How to Apply For A Brazilian Permanent Visa the right way

@roddiesho My personal experience in Brazil is different

I find officials in Brazil to be very helpful and willing to go the extra mile to assist vs the US where officials are more authoritative

My comment above is based on the below experience

I have a child born in Brazil and another born in the US

The Brazil born Child left the Hospital two days after birth with his birth certificate. The official responsible for registering the birth and issuing the birth certificate was very friendly and helpful. We couldn’t speak Portuguese so she went out of her way to help us complete the form by using Google translate on her PC

We applied for a Brazilian passport for the child and it was ready for collection in less than a week without having to pay any extra fees. When it was time to take a photo for the passport application, it was a challenged because the baby was very young but the officials did their utmost best, took their time and allowed the baby to rest in between, went the extra mile to make sure that all was done

With the US born child, we were told to wait at least 3 weeks before requesting a copy of the birth certificate and it took about 5 weeks to arrive after requesting a copy, 8 weeks in total

Routine US passport application for the child took 9 weeks to process

I recently applied for family reunion visa at the Brazilian Consulate and it was processed in just 3 days. The consular officials were very friendly and down to earth, unlike the US were officials are always on their high horses

Arrived in Brazil and went to my PF appointment to register my Consular Visa. From the Security guard at the door, up to the PF officials were nothing but good, friendly and helpful. They went out of their way to help me by calling on other officials who could speak English to come and assist and they were very happy to help. I was out of there in about an hour with my RNM number.

If an American wants to bring their spouse over to the US, they are looking at a minimum of 3 years to accomplish that and you must provide an affidavit of financial support, meaning if you are poor and Jobless then you are not entitled to love or marry a foreigner.

At the same time the spouse won’t qualify for a non immigrant visa as the spouse will be considered a potential immigrant, they don’t care if the relationship suffers

The problem here is that Americans are brainwashed to believe that anything American is the best, American travel to other countries with that mindset, tend not see anything good in other countries and expecting a red carpet to be laid down for them everywhere they go

So base on my experience, I don’t know what you or your wife is talking about.

I think your wife has a point, westerners should come down their high horses and not go and try to teach the officials how to do their Job because they feel that they are better as American/Canadian

@dyantyi28 Thanx, but it was actually about your, The American Applicants behavior and not the Brazilian officials.

I too have found Brazilian officials and Professionals very accommodating.

Roddie In Retirement

07/04/23  My experiences have generally been very much like those of @dyantyi28's.  Following the rules carefully (really important) and treating people with respect, courtesy, and friendliness opens a lot of doors with Brazilian officialdom.  Still, different offices are different, and some individuals will always be difficult. When all else fails, leaving and returning at a different time when someone else is on duty can help.

Comparing US and Brazilian immigration practices is really comparing apples and oranges.  In 2018, there were 44.8 million people of foreign birth living, legally or not, in the US, according to Pew Research Center.  In 2020 according to Agência Brasil, there were 1.3 million foreigners living here.  Brazil has a population equal to over 61% of that of the US, but only 2.9% as many immigrants. 

The US is the most sought-after immigration target in the world.  It's no wonder that immigration is much easier for Brazil to control than for the US, or that immigration is not the life or death political issue for Brazilians that it is for Americans.

@abthree I don't disagree

My entire post was NEVER EVER a reflection on the Brazilian side only how a successful American applicant should be. ALL NOTATIONs about what a Brazilian official or professional would or did do should be erased from the post in order to understand that this was ONLY about the American Behavior.

Roddie in Retirement

@abthree thank you for the statistics regarding the number of immigrants in both countries

@roddiesho I agree with you. We are sometimes the problem

My best advice is to either speak Portuguese at a very good level, or have someone with you who does. Too many details can get lost in the translation. What they said, and what you thought you heard can be 2 very different things. Whatever you do don’t don’t rely on one of those translation apps when dealing with a legal document. You are asking for trouble.

With all that being said l have had both good and bad experiences when dealing with Brazilian government officials. I will say that the people at the Atlanta consulate were just the nicest people and very helpful.