DCF in Brazil details

[Marina-Del 10]

Hello...

Back again! I looked up lots of info about this ages ago, and now that it's time to do it I've forgotten some of the details!

Del and I are getting married here in São Paulo on October 10th and I think we want to apply DCF around Dec.

Here the thing: we want to leave Brazil/enter the US at the beginning of July 2010. So we figure if we apply in December then that's enough time to get the visa, but not too long before we plan to leave in case we get the visa in a matter of weeks. What do you think? How long is Brazil taking nowadays for DCF cases? I know a couple people applied back in March, but I haven't heard from them since? Did you get the visa?

Anyway, so..

question 1: how long is Brazil taking on DCF now?

question 2: When does Brazil want police certificates? The consulate website doesn't mention it at all, so I assume they request it after the initial interview when filing the I-130, is this right? How long is the initial filing of the I-130 from the actual visa interview, usually?

question 3: Can you do the initial I-130 filing in São Paulo or do you have to do that through Rio too?

question 4: Translations. Do we have to get the translations done by a certified translator? The US consulate has a list of them on their website, do we have to use one of those? If not, how can we prove that I have translated them correctly?

I think that's all for now!

Thanks!

[mppellegrini 0]

Hello...

Back again! I looked up lots of info about this ages ago, and now that it's time to do it I've forgotten some of the details!

Del and I are getting married here in São Paulo on October 10th and I think we want to apply DCF around Dec.

Here the thing: we want to leave Brazil/enter the US at the beginning of July 2010. So we figure if we apply in December then that's enough time to get the visa, but not too long before we plan to leave in case we get the visa in a matter of weeks. What do you think? How long is Brazil taking nowadays for DCF cases? I know a couple people applied back in March, but I haven't heard from them since? Did you get the visa?

Anyway, so..

question 1: how long is Brazil taking on DCF now?

My US husband sent an email to the consulate asking for an appointment and the first day available was the next day. So, once you send the email, expect getting an appointment as soon as they can. We werent in Rio at the time they suggested so we asked for an appointment 2 weeks later and they said ok.

question 2: When does Brazil want police certificates? The consulate website doesn't mention it at all, so I assume they request it after the initial interview when filing the I-130, is this right? How long is the initial filing of the I-130 from the actual visa interview, usually?

The police certificates are needed just for the second interview, after having sent the package 4. You can get the Federal Police online certificate, that does work.

Our I-130 was approved on the same day of the appointment, on July 27. We got the package 3 on August 4, delivered it in person on August 7 and received the package 4 on August 18 with the interview set for September 18. We tried to re-schedule the interview for the last week but they said they were too busy.

question 3: Can you do the initial I-130 filing in São Paulo or do you have to do that through Rio too?

I think you can but Im note sure since we live in Rio. We asked lots of wuestions to the consulate and they answered within 2 days, so I think you should ask that via email.

question 4: Translations. Do we have to get the translations done by a certified translator? The US consulate has a list of them on their website, do we have to use one of those? If not, how can we prove that I have translated them correctly?

We translated my birth certificate since Im from Argentina, our marriage certificate since we got married in Argentina and my Argentine Federal Police criminal records. It has to be done by a sworn traslator NO exceptions and then certified by a tabelião. We asked that. We used one sworn traslator that was not on the consulate web site and they were perfectly ok with that.

I think that's all for now!

Thanks!

Hi Marina!

I filed DCF in Rio de Janeiro just thank to your advice and we saved lot of time and money.

[Marina-Del 10]

Hey!!

Thanks for the quick answers and advice!! Too bad we can't translate things ourselves! That's going to cost a lot of money! Marriage cert, divorce cert and birth certificate! Yikes!

I'll email the consulate and see what they say about SP!

Thanks!

[Jen_JoãoFelipe 0]

You can submit the initial paperwork in SP - that's what we did last month. Go to this website and schedule an appt:

http://evisaforms.state.gov/ACSSchedulingSystem.asp

I just looked and the first available appt. is Sept. 23. Print your appointment confirmation and bring it to the consulate. There will be a ton of people waiting for tourist visas - go right up to the gate and show them your US passport and appt. confirmation. We were in and out in a half hour. We turned over the paperwork (they made their own copies even though we had copies of everything), got a receipt to pay the fee (US$355 - we paid with a credit card, but you can pay with dollars or reais, too), stood in line to pay at the cashier and then came back to the office. The consulate called us to the window, asked a couple of questions, and then sent us on our way. He is a REALLY nice guy.

