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| Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |  Review on June 9, 2014: |
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
My husband's review of the consulate in Rio:
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Consulate
Overall, the interviews that morning went well, without trouble, although it's always a very tense situation. For some reason, I feel that the Brazilians that work in the consulate act kind of condescendingly and show little patience. Maybe it's out of frustration from going through that same routine every day. Even people's beloved Alex had a bad attitude that day. On the other hand, the people who work behind the glass walls (either collecting documents or interviewing people) were very gentle and playful, which helped with the tension.
1) Entrance and pre-screening
My interview was scheduled for 8:20am. I arrived at 7:50 and was 3rd in line. Differently from what I read on this list, I felt no need to be there much earlier than 8:20. In fact, the order of the interviews was defined by the order in which people filled out the pre-screening forms that Alex gave out inside the consulate, not by the order in which people entered the building.
We went straight to the second floor and Alex explained how to fill out the pre-screening forms, which were later used to match our process and passport to the pre-paid SEDEX.
Specifically, the forms requested the following information:
a) My name, home address, and phone number;
b) The ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER, and EMAIL of my petitioner;
c) My RDJ case number;
d) IF I HAD A PLACE TO STAY IN RIO, the address of that place (hotel, friend's place, home, relative's place) => this was NOT obligatory;
e) The date in either DD/MM/YYYY or MM/DD/YYYY format.
Whoever finished this step first got to be interviewed first.
In that same order, Alex explained to us which documents we needed to present. My wife and I submitted most documents directly to the NVC, including our American marriage certificate, my military document (I had certified copies and ordered a second issue for safety), and my birth certificate (one of the multiple official copies I had). We had also sumbitted the income tax transcripts.
Documents I needed to present at my interview:
a) appointment letter;
b) 2 5x5cm pictures;
c) passport (good for >8 months)
2) Glass Wall #1: document collection
On my turn, I talked to a nice Brazilian lady who picked up my missing documents, returned my originals and all unnecessary documents (like all proofs of 2-year rule completion). She had a large folder with all my documents and put the new ones in the right place. She asked me if I had been to the US before. I had, so she looked me up on the computer, collected my fingerprints, and told me that my entry visa would be good until the expiration date of my medical exam (May-November, 2014). She almost kept my original marriage certificate and I asked her to switch it for a simple copy that I had brought, just so we wouldn't have to order another one.
A few notes:
- They actually seemed to have used the translations that we provided (we translated all documents in Portuguese into English).
- The good conduct certificates are good for 1 year, so for my interview in June, I did not update the certificates I had gotten in February.
- Previously, I had a J1 visa, subject to the 2-year rule. I took my old passports, job contracts, and their translations to the consulate, as a proof that I worked in Brazil for the 2 years. However, I was NEVER asked to provide any proof of completion of that obligation.
3) Glass Wall #2: interview with the consul
My interview was only after 11:30 and must have lasted 7 minutes. The consul was a nice lady and asked a few questions:
a) who petitioned for me;
b) how I met my wife;
c) how long we dated before we got married;
d) why I had come back to Brazil. => I told her I was respecting the 2-year rule and she seemed happy about it.
She seemed to have other questions, but ended up just glancing at the letter that my wife submitted to the USCIS (in the very beginning) explaining our story and situation. She took notes all along. She told me the visa was approved and I should ask Alex about how to pay the SEDEX fee. Alex was gone by then and I asked a security officer, who explained to me how to get to the post office.
4) Post office
We exit the consulate, turn right into a narrow alley until its end, and turn left. I gave the clerks part of the forms that I filled out in the pre-screening and she computed the shipping costs based on my home's location. They gave me a receipt that I should bring back to the consulate.
Note that unfortunately we cannot track the passport even with SEDEX or SEDEX-10. The postman will attempt 3 deliveries after the passport has been issued, and we must make sure that someone is there to receive it, otherwise the passport goes back to the consulate.
5) Back in the consulate
I showed the receipt at the entrance of the consulate and went back to the second floor. Since Alex was still gone, I went back to the first floor and a lady at the front desk collected it.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #14581