Adventures of a Gringa

Spell check

When you move to a country where the official language is different from your own, you will inevitably face challenges with your name. In Brazil, I told most people to call me Raquel, which just made things easier, and anytime I needed to use my last name, I would have to spell it out letter by letter several times.

Eli has faced similar issues in the US, where he his name is very difficult for English speakers. Some people have tried to pronounce his name right and have managed to quite well, but he mostly tells people to call him Eli (eh-lee) or Eli (ee-lie). He also has to spell out his last name letter by letter.

Unfortunately, he's run into some issues with his name when dealing with bureaucratic paperwork. We went to open a joint bank account, where he was asked to write out his name for how it should appear on the account and his debit card. He wrote it out clearly and showed the bank employee. Then, when we got the debit cards and other information from the bank in the mail, his middle name appeared instead of his last name. We called the bank helpline, and later went into a branch and spoke to a manager. As it turns out, the bank has a rigid policy about last names, in particular one regarding Latin last names (I somehow doubt they know the difference between Spanish and Portuguese ones). It turns out it's a real hassle to change it, since they also have to change it within the system and have this "policy." It's been several weeks and we still haven't managed to resolve the problem.

Also, in the latest correspondence we've received from US immigration, his name was spelled "Eliseo," the Spanish version of his name. He sent them two letters asking them to change it, and on the most recent notification, his name was in fact spelled correctly. Throughout the immigration process, there had never been a problem with the spelling of his name, but I suspect that somewhere along the line, perhaps in an automated part of the process, spellcheck may have actually changed his name to the more commonly known spelling in the US.

In the meantime, the bartending school he attended had no problem in writing out his entire name correctly on his certificate.

Have you ever had this problem living abroad?

Eli & Me

When I first realized that Eli and I were going to have to live with my parents for longer than I expected, I though that it would be some sort of soap opera, the bubbly Brazilian living with a nuclear Jewish family. But as it turns out, it hasn't been dramatic at all. In fact, Eli quietly became just another member of the family.

Since we've both been looking for jobs but haven't found any yet, we've been hanging around the house quite a bit. Eli plays Playstation 2 (FIFA) with my brother for at least an hour a day, and sometimes we go kayaking with my mom. We usually help my mom with grocery shopping and errands, and occasionally take my dog out for long walks. We go out at least once a week by ourselves to see friends or out in the city. Eli started a little gardening project and has been planting flowers and redoing the landscaping in the yard, and helping fix things around the house. Sometimes we go out with my brother to the mall or the movies. (Eli and I went to see Bruno with my dad. Very awkward.)  Every other or week or so, the whole family heads to the river to barbecue, and Eli has become quite a hit with his Brazilian-style steak. We've traveled a little bit to Pennsylvania and New Jersey, too.

 

 

 

Photos by Eliseu/me

The situation isn't exactly ideal, but it has also been very helpful for Eli's English and a chance for him to get to know my family. We're hanging in there, just hoping that things will work out soon.

So you got an interview

Today is Part III of the visa series, teaching you how to apply for the K-1 visa, if you are crazy enough to do it.

At this point, you should have received your NOA1 and NOA2, notifying you that your I-129F application was approved. Make sure you keep both of those notifications because you will need copies of them later.

At this point, it takes a few weeks for your application to be forwarded to your fiance's local consulate. In Eli's case, it took about 3 weeks. Then, when the consulate receives and processes the application, they send the foreign fiance a notification with an interview date. Party!

But really, that just brings you to Big Step #2.

At this point, if you are not living with your fiance, it's time to ship him/her certain documents that he/she will need to bring to the interview. Here's what both of you will need to do/get for the foreign fiance:

--a copy of the NOA2

--filled out DS-230 (just the top)
--2 copies of a filled out DS-156 (which you do online and print)
--filled out DS-156K
--filled out DS-157
--filled out FS-257A (this is the Portuguese/English version)
--filled out Sworn Statement

--2 passport-sized photos
--letters of good conduct from local authorities (see your local consulate for request forms)

--original birth certificate and a copy
--original death or marriage certificates and a copy of each
--original military service document and a copy

--receipt from $131 standard US visa fee (in Brazil, you must pay ONLY at Citibank)

--sealed medical examination* (see list of doctors in Brazil here)
--filled out I-134 and supporting documents (proof of citizenship/residency, last tax return, letter from employer, recent pay stubs)**

--foreign fiance's passport

*When you go for your medical exam, which can only be done at US embassy-approved doctors, you will have to have a chest X-ray, an HIV test, a physical, and any vaccinations you may need. The doctor will give you a sealed envelope with the results. HOWEVER, once you get to the US, you will need the vaccination information again, so try to get an extra copy of it from the doctor, if he'll give it to you.

**There's a poverty cut-off for income, but if you've been living abroad like me and can't make it, all you need is a co-sponsor to fill out his/her own I-134 and provide documentation, as long as he/she promises to provide financial support for your fiance.

