Family Reunion Visa

I got married here in Brazil so I'm not sure how that would work, but I assume it's similar with a birth certificate from the US.

I had to get my Birth Certificate Apostille. This was done at my local Secretary of State office in Chicago.  You can also pay a company to help you get this. Then I had my document translated by a sworn translator.

I decided to hire a lawyer here to get my residency. $800 USD. Let me know if you would like her contact.

Much easier to do through the Brazilian Consulate in the US; they will accept US documents without translation. It is still a "Brazilian" process, so expect delays and odd requests. If she was not born in the US, she will need an original apostilled birth certificate. But otherwise, the process via Consulate is MUCH smoother. Once she gets her VITEM XI through the Consulate she can enter Brazil on that Visa and then you go to the Policia Federal and apply for Permanent Residency if you intend to live in Brazil; if you do not intend to live in Brazil, then the only possibility is a Tourist Visa with the 90/180 limit.

https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/embaixada- … n-vitem-xi

Hope this link would clarify few things, wish you ease and luck through your process

05/26/23 @Phil Mode. Give careful thought to ChicagotoSaopaulo's suggestion about getting an attorney with experience in obtaining residency. If your marriage was never registered at a Brazilian Consulate in the US, getting your Oregon Marriage Certificate accepted is going to be a problem. The delay in getting the FBI Background Check from abroad is another problem. It doesn't sound like any of your US documents have apostilles, which is a third big problem.  You mention a son in the "Welcome" thread but don't mention him here, so I'm assuming that he's a Brazilian citizen and that his passport and other papers are in order. If not and if he's coming with you, he'll need a set of documents of his own.

Do you have a timeframe for your intended move to Brazil? The law only guarantees residency to foreign spouses of Brazilians living in Brazil: if your plans are to continue to maintain your permanent address in the US, the Polícia Federal are likely to hear you out, and then hand everything back to her, tell you to return after you schedule your own permanent return, and for her to make do with a tourist visa until then.

You're going about this the hard way, and already have some issues. Reviewing your case with a professional who's done this before to determine whether it's even possible and to represent you if it is will probably save you some money, as well as enormous aggravation and frustration.

@Phil Mode I was in somewhat the same situation, so I will let you know what the challenges are to look out for. I married a Brazilian National 23 years ago and we have a Brazilian / American daughter.

• The 90 Day Time Frame is very important, but I believe you can extend it to 180 days total.
• Our biggest challenge is the marriage documents etc. At one point it was a certified Marriage, License, then a certified Marriage Certificate but this was the part of the process that was the biggest challenge.
• The FBI Background check should be done in the USA. The FBI is a domestic agency and I had to fly to Miami for a few days to be fingerprinted by ACCURATE BIOMETRICS, an FBI Approved Channeler who will help you with your "Rap Sheet", payment and participating UPS Office for fingerprinting. Any other method will be a work-around. If you do it this way you will not have to worry about it's validity later. In addition many FBI Approved Channelers will not work with you if you do not get it done in the USA. (Quick Note: There are some advantages to popping into the USA for a minute. I just found out that my Canon PIXMA Printer Ink was not sold in Brazil or any place in Latin America, so you will probably need some things only sold in the USA).
• The Sooner the better. Coming back from Miami only an act of god, probably some high=ranking officials and my very resourceful brazilin wife - via phone, got me back into Brazil with 4 days left on my Visa. Even with ALL my documents and almost two hours of negotiation I was barely let back to Brazil.

We are now working with a lawyer to get my Permanent Residency by Spouse with a month past the VISA date (It took forever to get the Marriage Documents done right).

Roddie in Retirement

I also have a Lawyer in Brazil if you need one.

I know they can for a fact get your documents apostilled and translated without you having to leave the country.

Let me know if you’d like me to send them your info!

@Phil Mode

A few years back, I was given the name of a professional facilitator in Brazil by another member of this group. He handles anything to do with the government. Your questions are pretty simple for what he does. If interested, send me a private message.

