DCF in Brazil

[koolaidman23 0]

I am not sure where to start, so I will start at the beginning. My wife and I met online in 2004. In Dec. 2004 I moved to Brasil. We were married in February of 2005. Soon afterward, I started the process to obtain permanent residency, as we expected to stay in Brasil until she graduated from college. However, three days after our wedding, we had an interesting and unexpected surprise: Flávia was pregnant! Whoo-hoo!

So, lets flash forward to the present. Our daughter is about to turn one year old, and after I return from a trip back to the states next month, we are going to start the dcf process. Staying in Brasil is not financially viable, and besides, we are tired of living with her parents! We are interested in hearing stories/info (hopefully well-ending ones) from any other couples who have gone through or are currently going through this process with the consulate in Rio. Particularly interested in stories from those who had to get a co-sponsor for the affidavit of support (I cant work down here), but anything anyone can tell us would be great.

I have obsessed over reading up on it as much as I can, but I am immensely relieved to find this site. It seems that nowhere else on the web has this much visa information in one place. Its wonderful!

Thank you!

Justin and Flávia

[Alex+R 0]

Well, according to Rio consulate it takes only 4 months!

Did you get the permanent residency? They told me I would need that to do DCF down there.

[koolaidman23 0]

Yes, I have had my permanent resident visa for some time. According to an email I received from the IV Unit at Rio, we meet all of the guidelines for filing from within Brasil. The only thing I am worried about is this business of having an American domicile. I havent lived in the US for 2 years, and though I will return to Des Moines next month where I will get a new drivers license and register to vote, but I dont know if that will be enough.

I really dont want to be apart from my family for any amount of time. My daughter learns something new on a daily basis, and this is precious to me. However, if I must return to the US and get a job to show US residency, so be it.

[meauxna 15]

However, if I must return to the US and get a job to show US residency, so be it.

Hopefully it will not come to that--it is certainly possible to complete the case while you are living abroad.

Start working on I-864 and see what you've got.

[koolaidman23 0]

I just got off the phone with the consulate in Rio... a 3 minute conversation after being on hold for 30 minutes

I asked that assuming the I-130 for my wife is accepted, would I have to go establish domicile in the US BEFORE my wife has her visa interview (and turns in the I-864)? The consulate officer didnt understand me very well, she seemed to think that I was talking about proving my residency here, which I am not at all worried about, as I have a permanent resident visa. I think I got through to her, and her answer was since I will have a co-sponsor, I wont need to go back first. I can stay with my wife and daughter and fly back with them after the visa is approved.

Yeesh it was hard to get her to understand! I am thankful to know that most likely I can stay here with my wife, but I wonder about the accuracy of the officer's answer. Yet, I am comforted by the officer's "dont worry about it" attitude. That sounds promising. I think that as long as we do our paperwork correctly, it should be all good.

Hurray!

Also, I am already prepared for the I-864 (mostly). I got my empty tax transcripts in January on a trip back to the US. I am heading home again this month to visit my parents and i will ask my dad to co-sponsor. I cant ask him on the phone, it would just not be right.

Edited September 27, 2006 by koolaidman23

[koolaidman23 0]

Update: Monday December 4th, I will file the I-130 in Rio de Janeiro for my wife. I might have to try to reschedule for the next week, but hopefully that wont happen. I have been looking forward to starting this process for ages now, and I am very excited! Also on the same day, we will be applying for the Birth of Child Abroad Certificate and an American passport for our daughter, who was born here in Brazil. Wish us luck!

[meauxna 15]

Congrats & thanks for the update!

About your earlier concern, your US domicile is a requriement for the I-864, so it is at the visa application time.

Based on the time you've been away etc, you can probably make a good case for being 'temporarily resident abroad' while maintaining a US domicile--that is IF it is even an issue for the Consulate. They'll ask you about your future plans--have some answers.

[alix 20]

Hi Justin,

I have no idea of what you need to do to apply for DCF, but I'd advise you to write them an e-mail with all your questions. The people at the Rio US Consulate give you much better advice via e-mail (don't ask me why!!). I've tried and it works. Try to keep it simple, but put all the info you might find relevant to your questions. They usually answer on the same day or the day after. This way you'll also have written proof of the information they gave you.

It's an interesting coincidence but I'll be at the consulate on Dec. 4th having my CR1 interview. Good luck!

Alix

[koolaidman23 0]

Hey Alix, thank you for your suggestions! Sorry I have not updated, I had to reformat my HD and I lost my favorites, and I have been super busy getting prepared for Rio. We had to change our appointment to the 11th, and I am sitting in the living room right now filling out a ton of paperwork. Its great! Ha!

The only thing I worry about now is that the Consulate asks for one 5x7 photo of each of us for the I-130... and the directions for the I-130 ask for two "passport style" photos. Passport Style is 5 cm by 5 cm. I hope this isnt a problem... just in case I have printed out a webpage from travel.state.gov showing what "passport style" is. Anyway, right now thats all I am worried about. So I guess we are in good shape!

Congratulations on your visa!!!!

Wish me luck!

[koolaidman23 0]

We returned last night from Rio, and everything went great! The process is started, and to my surprise, will be much quicker than I expected (or have read about on this website). We have to take care of Flávia's medical exam and get her police certificates and then we can send the DS-2001. The Guy at the consulate said that from the time they receive our DS-2001 its only a month and a half until our visa interview, e.g., he said if we turned that in this week, we could have the visa by the end of January!!!! WHOOHOOOO!!

Of course we cant get it ready that quick, but now that I know, I believe we should be able to get everything done by the end of this month. We are shooting for a March 1st arrival in the states!!

[koolaidman23 0]

Received Flavia's case # today, and Packet 3 (which we were already given at the consulate) in the mail. i am very pleased with how everything is going so far. It seems to me that doing DCF in Rio is easy. I certainly have no complaints with the Consulate, everyone from the security guards to the Consul was professional when we were there. No one was rude. Some people were actually friendly!

[koolaidman23 0]

Update. Here is the text of an email I received from Rio just now.

From: Justin xxxxx [mailto:justin.xxxxxx@xxxxx.com]

Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 1:12 PM

To: Immigration, Rio

Subject: Re: Please respond... Adam Walsh Act leaving us with no

information about our case

Dear Sir or Madam:

My wife's name is Flavia xxxxxx xxxxxx, case number

RDJ2006xxxxxx.

Thank you for getting back to me with this information. I have two

questions. We are ready to send in our DS-2001 and DS-230 now. Can

we still do so, regardless of what the USCIS is doing?

YES

Also, you

mentioned a minimum of 4 weeks. Has it already been sent?

YES

Obviously, their response is in italics. I feel better about this now, it is not the end of the world.

[koolaidman23 0]

I just received this from my senator's office:

Justin,

I am still working on an answer here but I did want to give you an

update on your wife's application. The I-130 is in limbo until the

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services provide a clear

direction on how to process these cases. Right now, your wife's

application is in Lima, per Dept. of Homeland Security orders. Lima

is aware of the urgency here and said they will work as quickly as

possible to complete these cases.

I am sorry for the delay. Once CIS provides a clear direction, all

cases are placed on hold. I will let you know when I know more.

Kim

So, I suppose all this shows is that it wasn't sent to the US, which is what I have wanted to know.