Vozinha will be reunited with his mother in Miami for Sunday’s World Cup match against Uruguay after visa arrangements were made. The change clears the way for Ana Candida Evora to attend a game she had feared missing because the US visa cost was too high.
Hakeem Jeffries said visa fees had been waived and that travel arrangements were now in place for the keeper’s mother. He also said she would be able to secure a visa in time for the match, turning a travel problem into a family reunion on the tournament schedule.
Ana Candida Evora told the at her home in Sao Vicente that she was ready to make the trip. “I'm very happy,” she said. “This is happening so fast, but I'm quite happy anyway. I'm going to see my son playing in the World Cup, God willing.”
Visa rules and the £11,000 hurdle
The obstacle was financial from the start. Vozinha’s mother had been unable to attend the World Cup because of the high cost of obtaining a US visa, and Cape Verde is one of five countries whose citizens are required by the US government to pay a refundable visa deposit of around £11,000.
In May, fans with match tickets were exempted from that refundable deposit rule, but the original barrier still blocked his mother’s trip. The later waiver and travel arrangements moved her case into the category that could actually be solved before Sunday.
Jeffries said: “No mother should miss the chance to see her child make history.” He added, “I spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and asked the State Department to do everything in its power to ensure that his mother can attend Cape Verde's next match.”
That push came after Vozinha’s player-of-the-match display on Monday in a goalless draw against Spain. After the match, he said his grandparents died a few years before and that they were everything to him, then his mother said she would travel to Miami to support him, give him strength and courage, and hug him after the game.
A US State Department official said the visa team in Praia was in close touch with her and providing the needed services. Ana Cândida Évora’s trip now hangs on the final visa step, but the plan is already set around Miami for the Sunday match against Uruguay.
