biggish data

QUOTE ( @ Jul 23 2008, 10:40 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saradanielle @ Jul 23 2008, 06:43 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE ( @ Jul 22 2008, 03:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I dont know the name of the hotel because she still hasnt told me and i keep forgeting to ask, I only know it cost 135 + 5% tax. The 240 mailing fee is for overnight delivery. Since i have gone ahead and booked her tickets to come here 2 weeks after her interview I just want to make sure she has her passport in plenty of time. I think we will be prepared here is what she will take, any one feel free to tell me what they think.
Evidence:
Phone bills starting from March of 07 ending June of 08 ($6,753 Dollars worth

)
50 pages of chat logs out of 220 or so pages total starting from April 27th of 08 to July 11th 08
Copy of my passport Bio page
Copy of my visa entries and exits from my passport page
3 plane ticket stubs Oct. , Dec. and June
3 family affidavits(Mother, Sister, and Brother-in-law) and 1 friend affidavit
2 photo albums with pictures from all 3 trips to see her ( we also incuded the pictures of the tattoos we did together of our wedding date in 3 leaves changing colors since we were married in fall, well America has fall anyway )
"In case" Documents:
A copy of my I-864EZ with W2 and tax transcripts for the past 3 years
My birth Certificae(original)
Her birth Certificate (certified)
2nd copy of the DS-230 I & II
Copy of our marriage certificate (certified)
Copy of her police Reports that were sent to NVC (certified)
2 more pictures 5X5 in case they dont like the ones we sent to NVC, this time I told her to not wear earrings and keep her hair off her ears.

Like I said Im not too worried about her having any trouble but this is our lives here, not to mention I dont want a 221G(or is it 212G?) because then I will need to pay for date changes on her flight here

That's cool, I think in the Embassy reviews, people mention one or two hotels - I will take a look. Wow, I didn't know overnight delivery was so expensive. SEDEX should do it in one or, at the most, two days... at it would be way cheaper - but it's your call. I sent something by SEDEX from the Northeast of Brazil to the interior of São Paulo and it got there the next day. And it cost R$40.

You sure spent a lot of money on phone bills! After my first couple of $600 phone bills, I started buying phone cards (at a Brazilian store near my old apartment in NY) - about 50 minutes for $5. However, I have at least 100 of them, so it probably added up in the end, anyway...

Your tattoos sound so cute! You didn't mention wedding photos - do you have those? If so, I would include those as well, especially photos showing friends and family at the wedding. Otherwise, I think you have everything in order.

I know what you mean - I am not really worried, but I am nervous, just because nothing is guaranteed, and because it means so much to our plans and our lives to get this visa. I know that is what you are saying too. I feel optimistic though...

Our wedding pictures are in our Oct. pictures

I will be so glad when this stress and anxiety are gone , only a few more weeks to go and we will be stress free

I know! As much as I try not to, I am counting down the hours of every day...!

p.s. Our cases arrived at the Consulate yesterday!

Edited by saradanielle, 23 July 2008 - 11:20 AM.

saradanielle

Female

Brazil

2008-07-23 11:16:00

QUOTE ( @ Jul 22 2008, 03:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

saradanielle

Female

Brazil

2008-07-23 05:43:00

QUOTE ( @ Jul 22 2008, 12:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They have, when i first looked at flights last year I could go to Belem for 900 dollars, that was in August of last year. In Oct it was 1,450.00, December(which I understand) was 4,500.00 and in June it was 1735.00 but I booked my tickets 4 months in advance using a travel agency that fills space on the planes. At the begining of this month I looked at august and it was 2,500 starting off and the ones that were that cheap had huge layovers(one was 30 hours) the rest jumped from 2,500 to 3,500 and nothing inbetween, same thing for September. I feel bad because the best that I can do for my wife is to meet her at Miami, so her POE will be her alone and then the next day we fly to DC together.

Even the flights in the country have gone up a lot, GOL has a ton or promotions most of the time and TAM too but the promotions arent as good as they used to be. Once upon a time it was $R 450,00 roundtrip from Belem to Rio De Janeiro, now it is $USD890-950. Thank god I was able to use my points to get her Flight to Rio for only $USD14.00 because if not for that the interview would be very very very expensive and she would have had to wait a couple of months after to come here.

