The step-by-step to the wedding

Hey up!

English Bridegroom (living in England) v Brazilian bride (living in Brazil)

Marriage in Brazil - 2015

1. Check in your city which notary performs marriage abroad. In Belém - Pará, this type of marriage is only performed at the 1st Civil Wedding District, on Wednesday and Fridays mornings  
Address: Felipe Patroni Square, S/n - Room 303 - Cidade Velha, Belém - PA, 66015-260
Phone: +55(91) 3218-2153 / 3205 - 2153


2. In England, he (she) has to request the full birth certificate (an updated copy) overal official office. This document took about 30 days to get ready (this period was for a person who doesn't live in London, I believe it should take less time for someone who lives in the capital)
3. The groom (or the bride) in England needs a copy of your passport (the page with the photo, but the photo doesn't need to be colored) signed and acknowledged by a notary public and also a marital status certificate (certificate of no impediment to marriage [certificate of being single])
4. With these three documents in hand, it needs to be sent to the FCO - Foreign and Commonwealth Office - GOV.UK to stamp first and then to the Consulate General of Brazil in London for stamping and recognize them as genuine docs.
5. These two stages of the FCO and the Brazilian Consulate took around 15 days to be completed and then the future husband (or future wife) sends the documents to Brazil
6. The person who is in Brazil takes the documents in English for a sworn translator of your city to translate to Portuguese. Our documents were ready in aboout three days because the sworng guy was wonderful and has accelerated the process for us, I can pass the contact to whom you need.
7. The person who is here in Brazil also need a certifies copy and the original of its updated birth certificate, a simple copy of the ID (identity document) and CPF (Brazilian National insurance number) to present in the office. If the Brazilian already have the ID doc that contains the numbers of your Social Security number, so it is okay just take this document.
8. The registry itself gives them a civil state declaration in which you fill with data from the bride and groom and their marital status. This document must also be signed by two persons as witnesses and these signatures must be recognized before handing over the office. 
   
9. Foreign partner must be in Brazil at least 15 days before the wedding date to submit to the Federal Police and request a statement of the legal period in the country. This statement was delivered at the same time of the request for us.
10. The couple must address registry for the groom to present and sign the wedding schedule and deliver the statement of the Federal Police (which is one of the documents required for them to perform the wedding)
11. The presence of someone translating everything during the cerimony is at the discretion of the couple. It is not something that they require. We preferred to rely on the presence of one, which by the way was wonderful during the whole ceremony!
12. You will need at least two people as witnesses to sign at the time of the ceremony. We had so many people there celebrating with us that we didn't need to worry about that. Ah! And it is not necessary that these people are exactly the same witnesses of marital status statement that I told you above.

Important informations:

• The official translation of documents should be held in Brazil. I figured if I knew someone in another country to translate into Portuguese, the groom could send already translated, but no. I can't explain why, but it was what they guided me to do, then that's my little tip.
• The documents must be received by the office to schedule the wedding 30 to 40 days prior to the date you want the wedding to be held. They do research during this period to confirm if the couple are not married or had other reason that would prevent them to get married.

I hope this helps in some way, good luck!

T'ra and see ya in bit!! xxx

What is necessary

I've read and re-read the entire British Government website a trillion times, this site explains the steps of the application process for a wife visa! I always end up rereading for whatever reason. Any slightest chance of doubt that may arise, I'll go there first try to find my answers. Sometimes I do not find the answers with the clarity to which I expected, but at least find a way .... It is worth to always check there!

So I decided one day read from start to finish this site, with all the lines, all the links, and included observations, and at the same time go by writing a list of everything I was reading and judged that it would be important for the application of this visa, so I could go checking the documents I have ever had and / or have been separated (because it is interesting to organize everything in a folder) right from the list, and also know what was still missing.

The list was a personal initiative even practicality, something that I believe can help me in this process, and that the risk of forgetting something important becomes much smaller when you have something more direct to check. In fact, "forget something" became my worst nightmare lately. My friends here already nicknamed me "Dory" (cause Finding Nemo character) as I am soooo forgetful sometimes and I have the same striking ability to forget things ...!

Anyway, I decided to post this list of all the more discriminating items, as well as those obvious than is necessary to prove through documents and examples of what can be used for this proof (which could increase with the ideas of you):

• My husband and I must prove that:

1. Me and my partner are 18 years (current and previous passports, birth certificate ...) 
2. Our marriage is legal in my country and genuine and recognized in the UK (marriage certificate, evidence of correspondence between us that can be e-mail, records of Skype and/or phone, cards and exchanged letters, conversations in Facebook, MSN, iMessage and/or Whatsapp, certificate of no impediment to marry, the wedding ceremony photos, letter explaining the history of the relationship and the future plans) 
3. We have met in person (photos of us together, with his and mine family and friends, previous trips to evidence held as bus tickets and plane reservations and payment costs the same) 
4. We intend to continue living together after apply
5. We have an adequate place to live in the UK (photos of rooms in the house, pictures of us in the house, water, gas and electricity bills.. property title or property lease) 
6. We meet the financial requirement of £18,600 per year (bank statements for the last 6 months preceding the date application, pay slips for the last 6 months and a letter from the employer stating that you have an employment contract, all to prove that we will not need government help to sustain us there and if you have a graduation (higher education), you can also add diplomas and courses certificates to show that you have qualifications to get a job there and that marriage is not a means of social mobility, ie one more proof that the marriage is genuine) 
7. Prove that any previous relationships (of me and my partner) had are permanently broken down (certificate of no impediment to marriage)

