Wife is in Brazil and stuck at trying to get clearance to board flight.

[RicFromOhio 10]

My wife is in Brazil.  She has traveled to the US several times while married using her tourist visa while our I130 is in process, but this is the first time under the travel ban.  Her flight was yesterday out of a smaller airport and Latam won't let her board with out the CBP (US Customs and Border Protection) office in Sao Paulo approving her.  They emailed that office her passport, my passport copy and our US marriage certificate. After several hours of waiting, she was told to just go home and when/if CBP approves her, they would put her on the next flight.  That was yesterday and CBP still has not replied.  Latam says they won't issue her boarding passes because if she gets denied entry in Miami, Latam is responsible for her since they let her board.  I've tried calling the US Embassy in Rio de Janeiro and the US Consulate in Sao Paulo but there is no option to actually talk to a person.  There is no number published for the CBP in Sao Paulo.  Latam says there is nothing they can do until CBP responds.  We have no idea what to do at this point. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[RicFromOhio 10]

One option we are looking into is her buying a flight to Sao Paulo, then purchasing a separate flight from Sao Paulo to Miami.  This would get her to an airport that can handle the approval. Since Sao Paulo is a large international airport that has flights to the USA daily, they would be better equipped to handle this situation.

[Matt & Luiza 2]

My wife visited the states from Brazil a month ago. I reached out to US Customs before she came, and they gave me a long list of docs for her to bring with her on the flight. My wife went to Sao Paulo the day before her flight and went to the airport to talk to the airline (United). They looked over her docs and when she showed up the next day, they said they actually held a meeting about her. The airlines are super hesitant to let anyone on the flight during the travel ban unless they are totally prepared. Since she had every doc imaginable, they let her on the plane that day. Customs was no problem for her when she landed stateside. The real trouble is getting onto the plane in Brazil. 

 

My wife's first flight from BH to SP was booked separately too. But you need to know that SP won't be a piece of cake either. I'd suggest you do what we did. Book a separate flight for her to SP and bring all the docs. Have her get to the airport early to talk to the airline and show the docs. Here is the list of docs that US Customs suggested she bring with her, in addition to the marriage certificate and a copy of my/your US passport:

 

"Presenting all of the following documents may help verify strong ties to your country and possibly convince the admitting CBP Officer that you are compelled to return there:
•     Roundtrip ticket.
•     Proof of employment - pay stubs (including a letter from employer stating the date you are expected back to work.)
•     Most recent bank statement(s) providing proof of funds available to cover expenses while in the United States.
•     Copy of your foreign income tax returns.
•     Copy of deed, mortgage statement, or lease to property in your home country reflecting your name.
•     Most recent utility statements for that property reflecting your name.
•     Itinerary of where you will be visiting and staying in the United States. (If applicable, a notarized letter of invitation from the person(s) you plan to visit with in the United States.)

Please understand that while presenting all of these documents may assist a CBP Officer in determining your intent to return home, these documents do not guarantee entry to the United States."

 

I wrote out a letter and got it notarized at a bank, then sent her a scanned PDF of it for her to print out.

 

I can imagine how stressed out you are. Good luck man, I hope she can make it through.

[RicFromOhio 10]

28 minutes ago, Matt & Luiza said:

 

Matt, thanks for the reply and for responding to my direct message as well.  She has most almost all of those documents with her so we don't anticipate a problem being allowed to come to the US.  She's currently working on a separate flight to São Paulo since the airport in Natal doesn't have a CBP office and doesn't seem to be able to communicate effectively with the CBP office in São Paulo.

[RicFromOhio 10]

She just got a call from the airline that she's been cleared to fly to Miami by the US CBP office in Sao Paulo!  We never doubted that she wouldn't be as she meets the requirements to be exempt from the travel ban, but didn't expect her smaller, city airport to be unable to handle it.  

Edited September 16, 2020 by RicFromOhio

[RicFromOhio 10]

Update: just posting what she went through so if anyone is searching and finds this post, it can be helpful to them.

 

At the smaller airport in her city, they don't have a US CBP (United States Customs and Border Protection) office so they had to contact the office in São Paulo.  International flights out of São Paulo are mainly at night, so the CBP office isn't staffed during the day.  Her flight was on Monday afternoon, that night, CBP never responded to Latam's email with request for clearance that included copies of her passport, my passport and our marriage license from Ohio. On Tuesday, they said that on Tuesday night, they would have someone from Latam in São Paulo print out the documents and walk them over to the CBP office.  This worked and she got a call late Tuesday night that she could fly.

 

She arrived at the airport on Wednesday for her flight but Latam's software wouldn't let them bypass the "US travel ban - enter greencard information" screen.  It took a while, but eventually they found a work-around and they issued her the boarding passes for her flights to São Paulo and Miami.

 

When she arrived in Miami, she was flagged for an interview.  She was asked numerous questions about her intentions, the reason for her visit, her job in Brazil, her condo in Brazil and many more.  She showed the officer her return ticket, the deed to her condo, her latest tax return, paystub from work, bank statement, utility bill and other documents.  They asked if she had a bank account in the US, she has a joint account with me.  They asked who puts money in that account. She said it's my husband, it's a joint account.  They asked about her job.  She can work remote from anywhere.  They asked how she got paid and access to money when she's in the US.  They asked about the I130 application.  After they asked all these questions, the officer then asked many of them a second time.  Eventually the office was satisfied she wasn't trying to bypass the process and just stay in the USA and approved her entrance into the country.

Edited September 18, 2020 by RicFromOhio
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