We did the math on the DR appointment and that came to $R800,00 alone( darn HPV VAccination), the hotel she will stay at for 1 night is $R135,00(which I had her at the Sheraton Resort for only $R 91,00 but we found out they were 40 Kilometers away from the consulate)

and we plan to pay for the $R240,00 Express mail so just for the basic things it comes to $R1175,00 ($USD 743.67). Just way too much money in such a short period of time for me to even think about going there. I am giving her $R1500,00 and she will take $R450 and we are hoping that is enough to feed her and cover her taxis, she will only have $R775 left. She will be there for 1 week and will stay with her cousin but her cousin doesnt cook and they dont have a maid there yet because they just moved there so my wife will be eating out all the time she said, which I told her she better go buy some missim and not try to keep up with her rich cousin because we arent rich.

I want to go with my wife because I know she will feel more comfortable but I told her she has nothing to worry about and the CO wont eat her or anything, they are just people too. I just cant afford it right now

Wow, I can't believe how expensive flights are. I haven't started looking into flights for myself and my husband yet - I am going to wait until after we get the visa, but I am rather scared about the prices you quoted! Check out www.BACCTravel.com - they are a Brazilian travel agency based in NYC. They will book flights over the phone for you, though. I just looked up flights in October (JFK-GRU), round trip, for $702 + tax; flights from DC to GRU for about R$1000. Unfortunately, flights that originate in Brazil are more expensive - which doesn't really make any sense. You know, the owner of JetBlue airlines (which I love) is opening an airline in Brazil next year. Since they are a low cost airline, I think they will offer a great alternative to TAM and GOL which can be quite expensive indeed. That doesn't help us now, but I guess coming back to visit...

What is the R$240 express mail??

I am sure that your wife will be fine, especially with all of the supporting documents and proof of your relationship, etc. Is she staying at Hotel OK? I think there is another one over there; I have to research it and make a reservation still. I am so anxious to get this all over with...!

saradanielle

Female

Brazil

2008-07-22 11:57:00

QUOTE ( @ Jul 21 2008, 04:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I just got a email from DHL saying it was out for delivery

The postal strike is over!

saradanielle

Female

Brazil

2008-07-22 06:04:00

QUOTE ( @ Jul 18 2008, 01:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It is too expensive for me to go with her to the interview, I just back from a trip there on June 22nd, and with her plane tickets to come here its just too much. I looked at the tickets for August from DC and it is about 2500-3500 dollars, I just cant do it. And yeah we are taking a copy of everything sent to nvc too. Better to have it then not to have it. But Im really not too worried about anything, I am nervous of course because it is our future in their hands but I am not expecting any problems

I am sure you won't have any problems. Wow, plane tickets are really expensive. A couple of years ago, I got round trip tickets to São Paulo from NYC for $600.

I also heard the strike was over, but I have not confirmed it yet. I have to go to the post office after work today, so we will see then.

By the way, looks like our case packages arrived at the DHL facility in Brazil today, so I imagine they will be at the Consulate today or tomorrow...

Edited by saradanielle, 21 July 2008 - 11:31 AM.

saradanielle

Female

Brazil

2008-07-21 11:27:00

QUOTE ( @ Jul 18 2008, 10:18 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I got her appointment letter yesterday in the mail so I am sending her that when I mail off the other stuff im sending her. I know that buying tickets in advance is a gamble but I did it anyway, Im not expecting any problems though. I am sending, 1 phone bill from Feb. that I didnt take to her in June, 50 pages of chat logs out of the 225 that I have been saving since April, copy of my passport bio page and the Brazil entry stamps, my birth certificate, her birth certificate, a copy of the I-864 with all the supporting documentation, the interview letter, and her plane tickets. I called Rio yesterday too because I sent them an email asking what she will need to bring and they sent me the same link that you got, that did not answer my questions at all. So I asked them since we have sent all those things into NVC what do we need to take and she said only the things on the list that we didnt send to NVC, such as the medical exam. Either way Im having my wife take everything anyway, her birth certificate, marriage certificate, notarized copies of her bio page from passport, her police reports, 2 pictures and my I 864. They also said that the postal strike wont affect the visa mailing process either so thats a good thing.

