Expert: Ken Rapoza Cruz - 1/16/2009

Question
QUESTION: I have a daughter who met a brazilian boy who is not legal in the US.  They want to get married, so they met with a lawyer who told them they needed to go to brazil and get married there.  Then my daughter could come home and after her husband filed all the papers taking 6 months to a year, then he could come back to US.  I'm afraid for my daughter to go to brazil.  I don't know anything about this boy. He doesn't speak much english and I have heard horror stories for people not being able to come back to the US.  What should I do?

ANSWER: Oooh. If she was my daughter, Id go ballastic. No way is this a good idea as you have laid it out. How old is your daughter? How long have they been together? What does this Brazilian guy do in the US? The lawyer is right. If the boy (man) is in the US on an expired visa of any kind, he is illegal and immigration will fine him.  If he has a visa of any kind whatsoever, then of course they can get married.  Another option would be for him to go to Brazil and if she was really serious...she go with him to SEE Brazil and check it out, but NOT to get married. Then he applies for a fiance visa and goes to the US. On a fiance visa (also called a family reunion visa, i believe), the person to be wed must do so in 9 months or lose the visa. So if she were to go that route, he woudl return to the US on a fiance visa and the two would get married. Then he would immediately qualify for a temporary permanent residency permit. From then, he would have to stay in the US and ask for permission -- like a travel or re-entry permit -- to go to Brazil and state the reason why he is going to Brazil and when he is coming back. Otherwise, you lose  your green card status. The greencard can take a year or two to come in the mail. But he will have a stamp in his passport that says permament resident, and a slip of paper he cannot lose that states the same. He will also have to go through a series of grueling and not so fun blood tests to make sure he is not cancerous or has HIV and is coming to the US to get married cuz some nice lady thought she could help him get medicare.

Now, if she goes to Brazil andn marries, the process is basically reversed.

of COURSE your daughter can come back to the US. Seh is an American! If he is illegal and leaves the country, that's fine. He will have to pay some sort of fine, perhaps, but when he comes b ack, he will have to come back on a fiance visa. Because of his illegality, a tourist visa could very well be denied. Dunno about a fiance visa. Which is why the lawyer probably recommended the reverse -- a marriage in Brazil.

Where does this man live in Brazil?



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: My daughter is 19 and he is 20.  They have been together just under 2 years.  I would rather them get married in the US if that is at all possible.  I don't know anything about this boy.  They live in Orlando, FL and it is about an hour away from me.  Whenever I do see him, he doesn't speak much and he blames it on not knowing english well enough.  He get paid under the table and sends a lot of his money back to brazil.  I'm not sure that my daughter is his only girlfriend.  Of course she thinks she is.  I know she told me that his dad is retired in brazil.  He was a VP for a big company but then she also told me the dad doesn't know how to drive.  I thought that strange.  She told me he takes the bus and thats what a lot of people do there.  I just don't know anything about brazil and have heard things about brazilians having many women.  This boy seems to be a nice boy but since it is my daughter we are talking about, I'm taking every precausion.  I know there are Americans that I wouldn't want her to marry so it is not that he is brazilian its that he is illigal and that worries me. I have a friend who is from Brazil and he gave me a name of someone in ORlando who is helping him with his divorce.  He said that people get married to brazilian people who aren't legal without having to go to brazil.  Thank you for responding to me so quickly.  I will try to find out where Marcos is from in Brazil and then let you know.
Thanks,

Lisa

ANSWER: Ugh. As a father of two daughters (7 and 4), I am not liking this at all. I think that not only is she took young here in the real world of the 21st C, but she knows nothing at all about Brazil.

Now, I dont know how close she is to you, or you and your husband, or if she is rebelling, or if you both are not close so there is nothing you can do anyway. In this case, I would recommend she see a psychologist to work these issues out before she makes the biggest mistake of her life.

What is the company that his father was the VP of and this way I can check it for you and see if he is full of crap. The VP of a big company might take the bus, if his bus ride is short (like mine). I can verify all this very easily for you.

If you have a friend who has a lawyer who said Marcos can marry your daughter even tho he is illegal, then better he stay in the US then she go to Brazil. What is she going to do in Brazil for six months? If she can study the language and relax: awesome. Can he pay the bills in the mean time? Doing what? Where do they live? What is the neighborhood like?

My guess is he lives in Sao Paulo or Minas Gerais and is from the lower middle classes, which means his home -- if in or near a big city -- could be somewhat of a major culture shock for your daughter.

Tell your daughter that they dont have to get married to stay together! And getting married so he doesnt have to leave the country is no reason to get married!

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I will find out as much about his family and where they live as I can and I will let you know.  What did you mean when you asked me what my daughter will do for the 6 months in brazil?  Does she have to stay there 6 months if they get married?  She is enrolled in college right now.  Marcos installs tile in new construction houses in the US and makes about $50,000.00 under the table.  He works for a brazilian man.

Answer
She would not have to stay in Brazil for six months. BUT here is what will happen. He leaves the US and goes to Brazil, with her. DHS (Dept of Homeland Sec) discovers he committed visa fraud by overstaying his visa. They charge him a fine and stamp his passport. He cannot come back in teh counttry on a tourist visa for x amount of years. If he is lucky, he will skate by, and the DHS will just look at him and tell him:  you know  your visa expired. you plan on coming back here? And then they will start asking him questions. This is why illegals rarely leave and when they do, they never come back. Because they know that once you commit visa fraud by overstaying your welcome, you are not welcome back for an extended period.

Lets say he is told he cannot come back on a tourist visa for 5 years. His visa gets stsamped. The US consulate denies him that type of visa. Now he gets married. Marcos and your daughter must:

1) Go to the local "cartorio" (like a registry, town clerk) to get a marriage title to prove you are legally married in Brazil.

2) Go to the US consulate and ask to have the marriage legally recognized in the U.S.  This could take a week. I forget how long that process takes.

3) Once that is complete, return to the consulate and ask for a fiance visa, or family reunion visa.  HOPEFULLY, now that they are married, they give it to him. Because, remember, he committed visa fraud. I say they will give it to him, bu only after a series of interviews with him and her together and the interview process does not happen overnight. The US gov could say, for example, okay it is March, lets sked the interview for June 1.  

4) Meanwhile, your daughter is ona tourist visa in BR, for 3 months, renewable for 3 more.

Assuming he gets the right visa now that they are married (visa fraud COULD be a problem), and assuming he wants to move back to the US, the happy lil newlyweds fly BACK to America and beging the DHS immigration process of getting him a green card. That process will take about a year, and require more interviews with gov immigration officials, and during that time, he cannot leave the country without DHS permission, which costs about $300 max to file a travel form. I forget the form number, but DHS will tell you.

I got married and my wife was on a tourist visa in the US for 6 months. Her visa did not expire. Yes,s he was illegally working and even illegally volunteering at the NEw England Aquarium (their people didnt really understand visa law. if a tourist, you tour, you dont do anyting else, incl vol. but she didnt receive a dime for her work there anyway), but there was no obvious visa fraud. .We had no problems. Goig thru the DHS form filing process was a pain in the ass. I think it is faster and more user friendly now. Good luck. I still say she is too young! ;)