Divorce document Certidão de Sentença or Sentença de Divórcio issues

Hey what document exactly you need Im going through the same situation

The green card application can get pretty complicated and has a lot of moving parts. If you have the money I would recommend  using a lawyer that specializes in this.

I already submitted the Certidao Registro de Transcricao do Registro de Casamento (translated officially to English) to the USCIS but I called it a Marriage Status document because it not only shows my wife's current marriage to me but also her former divorce. However, the National Visa Center eventually takes over from USCIS and they specifically request Certidão de Sentença or Sentença de Divórcio. So I don't know if my previously submitted document will be accepted or not.

One correction: I meant to say Certidao de Casamento and not Certidao Registro de Transcricao do Registro de Casamento.

The Certidao de Casamento was issued prior to our marriage and showed her previous divorce.

I am being told that I need to provide my wife's former divorce document to USCIS for green card application. However, I am having trouble finding anyone that understands the documents required by the US government. The Cartorio say that the Certidao Registro de Transcricao do Registro de Casamento has all the information required about former divorce. While this is true, the US government is asking for these other specifically named documents Certidão de Sentença or Sentença de Divórcio, and I'm not sure they will accept the Certidao Registro de Transcricao do Registro de Casamento.
-@seinfo3

The USCIS is actually very easy to deal with if you do not overthink it or overthink them. Below is a link to their list of documents for you. I have done it all for my wife, and I have done it all for a number of other people who either became engaged to or married a foreign national, people from several countries, Russia, Ukraine, China, Brazil... I got started helping other people because so many US immigration attorneys, simply do not keep up with changes in US laws and filing requirements, and then make really stupid mistakes, causing very lengthy delays, and huge amounts of additional expenses. If you are not yet a group member, join https://www.visajourney.com/

From the USCIS:

Required Documentation

To complete the process, the petitioner must submit:

Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative (signed with proper fee), with all required documentation, including:

A copy of your civil marriage certificate

A copy of all divorce decrees, death certificates, or annulment decrees that demonstrate that all previous marriages entered into by you and/or your spouse were terminated

Passport style photos of you and your spouse (see Form I-130 instructions for photo requirements)

Evidence of all legal name changes for you and/or your spouse (may include marriage certificates, divorce decrees, court judgment of name change, adoption decrees, etc.)

If you are a U.S. citizen, you must demonstrate your status with:

A copy of your valid U.S. passport OR

A copy of your U.S. birth certificate OR

A copy of Consular Report of Birth Abroad OR

A copy of your naturalization certificate OR

A copy of your certificate of citizenship

If you are a Green Card holder (permanent resident), you must demonstrate your status with:

A copy (front and back) of Form I-551 (Green Card) OR

A copy of your foreign passport bearing a stamp showing temporary evidence of permanent residence

https://www.uscis.gov/family/bring-spouse-to-live-in-US

@rraypo Great website. Thanks for sharing. Do you know about consulate filing? I was reading on the internet that you have to have some type of exigent circumstance to do that but now on this website you provided it's saying that if I have been living in Brazil for at least 6 months I qualify for consulate processing.

https://www.visajourney.com/guides/dire … ar-filing/

02/17/23  @rraypo Great website. Thanks for sharing. Do you know about consulate filing? I was reading on the internet that you have to have some type of exigent circumstance to do that but now on this website you provided it's saying that if I have been living in Brazil for at least 6 months I qualify for consulate processing.
https://www.visajourney.com/guides/dire … ar-filing/
-@jasonlovesdogs

Note that that website hasn't been updated since November 2019 -- before the pandemic.

Here are the current instructions for filing an I-130 from abroad:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel … he-us.html

And here are the "limited circumstances" under which DOS may accept a filing, and CIS may let them:

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/vol … -chapter-3

RRayp0... thanks. I have seen this list during my searches.

However, the NVC is the actual ones that specify documents after they have received the approved I-130 application from the USCIS. On their site, specifically for Brazilians applying they list the following:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel … ments.html

follow the link and you end up here for Brazil

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel … razil.html

Divorce Certificates

Available: In all 26 states and the Federal District of Brasilia.

Fees:  Fees are variable.

Document Name: Divorce Sentence (Certidão de Sentença or Sentença de Divórcio) from a court.

Issuing Authority: Civil Registry (Cartório de Registro Civil das Pessoas Naturais).

Special Seal(s) / Color / Format: Certificates vary in form depending on the state where it was issued.

abthree .... Unfortunately I didn't qualify for special circumstances to file Consular Processing path. Had to file with USCIS online. This then passes to NVC and when they're done, it goes to the US Consulate in Rio for appointment..... in about 10 months....hopefully!

So I just went through and looked at the current processing times for the various steps and came up with this:

So after evaluating the timeline for my wife's green card it appears to be as follows:

USCIS reviews and completes Application    5 months

NVC received and open Case File            2.5 months

NVC processes additional forms                2.5 months

Consulate schedules interview                1.5 months

        TOTAL GREEN CARD PROCESS        11-12 MONTHS

I took worst case time estimates, in the hope that they might be a little better.

This post drifted way off topic and I'm still looking for information on the following documents:

Certidão de Sentença or Sentença de Divórcio

Has anyone ever requested these and if so, did they get them from the Cartorio?

@seinfo3

My wife and I went through the process in 2020 and retained a lawyer here in the US so we were sure we did it right. My wife is also divorced and we provided her Certidão de Casamento along with translation..

02/22/23 @seinfo3.  My research would indicate that what you have, a "Certidão de Casamento com averbação de divórcio" is what satisfies all legal requirements in Brazil for a divorce certificate, so it would be hard for a cartório to understand a request for a separate document. 

This is the most current information I could find, less than a year old.  Perhaps the organization cited here, ARPEN Brasil, could provide more:

https://advogadorafael.com.br/certidao- … omo-obter/

@abthree I kind of thought the same thing until I saw the National Visa Center (NVC) document requirements for Brazilian immigrants, where they specifically list all documents required from Brazil for immigration to the US. I had planned to use my wife's previous Certidao de Casamento which is annotated with the divorce, until I saw their specific doc requirements.

It's a little confusing because depending on where the Brazilian immigrant is applying from they may or may not need translations of Portuguese docs. It seems that for immigrants living and applying from Brazil, the NVC doesn't require translations since the docs are just forwarded to the US Consulate in Rio. However, without a translation, how do they know if they have been given the correct documents..... I assume they just look at the document title to see if it matches their list of Brazilian documents specified....in this case Certidão de Sentença or Sentença de Divórcio.

Thank you sjpetzold for your experience. I am just concerned that this is a new requirement.

If someone has more recent experience that can confirm or deny the acceptance of a Certidao de Casamento doc instead, that would be really useful.