Question:
Fellows, I'm currently filing an
I-129F on behalf of my fiancee in
Brazil. I am a divorced dual citizen
(US/Brazil). According to all requirements
for I-129F, I'm fully elegible to
request a K1 for my fiancee. And
she should have no impediments on
her side. But this is my problem:
being still a citizen of Brazil,
I was told by the Brazilian Consulate
that I have to register my previous
marriage and my divorce in Brazil,
so both are to be recognized there.
(I married and divorced in the US).
My divorce
is perfectly legal in the US, so
my I129-F should be approved w/out
any problems. Question: will the
embassy/consulate in Brazil (Rio)
demand to see my Brazilian divorce
papers during my fiancees interview?
I was told that the US accepts by
do not recognize my other citizenship
(Brazilian), in that case, why would
they enforce Brazilian laws during
the fiancee process? Also - isn't
the process in the consulate all
about the immigrant - my status
at that point shouldn't matter anymore,
since it was already approved by
the USCIS back home - correct? Any
words, ideas, etc? PS - Registering
my divorce in Brazil would take
years.
Answer:
You are filing to an American agency
only concerned with American issues
that abide by American law! I tried
the same route in Argentina. to
be married there, but it wasnt needed
to be married in the US. Only her
divorce is questioned. INS has all
the info on you ifyou are US citizen
A lawyer told me to get married
in Brazil when I was there last
Nov so the process would be faster
(K3 via LIFE act, direct consular
filing). That's when I found out
all the problems.
I could get
married in Brazil, but my marriage
certificate would read "single"
as opposed to "divorced" (since
Br has no records of my marriage/divorce
in the US). I called the US consulate
in Rio and inquired about this problem,
but got no clear answer. Ultimatelly,
I decided that it would be too much
of a breach of local law not to
be worthed, plus the US Consulate
might not like the fact that a divorced
US citizen is marrying abroad claiming
to be single. So I chose the (slower)
K1 route. I just hope that this
issue won't cause problems. As I
see by the replies to my original
post, it shouldn't.
A couple got
married in Brazil and they took
an "exemplified" copy of his US
divorce decree. [Note: "exemplified"
is MORE that mere certification].
Why do you have to marry in Brazil.
Have your fiancee travel to another
country where you can meet up and
marry. A country that recognizes
your status as a divorced American.
Then return to Brazil with your
wife and file the I-130 at the US
Consulate. BTW the K-3 and direct
consular filing are two very different
things and have absolutely nothing
to do with one another. Plus DCF
is a layman's term for filing the
I-130 directly with the US Consulate
and is not available to USC at all
US Consulates worldwide.