We DCFed on August 11 and received an email approving our petition on Sept. 1, so it went pretty quickly. I initially got some help from another couple that DCFed - here's his review of the process: http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=61735 As you can see, even with a loss of 3 weeks, they were done in about 3 months. We'll probably take about 3 months, because we're a little behind on our 864 (affidavit of financial support) paperwork. I *think* you have 6 months to enter the US after approval , so if you want to leave in July 2010, you wouldn't have to rush.

The police certificates were the easiest part of the process - we got the state and federal online. If you'd like, I can try and find the links.

As far as translations, from all that I have read you don't have to translate anything as long as it's not in a language other than English or the official language of the country in which you are filing (in this case, Portuguese). When you turn in the I-130, you don't need to translate anything - just make sure you have everything on this list:

http://www.embaixada-americana.org.br/inde...mp;itemmenu=183

Some of the forms are expired but are still valid, so don't worry about that part.

Any questions, just ask!

Edited September 8, 2009 by Jen_JoãoFelipe

[Marina-Del 10]

Okay, now I do have some questions!!! The I-130 clearly states that if the forms are not in English that you have to have them translated! I'm very surprised you were approved and you had documents that were not in English! Good for you! Did any one else have this experience? Do I really not have to translate everything?

And the problem with the police cert is that we need one from the UK as well and you can only get one of those by paying with a UK money order and I'm having difficulty finding out how I can get one of those outside of the UK. I've asked on the UK forum and no answers so far and the UK consulate is not answering their phone either.

[Jen_JoãoFelipe 0]

Okay, now I do have some questions!!! The I-130 clearly states that if the forms are not in English that you have to have them translated! I'm very surprised you were approved and you had documents that were not in English! Good for you! Did any one else have this experience? Do I really not have to translate everything?

And the problem with the police cert is that we need one from the UK as well and you can only get one of those by paying with a UK money order and I'm having difficulty finding out how I can get one of those outside of the UK. I've asked on the UK forum and no answers so far and the UK consulate is not answering their phone either.

I explicitly asked ACS in Sao Paulo - here's the response I got:

Informamos que para o inicio do processo no Consulado em Sao Paulo, nao e necessario realizar traducao da certidao.

Also, for the rest of the process, I received the following information from the consulate:

All documents neither in English nor in Portuguese must be accompanied by

certified English translations done by a Sworn Public Translator.

The translation must include a statement signed by the translator that states

that the:

Translation is accurate, and

Translator is competent to translate.

The above is from the pdf that explains the whole process once you've had the petition approved, which can be downloaded from this page:

http://www.embaixadaamericana.org.br/index...amp;itemmenu=58

We're filling out the DS-2001 and DS-230 right now to send off to Rio - everything else to be collected for the interview. Felipe scheduled his medical appt for next week since we already got our case number, and I'm just waiting for my tax transcripts from the IRS. Once we get confirmation of approval of the DS-2001 and DS-230 forms, they'll assign the interview date. I can't believe how fast it goes!

About the UK money order - Hopefully someone will be able to answer soon. Luckily, you guys have some time to work that part out.

[Marina-Del 10]

Hello again, thanks for the quick response! And that is good news!

I'm curious though....anyone else out there who has gone though the whole process that also didn't translate their portuguese documents?

I 100% trust you, but from going through lots of visa applications -see signature below- and having experience in Brazil with different answers from different people, I'm curious if anyone else had the same experience as you!!

That's really great news though as translating is really expensive!

Keep us updated on your process! and Thanks!

[Jen_JoãoFelipe 0]

Hello again, thanks for the quick response! And that is good news!

I'm curious though....anyone else out there who has gone though the whole process that also didn't translate their portuguese documents?

I 100% trust you, but from going through lots of visa applications -see signature below- and having experience in Brazil with different answers from different people, I'm curious if anyone else had the same experience as you!!

That's really great news though as translating is really expensive!

Keep us updated on your process! and Thanks!

Good question - I'd really like to know from others about this, as well. I once asked Rio about the definition of a certified translator.

Their response:

quando traducoes sao requeridas, e necessario que as mesmas sejam feitas por um tradutor oficial. Nao aceitamos traducoes nao oficiais.

My response:

Quando diz oficial, quer dizer juramentada?

