US Embassy Experience

This is the street corner at the US embassy in Rio.  We got there at 6:45, again with our "private" taxi driven by Paulo and then waited in line until about 7:30 when we cleared security and went upstairs to the green card and passport area.  No cameras, cell phones or computers were allowed past security, so we checked ours and went upstairs.  There were three lines around the embassy with different types of applications.  We were in the US citizen and relatives line, the other two were Brasilians applying for visas or green cards.

Thank goodness they had a bunch of toys and books at the back of the waiting area, as we finally left the building at about 11:30.  Wem got called in about 8:30 for his first "encounter" to insure all his paperwork was ok.  Since I was the sponsor, I got called in to answer some financial questions of how we could support Wem and family.  We need to have Carol fill out a form and sign, as I had claimed her Soc Sec income as part of the support, as shown on our income tax filing for 2009.

We waited again and then he had his fingerprints taken using a neat "surround" camera with NO ink.  We waited again and then the family went in for the interview with the official person who made final decisions.  Unfortunately the answer was "more paperwork is required".  A waiver of the 10 year waiting period is needed.  Of course this will require more fees and paperwor and travel.

There were 15 other individuals or families in this morning group.  The young red haired lady who initially gave us numbers and made sure we were on the list for the 7am slot gave an initial introduction and then made sure the paperwork was in order before anyone even got to the beginning interviews.  Some people left to get photos or copies that were needed.  We had to go down stairs after the initial interview to pay a $400 fee.  When we got back upstairs Wem didn't realize that he needed to turn the receipt in to someone so we could go to the next "station" so we were delayed a bit.

One couple had poor control of their 5 year old boy and 2 year old girl.  The rest were well behaved.