www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Guys, relax. I was just asking the question out of curiosity. Just a half-baked idea. However, I appreciate you guys putting on your Captain Sav-A-Monger caps and coming to what you perceived as a monger in need of guidance an assistance.

I know from past experience that a dude wanting to bring a chica to the US will spend lots of time and money exploring ALL avenues. I've seen me do it. I'm not sure why we dudes feel that bringing a chica to the US is something that will be beneficial to her. I suppose it's just our American Exceptionalism playing with our minds.

By asking the question, I thought it might result in an interesting discussion of the possibilities/pitfalls and I think that has been accomplished. It also disclosed that some of you have a greater respect for the intent of the laws as compared to just the language (letter) of the laws.

_________________
Slut Puppy in Training

Is low self esteem a prerequisite for being a good Ho or is it a result? ;-)

The fiancee/marriage immigrant visa to the US is fairly straightforward. However, you need to pay attention to detail, make sure the forms are current, complete and accurate. The most difficult part is gathering all the supporting documentation and getting them notiarized and apostillarized. Immigration attorneys are not necessary, and if you do hire one, you will end up doing most of the legwork anyway. The interview panel consists of three consular officers, who will try to determine if the marriage/engagement is a sham, or if it is real. It is always good to have supporting evidence that they relationship is "for real"... pictures, plane tickets, etc that prove an on-going relationship. The applicant will know at the end of the interview whether they have the visa.

Non-immigrant tourist/student visas do not entail a lot of paperwork, but do require a letter of sponsorship affirming financial support while in the US. An interview is required. During the interview process, the consular officer will try to determine whether the visit is truly "temporary" or the applicant actually intends to stay in the US. The appplicant will know at the end of the interview whether they have the visa or not.

An adoption visa is more complicated, as the adoption process, in itself, entails a lot of time and money.

Just curious if anyone out there has blown the process on purpose. In other words, have you ever had a chica that wants you to help her get a visa but you don't want her coming to the States? But you do want to keep the relationship you have in CR. Just curious like I said. I do know of one guy who did this but wouldn't mention any details. He was actually a nice guy, just got the shit scared out of him at the thought of taking their relationship north.

Yes, I know one guy in CR who did that.

Yes, out of CR. This was in Jan 2008. By some freak occurance or just luck, the petition (fiancee visa application that the US citixen completes and sends to the appropriate Immigratio Service Center-CA or VT) was approved in something like 46 (I don't remember the exact number) days from the time I sent it. The average was 150 days (5 months). And while we were waiting for the petition to be approved, I had the embassy immigrant Visa department email us the requirements for the medical, so she knew exactly where to go for the physical, bloodwork, and vaccinations as soon as the petition was approved. (In CR, they require the vaccinations to be completed before coming to the US. Better (cheaper) to have them done by a private doctor in CR and get the paperwork so the embassy doctor can then noted it during the physical. If the embassy doctor has to administer any vaccines, it will cost 3-4X as much. My girl needed a chicken pox vaccine and was charged $25. It would cost $6 at her doctor's.) Most other countries don't require all vaccines to be completed before they give the visa. You have to have them completed when you apply for the greencard once you marry your fiancee in the US. This way, one less thing to worry about when applying for the GC.

Once the petition is approved, you do your medical stuff and gather the (police records, single certificate, birth certificate, etc) and then are ready to schedule the interview. Since we had the requirements ahead of time, she gathered everything she needed in the 46 days we waited for the apporval. Then she knocked out the medical stuff in one week and we were ready for the interview with 2 weeks of our petition being approved. I scheduled the interview for a month later (not a long wait, but we wanted her to come when it was a little warmer).

I flew down for the interview (the lady I spoke with on the phone told me they like to see the couple together at the interview in CR). They called us up first to drop off the paperwork, them we waited about 90 minutes to be called to the actual officer who interviewed us. (While we waited, I noticed they observed us, how we interacted, whether we touched or sat far apart, etc). We waiting we did get to enjoy another couple getting interviewed. The guy was 60+ and the girl looked early 20's or less. She didn't know his last name. OOPS! Funny thing is that she was there picking up the visa 3 days later when we went to get my girl's.

