form when he's entering the US?

I know that when I came back from Brazil I had a few medications in my checked luggage (some that weren't exactly prescribed for me per se), but I did not claim them on the customs form and they didn't open my luggage to exam it either coming back into the US, but I'm not sure that if he's entering as a non-US citizen if they'll be have stricter requirements as far as searching through his luggage and things.

I put the whole I DO intend to support... sentence, but also put in there that it was a K1. I had my co-sponsor do the same, that they do intend to support my fiancé but also that it was for a K1. Not sure if it matters, but I thought I'd be safe and do it that way just in case.

When I did that part I put a small description in that box and then included an attached paper with a longer more in-detail description with dates and places (also included copies of the evidence such as airline tickets, receipts, photos, letters).

My fiancé and I considered both. But after dealing with the bureaucracy of trying to marry in Brazil, we decided just to do the K1 route. We would have had to wait around 90 days from the time we filed to marry at the cartório till the time we could have actually married there and by then I would have had to come back to the US. So for us it was more of a K1 being the only possible option since I had already spent 6 months in Brazil and had to come back for school. Although it'll cost more money in the end and a bit more paperwork to deal with, I think it'll be better. Like others have said, it'll be nice to spend that first year of our marriage together rather than being separated. It's already hard enough being separated now as it is.

I received my NOA1 on April 19th and then didn't hear anything until I got the email/text from USCIS about my petition being approved on June 21st. I checked every day, several times a day between those two dates and it was always in initial review and the date of last update never changed, until I got the email/text.

Where would Brazil rate on the discussion of fraud countries? Just curious.

Thanks for the advice! We'll be sure to get a form or some sort of prescription written up by his medic to make sure that if he is asked about them he'll have that to show why he has the medications and that he is supposed to have them.

I know this is a bit premature since my fiancé is still waiting for his interview, but I want to try to get everything that is stressing me right now worked out so we can focus on other things that are less stressful once he arrives.

My fiancé will hopefully soon be entering the US on his K1 visa (assuming he gets approved of course). He has a couple conditions that require him to take medications, Lithium and Diamox. I currently am a full time student and do not have health insurance at this time. Which means I am not able to put him onto a health insurance plan because I don't have one myself. We are hoping that within the first 6 months he'll get his EAD and be able to start working and by the end of the year I'll be finished with my schooling and able to get full-time employment. But during this time we are concerned about how he can continue to take his medications without the insurance to cover him. If I am lucky enough to get a job at the end of the year we'll still need to wait probably 3-6 months for any health insurance they offer to kick in.

I'm just wondering if there's anyone else who has been in this same situation or similar who has any advice on what we could do. Also any information about whether it would be ok to keep the medication in his checked luggage, since he can go a day or two without taking them. Ideally we would want to have a 6 month supply, but I'm pretty sure that's not a realistic option.

From what I have read first you need to be accepted into enrollment into a SEVP certified school. All student applicants must have a SEVIS generated I-20 issued by an educational institution approved by DHS, which they submit when they are applying for their student visa.

Qualifying for a Student Visa

The Immigration and National Act is very specific with regard to the requirements which must be met by applicants to qualify for the student visa. The consular officer will determine whether you qualify for the visa. Additionally, applicants must demonstrate that they properly meet student visa requirements including:

• Have a residence abroad, with no immediate intention of abandoning that residence.
  
• Intend to depart from the United States upon completion of the course of study.
  
• Possess sufficient funds to pursue the proposed course of study.
  

Required Documentation

Each applicant for a student visa must submit these forms and documentation as explained below:

• Form I-20A-B, Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (F-1) Student Status-For Academic and Language Students or Form I-20M-N, Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (M-1) Student Status for Vocational Students. You
  will need to submit a SEVIC generated Form, I-20, which was provided to you by your school. You and your school official must sign the I-20 form. See the previous section for SEVIS information.
  
• Online Nonimmigrant Visa Electronic Application, Form DS-160.
  
• A passport valid for travel to the United States and with a validity date at least six months beyond the applicants period of stay in the United States.
  
• One (1) 2x2 photograph.
  
• A MRV fee receipt to show payment of the visa application fee.
  
• The SEVIS I-901 fee receipt.
  

All applicants should be prepared to provide:

• Transcripts and diplomas from previous institutions attended.
  
• Scores from standardized tests required by the educational institution such as the TOEFL, SAT, GRE, GMAT, etc.
  
• Financial evidence that shows you or your parents who are sponsoring you have sufficient fund to cover your tuition and living expenses during the period of your intended study.
  

I looked at this option for my fiancé who wanted to attend school here before we were engaged and the cost for him to come here to study was far greater than we could afford, $17,000 for one year of study at the community college. For a state university the cost was around $32,000. Most schools require you to verify that you have that amount before they will issue you the I-20. Some offer the option to pay either all at once or in installments, like a certain amount 3 different times.

Mine I'm not so worried about, but more wondering for my cosponsor, if I should leave theirs on there or not.

I am getting ready to send all the documents my fiancé needs for his interview at the consulate in Rio de Janeiro but am wondering if it is suggested that I remove the SSN from the tax transcripts, such as marking it out with a black pen so it's not visible.

Just received word via text and email that we have been approved. Next stop is the NVC I guess!

Sent mine on April 14th and received the NOA1 on April 19th. Just patiently waiting now.