The most time consuming parts are the medical exam (in Brazil, you are sent to outside labs for the tests and then have to schedule an appointment with the doctor), waiting for the letters of good conduct to come out (in Rio, one took a week and the other took two weeks), and putting together the enormous pile of paperwork.

But once you're done, all you have to do is sit and wait for your interview!

City Hall

Like many inter-national couples, Eli and I were faced with a choice: get married or live on different continents. So Eli applied for a K-1 fiance visa, which allowed him to enter the US on the condition that he marry within 90 days. He was approved in early June and came a week later, so we had very little time to plan. Then, just this week, I found out that what I had very optimistically thought to be a simple form turns out to be an entirely new application package and a $1010 fee to apply for Eli's residency. We decided we would have to get married as soon as possible to be able to work on his residency application and get it in quickly.

So on Tuesday, we had the ultimate New York wedding.

I've had over six months to get used to the idea of getting married without a wedding, but we fully intend to have an actual wedding in two years, at which point I will consider it a done deal. So Eli and I were mentally prepared, but my parents were not. My mom hasn't gotten used to the idea, and quite nearly ruined the day until she pulled it together, thankfully, for my sake.

When we got to City Hall, we zipped through the paperwork and were called in right away to the chapel. The chaplain, a sour-faced, less than cheery lady, waved us through to wait. We were eventually sent in to a room with a bench and old marriage records behind glass, as well as a small podium. The record books were filled with careful script, detailing the marriages of immigrants and Americans alike from the early 1900s.

Then the chaplain came in and called us to the podium, where she married us in a New York minute. No, really. It probably took less than 50 seconds. She said the absolute bare minimum, we said the I dos and exchanged rings and kissed and it was over in less than a minute. Like everything in New York, it was very fast, and it almost didn't feel real. But I surprised myself when I started to cry saying the vows.

Afterward, we took pictures, and walked through the Law and Order SVU set nearby. I was disappointed that we didn't get to see the stars (Eli and I watched SVU almost every night when we lived in Rio), but it was a fun New York coincidence. We had lunch at the Tribeca Grill with my family, and then headed uptown. We found a little B & B at the last minute and checked in, and then bought picnic food and headed to Central Park.

There, we joined 214,000 other people to watch the New York Philharmonic play for free on the Great Lawn, in what the New York Times called "the perfect New York night." We lay on my Brazil canga and listened to Mozart and Beethoven, and watched the fun little fireworks display. Out of the thousands of people at the concert, we happened to sit next to a Brazilian, who we chatted with throughout the night. A mineira living in New York for over a decade, she told us she hated New York hot dogs but loved the city, and even gave us her number. At the end of the night, when we mentioned we had gotten married that day, she fussed over us, and gave each of us a hug and a kiss, before we even knew her name.

Knowing Eliseu, I guarantee when we have our big wedding, complete with a tier cake and a white gown and a ceremony (hopefully on the beach) and a raucous party, he will mention sometime towards the end of the night, "Gostei mais do primeiro casamento." I probably won't agree, but it was the ultimate New York shotgun wedding.

So you applied for a visa

Last week, on my new visa series, I explained how to begin the K-1 visa process and the first set of paperwork you must fill out.

So, now you've arranged all of the documents for the I-129F package. You've probably filled out a couple of forms wrong several times and had to start over; had to re-write several documents; had to translate a lot of emails; endured several arguments along the way. You've gathered together every shred of physical evidence to prove your relationship. You've checked everything forty times. You've put everything in order. But you're done with this step! That's one hurdle down.

Next, you have to find which service center to send the package to. Visa Journey recommends you make two copies of the whole package, one for you, one for your fiance. If you live together, I think one is sufficient (considering how many pages you have to copy, it's already expensive enough with one.)

Now you go to the post office and send it off!

Prepare for the anti-climax.

You should receive your NOA-1 from USCIS about two weeks after they receive your application. That means they got your package and have begun to process the application. (If you don't get this within 3 weeks of when the package arrived at the service center, then you should get in touch with USCIS, because it probably means the package never arrived.)

The worst and longest part of the process comes now, even though it requires the least amount of work. This is when you wait. And wait some more. And wait, and wait, and hear nothing. You don't know what to tell people, since everything is in limbo. It creates tension and stress not knowing what's going on. I tried calling USCIS a couple of times and was never able to speak to an actual person, and I routinely harrassed the US consulate in Rio, with mixed results. I signed up for USCIS's online case system, so that I'd receive information as soon as it was released.

We sent our application in mid-December, and received our NOA-2, which is the notification that the I-129F application was approved, on April 2nd (by email), and a week or so later by snail mail. You can get an idea about processing times here, since it depends on the service center and the amount of applications they have.