Other advice:
-Visit this site: http://www.visajourney.com It has a forum like this one where you can get help/advice/answers about any kind of visa question. They helped me a lot with things that weren't clear.
-Be detail oriented, especially when filling out the paperwork and gathering the required evidence. The instructions are very thorough. Make sure you follow them. Ask questions on VJ (site mentioned above) if you are not clear about something. I followed them to a T and I think that is why we had such a smooth sailing through the whole process.
-DON'T hire a lawyer. They are mostly fuck-ups. There are very few good immigration lawyers. Most try to practice several types of law (real estate, personal injury, estate, immigration, etc.) and they usually suck at all of them. 99% of them are not up to date on ever-changing immigration laws. And their paralegals do all the work anyway, they just collect the money.
-Be patient. The process can be long and stressful, although it's usually realtively quick and easy.
-In order for a cross-cultural relationship to work, you must be able to fully communicate with your partner. If you don't speak the same language very well, it's gonna fail quickly. Spanglish isn't gonna cut it.
-Respect each other's culture and not try to change each other. She will come with a set of beliefs and you need to respect them because she won't see things the same way you do. It doesn't mean that your way is better.
-Discuss issues such as family support beforehand. Many on here (with 0 experience in this matter ) like to say that you when you marry a Latina, you have to support her whole family. You don't. I certainly don't. We talked about it and I made it quite clear that we're not going to be sending money to her family on a regular basis. Once in a while, if there is a situation, we do help. I think we've sent money maybe 6 times in almost 4 years.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me.

Yes, tad harsh- my apologies.

_________________
I said hey baby, take a walk on the wild side.
Lou Reed

There was an article in today's Miami Herald about the adoption of a 42 year old girlfriend by a millionaire trying to protect a trust fund against a wrongful death action.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/08/2 ... nates.html

I believe this is the case Scuba1 refereed to in an earlier post.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Accepted - we are fine




Yes, ID - correct

I think this might be the article where the point is made that adoption in the vast majority of cases (like everything else, there are some few and far between exceptions) is to create a legal relationship between a minor Ch*ld and parent(s). Article makes strong point how this whole thing is a sham (as if there was any doubt... )

Not for protecting your 100 million dollar trust after you negligently killed someone then fled the scene - nor, for that matter, to bring a girl over the age of majority to the USA to Phuck her.

Sometimes, you get what you ask for...

If I had an extra $300K to $500K lying around .......................I'd keep it!

Just read the Florida story for the first time. Pretty interesting stuff.

The latest update from today's Miami Herald.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/09/2 ... riend.html

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

_________________
Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly!

It is my understanding that in order for you to be able to adopt a person and bring them to the US they must be 15 or younger here is some info from the website.

In gaining permanent residence for an adopted foreign Ch*ld, the following requirements must be met:

The Ch*ld's home country must permit adoptions by foreigners, and the prospective US citizen parents must comply with all of that country's rules;
The Ch*ld to be adopted must be under 16 years old and must fit the US government's definition of orphan;
The adoptive parent must be a US citizen, or in the case of a married couple, only one needs to be a US citizen. Single adoptive parents must be at least 25 years of age;
The Ch*ld must have been formally adopted in its country of origin, or the adoptive parents must have custody of the Ch*ld for immigration and an adoption to be finalized in the US; and
An agency must determine if the home/family are suitable to adopt a Ch*ld.

So unless your chica is 15 or younger and an orphan I do not believe you can do it.

I'm wondering about adopting and keeping her here. (could be a day over 18 ). That way one avoids the issues of alimony, property division if the deal goes bad. (BTW, we know that eventually it's likely to go bad). The beauty of being young (from a chica's perspective) is that like the young K*ds sent into battle, it's not going to be bad for them. Food for thought!