Well, you sound prepared! I think that all about covers it, really. So, you are not going to the interview with your wife? I think it is a good idea to send absolutely everything - better to have it and not need it, etc. I am also bringing all original documents: birth certificates, marriage certificate, etc - only I don't think we are going to get new police certificates because we already had to get them twice. I will bring the copies that I made and hope that suffices. I have a lot of letters that we sent to each other before I moved to Brazil as well as a billion phone cards, all of which I kept. I am also going to bring copies of all of the forms (I-864 and DS-230). I have a co-sponsor, so I need copies of her documents, affidavits of support from family and friends who can testify to the validity of our relationship as well as photos of us together, our wedding album. Since I am living in Brazil (and have been for a year and a half), I am also taking as much evidence I can to show that I intend to return to the US with my husband and reestablish domicile there. It is going to be a lot of stuff.

Anyway, I hope you are sending the stuff to your wife via Fedex or DHL, so you can be sure it gets there... They will send the passports with the visas by SEDEX, so there should not be any problem with the mail.

saradanielle

Female

Brazil

2008-07-18 11:49:00

QUOTE ( @ Jul 17 2008, 02:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah , Your case and my case was sent to the consulate yesterday and our interviews are only less than a month away.

Well, they send the packages by DHL, as I am sure you know, and those will arrive - they are not affected by the mail strike. I emailed NVC asking about the info package that they send, and they said that all of the info can be accessed online at the embassy site (which is not actually that helpful since a lot of it does not apply to us, since we sent all of our documents to NVC previously), and that we do not need to actually bring the interview appointment letter with us to the interview.

So I don't think the mail strike will affect us too much, although it is still rather inconvenient.

saradanielle

Female

Brazil

2008-07-18 06:55:00

QUOTE ( @ Jul 17 2008, 12:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The post office is on strike again in Brasil , does any one have an idea on how the talks are going? My wife said yesterday that Globo said they had a talk on the 15th but nothing came from that talk, any one else have any info on this?? Its not in the news on any American web news such as CNN . MSN, Yahoo, or AOL.

Unfortunately, I have no idea. It is pretty inconvenient though.

saradanielle

Female

Brazil

2008-07-17 11:37:00

QUOTE ( @ Aug 15 2008, 10:27 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (saradanielle @ Aug 15 2008, 09:13 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE ( @ Aug 14 2008, 10:36 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I hope we hear something from saradanielle soon , the interview was today for them and Im sure all is well but I want to hear about it

My wifes is tomorrow

We got the visa! The interview was easy-peasy - she asked us a bunch of basic questions and didn't ask to see any evidence... we were out of the Consulate at 10 AM. More details to come in about 10 minutes - I will write a full report. But don't worry, your wife will be absolutely fine! (I will post the report on the Foreign Embassy Forum... so take a look in a few minutes or so)

Congrats!!! My wife said her interview was really easy too, she got her visa. they did not ask her for anything and she said they only asked her 3-4 questions. She will be here on the 27th !!!!!!!!!!

Oh wow, she is done already! Fantastic! Congratulations!! Now we can all get a good night's sleep... I was so anxious the day before we left for Rio that I gave myself a stomachache! Anyway, it is all over now, just making travel plans! I put a full report on the Foreign Embassy forum if you are interested. Congrats again and lots of luck to both of you!

saradanielle

Female

Brazil

2008-08-15 08:59:00

QUOTE ( @ Aug 14 2008, 10:36 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I hope we hear something from saradanielle soon , the interview was today for them and Im sure all is well but I want to hear about it

My wifes is tomorrow

Edited by saradanielle, 15 August 2008 - 08:14 AM.

saradanielle

Female

Brazil

2008-08-15 08:13:00

QUOTE ( @ Aug 12 2008, 02:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

2 days left for you and 3 for me, I am sure everything will be fine. I only wish time would go by faster so all the anxiety is gone, I want to sleep and wake up to a phone call from my wife saying "I WAS APPROVED!!!!!, I will be with you in 2 weeks!!!!!!!!!". But I have to wait 3 more days to hear that , better than waiting 3 more months though

I know what you mean! But all the weeks and months of waiting have come down to the last few days, so it is not really that bad. Except that I am a ball of anxiety and stress. I keep being afraid that we have forgotten something or that they are going to ask for a document that we didn't bring or something like that. *sigh* We are leaving for Rio in the morning... lots of luck, though I doubt you will need it! Everything will be A-OK.

