05/29/23 Here’s my situation. I stayed in Brazil longer than I should have (I misinterpreted the rules) but faced no fines when leaving the country. I never applied for an extension either.
How should I proceed when I return for 2 weeks in June? Just show up, be ready to pay the fine and cross my fingers?
-@gpickett00
Good morning. If, as your profile suggests, you're a US citizen, you still don't get the length-of-stay rules, and haven't overstayed at all. Let's try this again. 😃
There are two big stay "buckets" that most countries fall into for tourist visas in Brazil: countries whose citizens can stay up to 180 days in every rolling 365 days, and countries whose citizens can stay up to 90 days in every rolling 180 days. The remaining countries of the world have individual rules. US citizens are in the first bucket, the 180/365 day group. You can see the rules for all countries here:
https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/assuntos/p … MAR231.pdf
Everybody in the the two groups above gets a 90 day visa. People in the first group can renew the visa once with the Federal Police, people in the second group can't renew, but can return sooner. "Rolling" means that every time you arrive in Brazil, the Immigration System looks back at the period immediately before that arrival, either 365 or 180 days, counts the number of days you spent in Brazil during that period against your allowance, and admits you for any days you have remaining. Each month, the oldest month in that period drops off your record, and you get any days that you used in that month back.
By my quick count, the days that count against you today -- May 29, 2023 -- are:
Sept 27 - Nov 20 2022 -- 55 days
Nov 28 2022 - Jan 15 2023 -- 49 days
Feb 10 - Feb 23 2023 -- 14 days
March 6 - April 9 2023 -- 34 days
That totals 152 days, so you have 28 left if you arrive anytime before October 1, 2023; on that day, you'll get back the four days you used in September 2022. You never even earned a technical fine by overstaying your 90 day visa without renewing it at the Federal Police. If my calculations are correct, you should be admitted for up to 28 days in June, no questions asked.
You've asked elsewhere about the Digital Nomad visa. If you get this at a Brazilian Consulate in the US and re-enter Brazil on it, none of those days will count against you anymore. At a Consulate in the US, you won't need apostilles or Sworn Translations of any of your documents, either; you will at either a Brazilian Consulate outside the US or at the Federal Police in Brazil if you try to get an Authorization for Residency as a Digital Nomad there.