Getting the NOA-2 is a huge victory, but it's really just the beginning of a whole other slew of paperwork and bureaucracy. But fear not! It's not nearly as bad as it may seem. It's straightfoward as long as you know what you need to do, and on the next K-1 post, I'll explain the I-134 package, and how your I-129F makes its way from the US service center to your fiance's local US consulate.

So you fell in love with a Brazilian

I've found that a significant percentage of my readers, and a large number of Americans interested in Brazil, happen to be the significant other or spouse of a Brazilian. WIth increased contact between the two countries and Internet technology, American-Brazilian couples are likely to increase in number.

So with that in mind, I've decided to set aside a section for visa issues, specifically, a how-to guide on the K-1 visa to the US, which allows fiances of American citizens to emigrate to the US. It seems daunting at first, but as it turns out, it's an excellent and somewhat unique option for inter-national couples.

The first step is falling in love with a Brazilian. Not very difficult, actually. But this is an important step. Don't even think about trying to abuse this visa to get someone into the US for money or convenience; it only makes it harder for us legitimate couples to have a smoother, more fair process, and for Americans to exercise their rights to help family members emigrate. You also must be sure you want to invest in a long-term relationship with the person (and get married!) because not only must you marry once the fiance arrives in the US, but you must survive the visa and immigration process together without killing each other. (Also note--you must have met the person within two years of applying for the visa).

The next step is to familiarize yourself with the process. One of the best US visa websites out there is VisaJourney.com, which has been my "K-1 for Dummies" guide through the whole process. It has step-by-step guides, forums, timelines, US immigration forms, and pretty much everything you need to figure out how to do the K-1 and other immigration visas. Lots of people hire lawyers to do the K-1 for them, but the truth is, it's not necessary. Typically, this visa takes six months to get, which is better than the marriage visa, which can take between 6 and 18 months to get (I've heard various things).

Once you've taken a look at how the process works, you will probably feel somewhat frazzled and won't know exactly what to do next. But fear not! It seems complicated, but it's a lot more straightforward than it seems.

See BIG STEP #1 of the process after the jump.

Arrivals Gate

It's no secret I am a little obsessed with the arrivals gate at the airport.

But when a Brazilian flight arrives at JFK, the arrivals gate isn't quite as emotional or interesting as the one at Galeao. Nevertheless, it was a sight.

My parents and I arrived an hour after the plane had landed. The flight was around 90% Brazilian, from what I could tell. People were trickling out, first and business class passengers on their way to a shopping vacation in New York, winter jackets and leather boots in tow. Women teetered out precariously on stiletto heels, their swollen feet painfully stuffed into them. A doleful Brazilian cab driver called out to the arriving passengers, asking if they had a ride to the city.

There were a few people arriving, however, that were meeting their families. An exhausted single mom with a toddler and a five year-old boy tearfully embraced the woman meeting her, while her son chirped, "Tia!" with surprised delight.

I watched as couple after couple, family after family passed by, writhing with impatience. But another woman next to me was even more impatient. She paced anxiously, trying to find the best angle to see the people coming through the gate. She called someone, complaining that the person she was meeting hadn't come out yet. I wanted to talk to her, to tell her I was dying of impatience too, but I was so exhausted from so little sleep and so strung out that I just watched her as she fretted up and down the gate, finally stationing herself in the glass-walled baggage complaints area next to the doors.

More people came out, more women wincing in their heels, more excited kids. No Eliseu. I lay my head on the divider, refusing to budge in case he came out that very minute. But then there was a flurry of motion, as the anxious woman burst out of the hallway to the gate, where an older man had stopped, smiling. She burst into tears as he brought her into his arms saying, "Minha filha." And then, obviously, I started to cry, very awkwardly as the man caught my eye.

And then they were gone, and only a few stragglers were left, some chauffeurs and some guys from CVC. One by one, they met their clients, and soon, I was completely alone at the gate.

Since I am not particularly apt at hiding my feelings, a few people stopped and asked who I was waiting for, seeing the stricken look on my face. Some baggage handlers told me a few people from the flight hadn't come out yet; some immigration officers told me they'd seen him.

By then, an hour had passed, and no one had come out from the flight. Another immigration officer came out. "I started with him," he told me. "He's doing some standard paperwork. It should only be a few more minutes." Not entirely comforted, I lay my head on the pole again. An airport employee, an elderly man from somewhere in the Caribbean, saw my face. "Who are you waiting for? What does he look like? I'll see if he's in there." He disappeared behind the sliding doors. A few minutes later, he reappeared with a chair, and sat himself down next to another employee sitting inside the doors.

Then, finally, finally, nearly two and a half hours after the plane had landed, the old man cried, "He's coming, he's coming!" and I threw myself through the divider and unceremoniously leapt on the man (who is now officially my fiance) standing in between the sliding doors. "See, I told you he was coming!" the man grinned.

You have no idea, I wanted to say. But instead, I thanked him, and took Eliseu's hand.