I got my Family Reunion visa last year at the Brazilian consulate in Houston.  Simple.  Didn't need anything translated, didn't need an FBI background check (as have lived at same address for sufficient time), nothing apostilled.  On first entry into Brazil, went to the Federal Police in Niteroi to register.  About a month later had my permanent residency card.

That said, I have a lawyer in Niteroi that speaks fluent English.  I used him for a real estate purchase.  Don't recall if he does these visas; if not, likely to know someone.  Let me know if you want his contact info.

@abthree That's correct about my son; we were able to get him a Brazilian "birth certificate" when he was much younger at the consulate in DC and then a Brazilian passport, so there was no issue with him. Regarding my own residency status, I do have my RG from Rio under my parents' address, and have a voter registration (titulo), CPF and all, but no job and/or taxes have ever been done here in Brazil for me. I still reside in and work for a Florida-based company, and I have only been coming to Brazil to visit since I left.

I'm starting to lean towards getting an immigration lawyer since the situation will certainly be complicated and time-consuming either way.

Thanks for the reply!

@essxiv Yes please send me his/her info. I'm going to be contacting lawyers this week. Thank you so much!

@Phil Mode Best Advice is from @abthree.  I was just accepted by a Brazilian Lawyer to handle my Permanent Residency by Spouse, but it took a few days pause for him to look over my documents / situation before he agreed. You want to present them with the fewest complications since you will

• 1). Be paying them for their services and the less time "fixing" things the better.
• 2). You only have a limited time to do this before you overstay.

Roddie in Retirement

@essxiv hello. how do you get your documents apostilled in brazil? I was told that I can only get this done at the state I am living in. for my example, Wisconsin and it has to be sent to Secretary of State of Wisconsin and for HER to sign it. I had my apostilled documents rejected because it was NOT SIGNED by the secretary of state but the division that also handles state of wisconsin apostilled.

Most of us have someone we have used in the past, in Brazil, I do.

05/28/23 @Kris Kim. The apostille for a document must be issued by the "Competent Authority" of the government under whose authority the document was issued.  For a federal document, like the FBI Criminal Background Check, that's the US State Department.  For a state document, like a Birth or Marriage Certificate, it's the "Competent Authority" of the issuing state, which may or not be the current state of residence.

@abthree stupid question. so if my fbi criminal background needs to be apostiled, it can't be done by my state because its a federal document? and if that's the case, once I have my fbi criminal report in hand, do you have any suggestion where to send the document to be apostiled? such confusing process. thank you for all the advice you have given in this forum. and also, you were right about the whole 180/365 thing and my lawyer was wrong. he went to federal police in sao paulo and asked and what he said to me before was wrong. unbelievable. almost losing confidence in the people we should be trusting. and also, I'm beginning to think if I hired the right lawyer. smh

05/29/23  @abthree stupid question. so if my fbi criminal background needs to be apostiled, it can't be done by my state because its a federal document? and if that's the case, once I have my fbi criminal report in hand, do you have any suggestion where to send the document to be apostiled? such confusing process. thank you for all the advice you have given in this forum. and also, you were right about the whole 180/365 thing and my lawyer was wrong. he went to federal police in sao paulo and asked and what he said to me before was wrong. unbelievable. almost losing confidence in the people we should be trusting. and also, I'm beginning to think if I hired the right lawyer. smh
-@Kris Kim

Glad that it's coming together for you.  Yes, Federal documents must be apostilled by the State Department's Office of Authentications.  Full information is here:

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

Since time is of the essence, rather than losing time by having the FBI Criminal Background Check sent all the way to you in Brazil and then all the way back, you'd be well advised to have someone in the US take care of it for you, and then just send you the apostilled document.  Even faster, although more expensive, would be to use an apostille service.

Never, ever separate a document from the apostille for any purpose:  any sign of separation and reattachment invalidates both the apostille and the document itself.  That's why I always advise people to obtain duplicate originals whenever possible, and to only have an apostille attached to one of them.

@Kris Kim Accurate Biometrics, an FBI Background Check Channeler apostilled my document as part of the process. www.accuratebiometrics.com. They emailed it to me and I had it before leaving Miami after I was fingerprinted.

Roddie In Retirement