• Your partner or family member should:

1. Being a citizen of Great Britiian 
2. Be established in the UK 
3. Complete the sponsorship form in the UK Government website

• I must:

1. Having a good knowledge of English (certificate level A1 in the life skills IELTS test - speaking and listening) 
2. Display the current passport with a blank page for the visa stamp (and previous passports if you have) 
3. Provide two passport-sized colour photographs (3,5 x 4 5mm)

Important notes:

- All original documents and not copies

- Documents in Portuguese should be notorised translated

- There are people that leads to a certificate of negative criminal record.. not even know if I'll include it in my process, I do not see them asking for anything like this in the Government website ...

- Brazilians do not need the exam for tuberculosis

After having completed all these prerequisites, we must:

 - Apply online for the visa  (family of a settled person visa to join partner/family for a long stay - living permanently in the UK)

- Schedule the date to go to the Application Service Center for Visa (São Paulo, Brasilia or Rio de Janeiro) to have the fingerprints collected and deliver the photos. Take also the passport, the role of scheduling, some other identification document and the request for the visa as well as all other documents listed above.

Just reading it already gets us tired, right? But it's not impossible! I can't wait for us finish this whole journey... :)

The several subjects...

Hey up!
               
               New blog is like this: we have several ideas about thousands of things to write! I like that enthusiasm and creativity a mile a minute, but sometimes it's hard to just sit and organize ideas so that they are consistent for those who read them, so it requires time and patience! But I'm loving it!
             
               Since my last post, I have read several blogs, most of them on topics related to the same topic I write here and all I have to say is WOW! How many touching stories. How many beautiful images, families that have been built through a relationship based on international love  .... beautiful! Only inspires and makes me more excited to write my story here and contribute more to whoever is interested in the subject.

               I remembered some more details about this application journey into an English visa. Many people I know have had this same following question about my situation: But now that you are married, do you not have the right to go and live there with him automatically? This does not automatically give you citizenship rights? You Still need a visa and paperwork and bureaucracy to achieve this?

                I wish the answer for all of it was different, but the answer to all this is: unfortunately, no! I am still required to provide many documents and evidences to prove that our relationship and marriage was (and is) in fact true. I still have to apply for the spouse visa which initially only lasts two and half years, and then renew it again for another 2 and a half years before becoming entitled to apply for British citizenship there. I can not go and live with my husband without all the correct documents completed and approved, otherwise it would be illegal for me to live there in England (For 6 months Brazilians are entitled to stay there as a tourist) and once this is used they not have permission to go back there anymore without a visa.

                Hence a number of things you have to prove: financial resources (your partner in England must earn at least £18.600 per year, get a letter from the employer, copy of the employment contract, last 6 months bank statements, tax receipts ok etc.), accommodation (a contract hire or family letter authorizing you to go and live with them in England), relationship length, show if you have met personally (airline tickets proving this, and stays vouchers in hotels, for example) , wedding events photos and documents, conversations on the internet (Skype, Whatsapp. Facebook, SMS, emails, phone calls, letters, MSN, eveeeerything), marriage certificate, personal documentation (photo, passport with sufficient validity and a blank page), It is even hard to list everything here! Seriously, they require soooo much!!!

                Not ending there, we Brazilians still have to take a proficiency test in English (they require at least to be achieved the A1 level) to apply for a visa. This test is only performed in some Brazilian states and costs (currently) R$ 885.00. I'll have to travel to do it!

               And not stopping there, we can not apply for the visa from England! The application must be made in Brazil and wait for the response here also (which can take up to 12 weeks). To wait there would not be appropriate as I couldn't work as tourist and only one of us (in this case, my husband) would bear all the costs by himself.

               I know they offer an express service option for the visa too, which costs £380 extra. But I told you that the visa already costs £956? And the health insurance that is mandatory and costs around £600 .... This converted to our currency equivalent to more than R$10,000! I am feeling poor since I started reading all these demands ...
              
               We thought about hiring an immigration lawyer to assist us in this process because everything seems very difficult and requires lots of time, but a lawyer told me that this is not rocket science apparently and I really hope this too! We are still analyzing the possibility to rely on the help of a professional, because it could be one extra expense we don't need and will it really help us. Anyway, I update you on the subject.

                Well, furhermore, I hope I can talk about each detail separately in future posts. This post  today was very superficial and i'm only quoting what was needed.

T'ra and see ya in a bit! xxx