Brazil US Consulate Reviews
Average Rating: 3.8
/ 5
606 Review(s)
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| Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |  Review #4785 on July 28, 2009: |
adlitem
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
I DCF'd at the consulate in Sao Paulo on 04/30. Initially the consulate in Rio told me to contact the consulate in SP or the NVC because they had no records of my petition. It took a phone call to the consulate in SP to confirm that my petition had actually made it to Rio on 05/21.
I began to follow up with the consulate in Rio about the status of the petition the last week of May. They told me that it could take up to 30 days for the petition to be approved. After about a week, I followed up again and they said they had no records of my process and told me to follow up with the NVC. I didn't understand because I knew my petition was with them. Up to this point, all of the communication had been in English. On 06/12 I sent an inquiry in Portuguese and on the following business day, 06/15, I got an email stating the petition was approved. I immediately solicited the case number so that we could send in our DS2001 form (other docs) to schedule an interview. They replied the same day with the number. We overnighted the packet and it arrived on 06/18. On 06/26 I followed up to know if they had given us an interview date yet. They responded the same day and told me that the interview was scheduled for 07/24.
We show up at the consulate in Rio at 7:30. There were about 12 people in line in front of us. The girl confirmed my wife's name on the list and gave us a ticket number. When we get up to the second floor, she gives us a contact information sheet to fill out and a list and order of the required documents (This order is different than was was on the website). She then calls up everyone to do an initial confirmation of the documents. After about an hour we are called in to one of the little rooms for the second document confirmation. After that we had the interview with the Consul.
The questions he asked my wife:
-How did we meet?
-How many times had I been to Brazil?
-When did I ask her to marry me?
-When did we get married?
Then he asked me:
-What was my profession in the US?
-Why I didn't have any income in 2008?
He then told us the visa was approved.
The interview was short and simple. We were done by 11:00. I think once you get the interview scheduled and have all of the documents in hand, there shouldn't be any problems. The courier service (TNT) told us it usually takes 2 days for them to release the visa and then another 3 days for it to arrive (Sao Paulo). We asked about the express service and it was going to cost about R$250 so we paid the R$30 for the normal service. The visa arrived on 07/28. From petition submission at the consulate in SP to visa in hand took less than 3 months.
Any written communication with the consulate in Rio should be done in PORTUGUESE. We probably lost 3 weeks trying to follow up with them in English and they weren't understanding at all. Send it in Portuguese to prevent any miscommunications and misunderstandings.
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| Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Review #4776 on July 26, 2009: |
chp
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
We arrived at the Rio de Janeiro Consulate at 7:00. Go to the line on the left hand side of the building that's much shorter.
There was a woman at a desk that give you a list of the documents and in what order they need to be placed (FYI it is not the same as the list on the website and includes fewer documents). Alan and I placed them in order and then went to the desk where the woman was sitting once called to review our paperwork and make sure it was in order. She returned a majority of the papers, namely all our evidence of a relationship, certified translations of his government documents, and Part II of 230, FS 257 (I would still advise to prepare these anyway). They did, however, take my complete I-134 packet (with W2s, tax returns, employee letter, check stubs, checking, and savings for the entire year) which I thought was interesting considering they did not take so many other documents.
We waited to be called to talk to another woman at the glass window who just reviewed the information on the paperwork like his address and phone number.
Later we were called to the enclosed room to talk with a consular official (an American this time) who spoke Portuguese with a really hard accent and was trying to be intimidating. He mostly sifted through the photos that Alan and I provided in the I-129 packet and asked Alan questions. I just sat there and nodded.
He asked:
When did you meet?
When did you decide to marry-tell me the story?
How many times has she been to Brazil?
He kept asking about dates and tried to trip Alan up meanwhile writing down the dates on a notepad. I think he was trying to scare us. Especially after he asked incredulously why I waited a year to come back to Brazil. Alan responded "You are not understanding that she WORKS and goes to school full time...."
In any case, after asking these three questions he mumbled for us to go talk to the woman at the desk and get a green paper and then huffed off.
When we went to talk to the woman at the desk to get a green paper Alan asked "So when do we know if we've been approved?" The woman replied "Did he tell you to get a green paper?" Alan answered "Yes." "Then you've been approved"  Alan said "You may want to talk to your coworker in there..."
The woman laughed and told us to go downstairs to arrange for Alan's visa to be sent to his home. It was $50 reais. We got out at 10:00.
I agree with other members that it seemed like they were going to approve us from the beginning based on the I-129 packet.
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| Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Review #4757 on July 20, 2009: |
Angela & Paul
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: Other Experience
July 20, 2009: Just got a call from a "Matthew" from the Consulate in Rio doing a survey on our experience for K-1 visa (October 2008). Did you get a call too?
I told him everything was fine there, except for the rudeness of the interviewer 
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| Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Review #4675 on July 2, 2009: |
Mike & Miche
Rating: 
· 1 person found this review helpful
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Very cordial, but serious. Checked documents thoroughly. If you have all documents required and in the prescribed order, along with the proper photos (you must show your ears), AND the $131.00 paid with the proper receipts, there is no reason they should deny the request.
Cant stress this enough...HAVE YOUR DOCUMENTS IN ORDER !!!! Goto the following website for those required documents and order.
http://www.embaixadaamericana.org.br/index.php?action=materia&id=2415&submenu=rio.php&itemmenu=58
Contact us with any questions.
Good luck with your journey!!!
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| Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Review #4654 on June 30, 2009: |
selma cristina
Rating:
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
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