Waiver

[codeoverride80]

I overstayed my visa when I was a kid and didn't even know. I couldn't work after graduating college and had to leave. My girlfriend and I (who I met in college and dated for 3 years) now want to marry. I'm living in Ireland (I have Brazilian and Italian citizenship through my parents). She really wants to try for the waiver but I'm concerned about how long the process could take. The lawyer that we spoke with said 4 to 6 months for the visa and then another 4 to 9 months for the waiver. Would love to get your opinions based on your experiences. Thanks sooo much!

[Marie]

Welcome :wave:

how old were you when you left?

I'm going to move this to the waiver section of the site. I moved it to the Europe one but since you have dual nationality, I'm not sure if you can pick which country you want to go through or not.

Others will chime in :)

[codeoverride80]

I was 13 when I left Brazil (where I was born). Lived in the US for 15 years. I'm now 27 years old. Thanks and sorry for posting in the wrong section

[codeoverride80]

Since I'm an Italian citizen and I am living in Ireland with my EU passport I think that it might be best to go through the Italian consulate (my lawyer says the Brazilian one is difficult). Anyway.. really wondering how long it might take and what the chances are. Thanks so much.

[Laura]

Huh, hard to say if Rome or Lima (where Brazilian waivers go) is more difficult. I see you already have an attorney but I would suggest asking this question to Laurel Scott in her free weekly chat on Wednesday. She is VERY experienced with waivers all over the world, and might be able to shed some light on where it would be best to file with your circumstances.

[codeoverride80]

After reading the memo on http://www.visacentral.net/index.html I am not convinced that the waiver would be approved. My situation seems to be similar to Laura's (my fiance's father also had a heart attack, etc.) except for the fact that I hold both Brazilian and Italian passports and that I'm currently living in Ireland which I'm sure they won't think is bad compared to Mexico. Maybe if she had to move to Brazil it'd be different (it would be easy to find all kinds of crazy crime figures) but since I'm not living there right now, I'm guessing that she wouldn't be able to use that?

[pen1137]

this is one of those cases where you have to brainstorm and prove more that your fiance can only live in the US and she can't do that without you by her side. think future medical, family, education/career...takes a lot of thought, but you can do it!