Rio:

Nao. Apenas oficial. Juramentados, sao os tradutores publicos.

I took the quando traduções são requeridas part to mean that they aren't normally required.

My husband then called a couple of translators, and found out the following:

1- tradutor oficial é tradutor público

2- traduções simples não são assinadas

3- se a tradução precisa ser assinada por alguem, tem que ser assinada pelo tradutor oficial, neste caso a tradução passa a ser juramentada.

Oh well, hopefully someone can share their experience and let us relax on this issue!

[Marina-Del 10]

haha! That type of confusing is why I wanted some more personal experience! I know on the K-1 process you can simply translate them yourself...so that's why I originally asked!

To get my Birth cert (american) translated was R$200 (or about $100) so getting three of those done would be like R$600! That's the same prize as filing for the visa in the first place!

[italy to USA 0]

Okay, now I do have some questions!!! The I-130 clearly states that if the forms are not in English that you have to have them translated! I'm very surprised you were approved and you had documents that were not in English! Good for you! Did any one else have this experience? Do I really not have to translate everything?

And the problem with the police cert is that we need one from the UK as well and you can only get one of those by paying with a UK money order and I'm having difficulty finding out how I can get one of those outside of the UK. I've asked on the UK forum and no answers so far and the UK consulate is not answering their phone either.

The italian consulate asked for documents to be in english OR italian. we didnt get this news until after we received the packets

[Marina-Del 10]

Ooo...interesting! Thanks Italy to USA!

Even though it's a different country it's good to know that at least someone else had the same experience!! I still haven't emailed the consulate here in SP (although last time I did they replied within 24 hours) so when I do I'll post the response so it's up there. Sounds like we wont have to get them translated though! Yipee!

[txladykat 1]

Interesting. Same for Denmark. The docs could be in English or Danish. I would think the embassy only required translation if it was something other than English or the native language.

[mppellegrini 0]

Interesting. Same for Denmark. The docs could be in English or Danish. I would think the embassy only required translation if it was something other than English or the native language.

That is correct. I just needed to transalate from Spanish to English but I didnt translate from Portugues to English and the Consulate accepted the documents. So, it is a fact. You DONT have to translate from Portugues to English in Brazil.

[Marina-Del 10]

yayayay!!!

Thanks everyone!

[lovenena 0]

You can submit the initial paperwork in SP - that's what we did last month. Go to this website and schedule an appt:

<a href="http://evisaforms.state.gov/ACSSchedulingSystem.asp" target="_blank">http://evisaforms.state.gov/ACSSchedulingSystem.asp</a>

I just looked and the first available appt. is Sept. 23. Print your appointment confirmation and bring it to the consulate. There will be a ton of people waiting for tourist visas - go right up to the gate and show them your US passport and appt. confirmation. We were in and out in a half hour. We turned over the paperwork (they made their own copies even though we had copies of everything), got a receipt to pay the fee (US$355 - we paid with a credit card, but you can pay with dollars or reais, too), stood in line to pay at the cashier and then came back to the office. The consulate called us to the window, asked a couple of questions, and then sent us on our way. He is a REALLY nice guy.

We DCFed on August 11 and received an email approving our petition on Sept. 1, so it went pretty quickly. I initially got some help from another couple that DCFed - here's his review of the process: <a href="http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=61735" target="_blank">http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=61735</a> As you can see, even with a loss of 3 weeks, they were done in about 3 months. We'll probably take about 3 months, because we're a little behind on our 864 (affidavit of financial support) paperwork. I *think* you have 6 months to enter the US after approval , so if you want to leave in July 2010, you wouldn't have to rush.

The police certificates were the easiest part of the process - we got the state and federal online. If you'd like, I can try and find the links.

As far as translations, from all that I have read you don't have to translate anything as long as it's not in a language other than English or the official language of the country in which you are filing (in this case, Portuguese). When you turn in the I-130, you don't need to translate anything - just make sure you have everything on this list:

<a href="http://www.embaixada-americana.org.br/index.php?action=materia&id=7261&submenu=consular.php&itemmenu=183" target="_blank">http://www.embaixada-americana.org.br/inde...mp;itemmenu=183</a>

Some of the forms are expired but are still valid, so don't worry about that part.

Any questions, just ask!

Hi I'm going through the same process as my husband right now from Brasilia. I had a question about the Police records. Where do we go to get those?

Can we get it from " Na Hora "? Thanks so much =)