Edited by saradanielle, 12 August 2008 - 01:32 PM.

saradanielle

Female

Brazil

2008-08-12 13:32:00

QUOTE ( @ Aug 5 2008, 02:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks everyone, I really needed the feedback, and no I dont mean that annoying new Janet Jackson song, ,I mean your comments

Yes, you sound ready to me too! As you said, I cannot wait until this is over. I think I am going crazy. I feel good and optimistic but also extremely nervous, even though I think we are prepared. There are just so many variables. Hopefully the interview part will be as "*easy* as most people say it is. We are in São Paulo now and catching a bus to Rio tonight... well, anyway, good luck to you! I am sure you two will be A-OK. I tried to send a comment back but couldn't figure out how.. anyway, cross your fingers for us and I will do the same for you!

saradanielle

Female

Brazil

2008-08-12 07:19:00

My husband did his medical exam yesterday. Here is a quick report!

The required vaccines were: Tetanus, MMR, and Varicella (chickenpox). He actually didn't need the chickenpox one, since he has already had it - but we didn't know because the doctor's office used a different word for it (catapora), which I didn't know. He had tetanus done a couple of years ago. The other two he had done at the public health clinic, which was free.

We went to the doctor's office - they gave us two "prescription" sheets, one for the blood test and one for the x-ray. We got the blood test done and they told us to come back in the afternoon to pick up the results. Then we got the x-ray done - they had the results for us in about 30 minutes afterwards.

In the afternoon, we picked up the blood test results (we had to wait about 40 minutes after they said they would be done). Then we went back to the doctor's office. My husband went in to see the doctor and showed her the results (all perfect). She did a basic exam and did a lot of body measurements, apparently. Then she gave him the sealed envelope and sent him on his way. Pretty easy - all done in one day (well, two, counting the vaccines).

Costs

Vaccines: free
X-ray: R$50
Blood test: R$72
Doctor's fee: R$170

Total: R$292 (or about US$183)

saradanielle

Female

Brazil

2008-07-25 06:04:00

QUOTE ( @ Jul 16 2008, 11:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is a hotel right across from the Consulate, it is R135,00 + 5% tax and there is another one near by that is cheap for R110,00 + 5% tax Ill try to get the names of them before my wife goes to work.

Fab, thanks, that is really nice!

I think that we will probably speak Portuguese at the interview too, though I don't think I will tell my husband that yet, so he keeps practicing his English!

saradanielle

Female

Brazil

2008-07-16 13:29:00

QUOTE (Nessa @ Jul 16 2008, 10:01 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE ( @ Jul 15 2008, 03:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Like i said they told my wife she can do the X-ray and her gynecology exam at her Dr in Para and I am emailing them to confirm that because that just doesnt sound right.

My experience is that not all doctors do things the same way (I'm talking about the doctors the consulate tell you can go). I remember lots of brazilians here on VJ going through the same process and the way doctors handled it was different. I heard that the doctor in Rio makes things work in 1 day, dunno how, maybe that's why the doc asked her to bring the x-ray and gynecological exam.
My doctor was in Curitiba. When I called her she said I could bring the gynecological exam. She also said that the vaccines she would have to see me first cuz not all vaccines are required for all people. It depends on the age, your health history, etc. also, she wanted to see my shots record.
Anyway, it'll save her a lot of time by doing what the doc said she can do in Para. If you think about it, even if the doc was BSing her, worst case scenario she'll have to do it again in Rio, best case scenario she'll save a lot of time by having things ready (which I'm sure will be the case)
If you want you can read my experience with my medical here:
http://www.visajourn...showtopic=28143

Thanks, Nessa, that is really helpful. I guess I have to call the doctor here again and ask her exactly how she does things... since we have to travel 2 hours to get to the doctor, I don't want to have to go back more than once...

saradanielle

Female

Brazil

2008-07-16 09:39:00

QUOTE ( @ Jul 15 2008, 05:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We (as in my wife because my opinion counts for nada

