The step-by-step to the wedding

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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

Valentine's Day (ENG version)

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               Among many things to write here today came a subject that made me come here very fast and tell you: My Valentine's Day card that Daniel sent to me arrived!

               Valentine's Day is celebrated on the 14th of February (in Brazil Valentine's Day is June 12 - Dia dos namorados, - the eve of St. Anthony's day, which is known to be the matchmaker Saint) and I knew that my husband had posted a card for me from England, but I did not know what to expect of it, I just knew it would be late (due to the posting date) but in all honestly this was not a problem for me. I'd expect anyway!

P.S Oh Man! I love saying "my husband!" hahaha

               And I got it today! 10 days delay from the actual Valentine's Day date, but still received with the same excitement and enthusiasm! I loved it! And I confess that I began to grin even before opening the envelope

               No return address, but very clear to me (maybe not for the postman) who was sending me this anonymous envelope. HAHAHA

               "Egua" (Female horse in English) in the State of Pará North Brazil (I need to explain this geography thing to the readers of the English version) is more than just a female horse meaning. According to the blog PapaXibe Art is a word that can express "admiration, dissatisfaction, anger, joy, surprise or sadness", and this is exactly what it means for people of Pará State! Depending on the context, the position of the word in the sentence and the tone with which it is spoken, that word can mean a thousand of things! And only this word in front of the envelope already told me much of the sender (It is the first Pará expression that Daniel learned and that surprised me when he said for the first time, It still always makes me laugh when he says this word nowadays! I never expect that he will say it and always laugh at it when happens).

               Now the surprise is over, let's open the envelope ..

              Oh people! I began to melt ... "To a very special wife for being my someone to talk to, my someone to hug and my someone to love, who loves me too..."

               Then open the card:

               365 lines of HAHAHAHAHAHA (it was my reaction, I swear!). Not that my husband is rude, guys! Not at all! He is a sweet person! But that was another word, a swear actually, that he was taught (and learned very quickly, by the way) in Brazil and eventually became something we always say to each other and internal couple joke. I already even think it is cute! Hahaha Seriously! Our #eguameucaralho hashtag is on our Instagram's pictures
P.S: you will need to find out what this swear means LOL

               Anyway, joking aside, I can conclude that I simply L-O-V-E-D the card. He managed to surprise me with humor and affection



               "To Luciana. Thank you! Happy Valentine's Day! I love you my wife very very much !!! (got to comment that he also learned some useful words in Portuguese?) Thank you for being the best wife in the world. We should't be so far, it's crazy! I can't wait to be together so we can start our happy life together. Our love is strong and beats anything. Never forget"

That special way of treating me always makes me to remind the reason that made me fall in love with him. Thanks for everything Dan !!

I did a DIY gift for him, but didn't send It (yet). Maybe It reachs him on the Brazilian Valentine's Day ... I can show you what it is, but another day!

T'ra and see ya in a bit!! xxx

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

The reasons

The reasons

Hey up!

            My name is Luciana, I am Brazilian, currently living in Brazil (Still!) And recently  married to Daniel, who is English and we are planning to live there in England. I always loved to read and write, make new friends, and respond to comments and see photos. Even tried once before to have a blog years ago, but I was still too young then to have anything really of any relevance to say,  I ended up writing about school and my day-to-day things (and who needs to know that, really? My dear diary? LOL) .

            But this time, I noticed that I really have something important to say and that hopefully could help others also who are (or will be) going through the same difficulties that my husband and I are. As we are in the foreign post-wedding period to get everything organised to get my visa and I could not find much on the internet that resembled our specific situation.
            So I created this blog to talk about various issues relating to our countries of origin, such as travel, food, music, trivia, LDR (long distance relationship), lifestyle, and especially about the bureaucracy of the immigration process between Brazil - England, difficulties, time (deadlines) prices, to help in some way other people looking for answers to questions and cannot find (which is exactly what is happening to us right now).
            We find it very difficult to find forums or other blogs with testimonials from people who have lived this anguish and had all these doubts that we are now having when applying for my visa. Lack of information as well as cross-information hinder enough!
            Our wedding was held here in Brazil itself, but that's another post altogether I'll tell you everything slowly...
            Please feel free to share all your experiences and views!
            I can't promise that I will post every day or even every week, but I promise to post when you and I have something new and interesting to discuss! Just follow =)
T'ra and see ya in bit!!