u/CoolAssPuppy

A while back I posted about the timeline for my wife's residency card approval.

Unbelievably, her card showed up today.

• Submitted: March 19
• Approved: May 14
• Arrived: May 19

I submitted mine on May 7, so we shall see if she's just incredibly lucky. LOL.

My wife and I are past the 5 year mark, but since we haven't been able to schedule a permanent residency appointment, we filed instead for a third temporary residency since that was what we got from AIMA. We also filed for nationality in early April, but of course that will take, like, eleventy billion years, so whatever.

Anyway, just some stats for folks:

Submitted hers on March 19, 2026, got approval (deferido) today May 14, 2026.

Mine expires in July, but I submitted mine last week. So, I guess, I will hear back in mid-July (fingers-crossed).

1. Copy of current residency card
2. Copy of the deed to our house (the house is in my name, but my wife is mentioned in the deed. I attached a copy of our marriage certificate as well.)
3. Estágio: document that says this does not apply to her
4. Proof of substinence: this one worried me. We both originally came on D7 and she had her own income. But now she doesn't work and takes care of our kid instead. So I attached my financial records and income statements, along with a note where I state we are married, I take care of the household, and another copy of our marriage certificate.
5. Copy of our Medis insurance
6. Situação excecional: document that says this does not apply to her
7. Declaration that says the government has permission to look at our criminal records

The hardest part was finding a f-ing PDF tool to compress my PDFs. I accidentally fell into the shitty Adobe dark pattern where I got charged $39 for one month where I canceled one product but didn't notice they had attached a second product to my account. Assholes.

Anyway, hopefully that helps some of you who are playing the waiting game.

I'm using AI three ways as I plan out and write my next novel:

1. I use it for research instead of Google. I needed to know how FBI Special Agents run interrogations and researched the hell out of it using Claude. I also asked for several non-fiction titles where I could learn more (not surprisingly, I had read many of them already.)

2. I walk a lot (1-3 hours a day, depending on the weather), and I listen to audiobooks and sometimes I'll have an idea for my book. I open Claude and dictate what I'm thinking and where in the book it should go. Claude is connected to my Notion, which I use for outlining and organizing characters. Claude inserts my words into my outline or character bibles in the right spot. I used to use index cards, but I prefer things to be digital so I can write from anywhere, including on my phone, without having to bring stuff with me.

3. I created comprehensive Claude skills to review my manuscript and provide feedback. I have one that acts as a developmental editor and gives me feedback. I do pay for a real, human developmental editor who I adore, but to me, this is the equivalent of cleaning your house before the cleaner shows up. I also have another skill that acts as 8 different book reviewers with different POVs and using those personas, Claude provides me with fake book reviews so I can see how my story lands with different audiences. Again, this is before I get to the live human beta reader or reviewer stage.

In no way, shape, or form does AI write my words for me (though, I do tend to naturally use emdashes, think in rules of three, and, ugh, "it's not X, it's Y," which is forever ruined for me).

Would any of this be considered out of bounds? I'm curious what people think.