) have decided to speak Portuguese.
As for the Medical part of it, Im still waiting on a response back from the Dr in Rio. Like i said they told my wife she can do the X-ray and her gynecology exam at her Dr in Para and I am emailing them to confirm that because that just doesnt sound right. As for the vaccine thing, my wife said that the Dr told her they will either give her the vaccines or give her the information on where to go and get it. Maybe its at the same place they will do her blood work, she only needs the HPV vaccine. I dont know yet, on the bright side , after 4 days of working with TAM to use my miles I got her the tickets to Rio at last. Cost 20,000 miles because I couldnt make the reservations online without my password to withdraw points, they never sent me one and I dont have the 10-20 days to wait for it to come in the mail, I dont even know if the Greve is over or not too. So now I am left with 12,250 points just shy of the 15,000 points to upgrade her flight to the US to first class, she was so dissappointed about that

Well, I believe Virginia said that she did her exams and such at her local doc and then just took them to the panel physician in Rio the day before her interview. So I think what the doc in Rio told you is correct. I am a little confused on the vaccine bit, since my husband has had all of his vaccines in the past but I don't think he has a card showing that he did... guess I will have to ask the doctor before we go.

The postal strike still goes on, by the way (the second one this year). Too bad about not flying first class to the States

I only have once and that was because I missed my international flight, got put on standby for the next day and got super lucky that they stuck me in first class. It was truly awesome. Probably will never happen again.

Anyway, do you know of any decent hotels near the Consulate?

saradanielle

Female

Brazil

2008-07-16 05:26:00

QUOTE (Nessa @ Jul 15 2008, 03:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think people sometimes is concerned about not doing the interview in English because the interviewr might think ''they don't speak english, how they communicate?''
But in this case, you speak portuguese, so it's pretty obvious that you guys can communicate.
Still, even though that's a fear, we don't hear of them not approving people if they have their interview in their native language. So just go with Portuguese.

Hi Nessa,

Thanks for the advice. My gut feeling is starting to say that we should do the interview in Portuguese (I think my husband will feel much more comfortable and obviously his comprehension will be better), and your statement echoes that. I am not decided yet, but I think that is sound advice.

saradanielle

Female

Brazil

2008-07-15 13:49:00

QUOTE ( @ Jul 15 2008, 01:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I know about the travelstate.gov list of vaccinations but I guess what im trying to learn about is how things work at the exam. My wife has been told by the Dr in Rio De Janeiro that she can take her Xray and physical (breast cancer , I guess, and uterus exam) exam before she goes to the medical exam and to bring those with her. The only Vaccine that she needs to get now is the HPV vaccine, she will wait until she goes to Rio to get that because it is half the cost there than it is in her home town of Belem. She told me that she will go to her medical exam and they will tell her where to go to get the vaccine, so how does that work? She goes to get the vaccine then takes the proof back to the Dr and then they will complete her case after the results of her blood test ? She will have 4 days until her interview and I am wondering if that is enough time considering she will have to leave to get the vaccine and take the documents back.

I am also trying to figure out the same thing. I spoke with a doctor in Recife (which is the closest one), and I am still a little confused about it. Apparently my husband needs to get the vaccines beforehand and take the card to the doctor.. once we get to the doctor, she will give us some forms and then we need to go to a nearby location to get the X-ray and the blood test, and then take them back to the doc in the afternoon. I guess the doctor then signs off on everything and we are good to go. She said it will all be done the same day. I don't think your wife will have any problem getting it all done if she has 4 days before the interview.

I have another, unrelated question for you... I know you already posted a thread about what language to speak at the interview. What have you guys decided on? Do you speak Portuguese?

Everyone seems to feel that it does not make a difference if you speak Portuguese at the interview, and I was relieved to hear that Virginia (of EdgarVirginia) spoke Portuguese and got her visa. My husband's English is pretty limited (he understands a lot but he is not really fluent, speaking-wise) and I speak fluent Portuguese. But I still can't help feeling like we should try to do the interview in English, all the same. What do you think? Will you guys do the interview in English or Portuguese?

Good luck!

saradanielle

Female

Brazil

2008-07-15 13:23:00