Overstay... is it going to affect our chances?

[cenourinha 0]

Here I am with another question! This one's really stressing me out.

I arrived here in Portugal on December 27 on the visa waiver program. Obviously, that three-month limit passed on March 27. In the next two weeks me and my fiancé will be getting married and applying for my residence permit, but we ran into a little delay because the translator that we're working with for my birth certificate had a computer problem, then we had a bank problem in getting the money transferred, now we're just waiting to receive the certificate in the mail and the soonest we can have the wedding is 15 days after we turn the certificate into the registry here.

Anyway! To make a long story short... because of these circumstances I'm going to be a week or two without a visa or permit... Portugal is actually very lax on visa restrictions so I know my problem won't come when I go to apply for a residence permit, but I'm afraid that when we file the petition the Embassy is going to say, well, you were out of status for two weeks, you failed, no visa for you guys! Despite the fact that all of our other documents (the ones we had to go to the Embassy and get) are dated for before the 3 month mark and we already would have been married and with my permit by now, if it weren't for this snafu with the translator...

Do I have a legitimate worry here? Or am I just stressing?

(Obviously the Embassy is the only one that will really know, but I'm not going to call them and say, HEY, I was here without a visa for a few weeks...)

Edited April 3, 2009 by cenourinha

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Is there a resident requirement for DCF in Portugal?

[cenourinha 0]

Yep, 6 months.

[txladykat 1]

why would they deny you a visa to the US because of an overstay in portugal? I would think an overstay is only relevant if the overstay is in the US.

Case in point, technically, I have overstayed in Denmark, even though we have applied for my residency, we have yet to receive it, but the embassy is still allowing me to file. Bottom line, USCIS is still the one that approves or denies a petition, not the embassy. The embassy only acts as the portal to the USCIS for people living abroad. The USCIS will not care about your stay or overstay abroad, only if your spouse overstayed in the US.

[cenourinha 0]

That's what I suspected, but I was afraid they'd pull the 6-months LEGAL residency requirement card on me... but knowing you're in the same situation in Denmark (waiting for residency) is really comforting, thank you!

[Marina-Del 10]

Yeah, it really depends on the consulate. Some consulates require that you have legal permanent residnecy for 6 months, some require that you have been in the country for 6 months no matter that status (even if it is tourist) and others might require other different things. I would imagine that it wont matter in your case. I emailed the consulate here in Brazil and they said that as long as I have permanent status (or am in the process of getting permanent status) when I apply, then it wont matter as long as I've been in the country for 6 months (even on a tourist visa). I bet that Portugual wont mind either, but there is really no way to know. Send them an email and ask. It can't hurt!

Also, I assume we're talking about the USC overstaying here, in which case the US consulate wont care about at all. However, the issue I think is that they MIGHT have an issue because you need 6 months residnecy. But send an email and see what they say! I think you'll be fine!

Good luck!