Criminal Record and VITEM XI Visa

09/12/24    Hey guys I am from the USA, my fiancé and baby live in Brazil. Our baby was born in February in Brazil. I know with me having a baby born there, I am eligible for the Family Reunion Visa. I have already spent my 180 days there, and I cannot go back until February 2025. I want to apply for the family reunion visa so I can get back to my fiancé and baby girl. But I am on probation here in the states for 2 years due to a DUI (driving under the influence). Will this affect my family reunion visa application?? I have no travel restrictions or anything for my probation. Will Brazil have a problem with this?         -@Joeymendes31

It's hard to tell.  At which Brazilian Consulate will you be requesting the visa?  Do you have all the other documents you'll need for it together and ready to go?  Since you're not married, you're going to have to request the visa in your daughter's name, so there will be some additional documents required from Brazil.

@Joeymendes31 So while a clear path forward is being developed, please assist us with this information.

• Your Fiancé is American / Brazilian?
• What documentation do you have for her?
• What documentation do you have for your daughter?
• Take this time to do the FBI Background Check and Fingerprints. Since you are in the U.S. this is what is passed onto the Federal Police. If there are no red flags, then things may work out for you. Keep in mind that these documents are time-sensitive, but it is the best way of knowing if you will be in good standing. Know that if everything is good it will have to be apostatlized.
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It took me about 1 year to get my Brazilian Permanent Residence via my Brazilian / American daughter.  It will take time so make sure you do your best to have clearance to stay in Brazil once you go back.

Good Luck.

Roddie in Retirement

A criminal conviction for a DUI bans you from entering Canada permanently FWIW (and a few other countries as well). But, on the gov.br site there is no reference to what, if any, convictions may keep you out of the country. I guess all you can do is submit the paperwork and hope for the best. The records check must be no older more than 90 days old FWIW in order for it to be accepted.

Good luck !!

@roddiesho my fiance is brazilian, and she lives in maceio. my daughter was born there in maceio, and lives there with my fiance. i know all of the documents i need and i am working on that. i am just a little worried that brazil will not accept my family reunion visa because i am on probation in the USA for a DUI.

09/12/24 @joeymendes31.  Every Brazilian Consulate addresses VITEM XI applications a little differently.  Since you didn't answer my question of which Consulate you'll be applying to I can't review their specific instructions and advise you of anything I might see to look out for. 

All I can say, therefore, is to review the Consulate's expectations carefully  and make sure that everything aside from your Criminal Background Check is perfect, so no questions arise on those documents.  Assume that you won't have a problem with your Background Check.  Have an explanation prepared in case you're     questioned about it in your interview, but don't bring it up yourself if the Consulate doesn't.

If the Consulate gives you a VITEM XI visa, you no longer have to worry about the 180 days you've already spent in Brazil.  Your new visa will supersede the stay on your tourist visa.  You can return to Brazil as soon as you want, as long as you have everything you need to go to the Polícia Federal (PF) as soon as possible after you arrive to request your residency.

You won't need apostilles for your Background Check or (probably) your Birth Certificate at the Consulate, but you may need them for the PF in Maceió, so it would be good to have duplicate originals of both, with apostilles, before you leave for Brazil.  Get Sworn Translations of them as soon as you arrive -- it should only take a couple of days -- and then you should be ready for the PF.  They may not ask for any more documents if you have the visa, but if they do, you'll be ready.

@Joeymendes31 Ok, I can see the worry wrinkles from here, but like I said get your FBI Background Check done to see if there are any red flags and get some sleep. As far as the documents...@abthree is the master of all thing's documents so I would cover those with @abthree.  Also remember the golden rule "It is not what you think you need, but what the person in charge of giving you access says that is important" Also I believe a DUI is a state crime and may not be a part of your FBI Background Check.  Good Luck.

Roddie in Retirement

@abthreei i will be sumbitting the application to the consulate in boston massachusetts

09/13/24    @abthreei i will be sumbitting the application to the consulate in boston massachusetts         -@Joeymendes31

I've looked at the rules at the Boston Consulate; they appear here:

https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/consulado- … a/vitem-xi

Boston is one of the Consulates that allows you to submit a background check from the local police department rather that the FBI, but since your DUI issue is more likely to appear on the local report, you're probably better off with the FBI report.  You can request your Background Check from the FBI here:

https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you … ary-checks

I've always used an Approved Channeler rather than going directly to the FBI.  They're more expensive, but usually faster and will provide both a hard copy and electronic versions:

https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you … ubmissions

I don't think that you'll have a problem with the DUI, especially if it's not on the FBI Report.  (If it's not, don't bring it up.)

Assuming that you are listed as the father on your daughter's Brazilian Birth Certificate, you will almost certainly need a dupilcate original or at least an authenticated copy of the certificate from the cartório in Maceió:  your fiancée should be able to provide this for you. 

The Consulate should accept your FBI Background Check and your own Birth Certificate (assuming that it's from a state in the Consulate's service area) without an apostille.  You should have a second original of your Birth Certificate WITH an apostille to give to the Federal Police in Brazil when you request your residency and CRNM.  It would be a good idea to have a second original of your FBI Background Check with an apostille (this one from the US State Department) for the Federal Police, in case they ask for it.  You will need to have Sworn Translations done of the documents in Brazil, but that's pretty fast.

You can direct any questions on documents to the Consulate at this email address:  visa.boston@itamaraty.gov.br

@abthree im still confused about this fbi report thing. which one do i need for the applicstion? the electronic one or the hard copy? and i have to go somewhere to take finger prints in order to do all of this?

and my daughters birth certificate arrived today. i need to go get this apostiled somewhere to sumbit with my application?

09/30/24    @abthree im still confused about this fbi report thing. which one do i need for the applicstion? the electronic one or the hard copy? and i have to go somewhere to take finger prints in order to do all of this?and my daughters birth certificate arrived today. i need to go get this apostiled somewhere to sumbit with my application?        -@Joeymendes31

You need an FBI Criminal Background Check, (the FBI website calls it "Identity History Summary/Rap Sheet".  If you get it directly from the FBI, you'll need to get fingerprinted at the Post Office.  The instructions are on the website I provided above.

If you get the FBI Criminal Background Check from an Approved Channeler, the instructions will be on their website; they'll ordinarily fingerprint you themselves.   It's exactly the same document, the Channeler just deals with the FBI for you, and gets it faster.

You'll need a hard copy to give to the Consulate.  You'll need a (second) hard copy, with an apostille from the US State Department, to give to the Federal Police when you arrive in Brazil and register with them.  You should have an electronic version so that you can print off your own additional copies, and to send to a service, like National Apostille, to get they State Department apostille for you; that way, you won't have to deal with the State Department directly.  The service will return an apostilled document to you that you can bring to Brazil.

You'll need to have your Birth Certificate, your FBI Criminal Background Check, and the apostilles for both documents translated into Portuguese by a Sworn Translator when you get to Brazil, and to submit the translations to the Federal Police with the documents. 

If your daughter's Birth Certificate is an original document from the cartório in Maceió (or wherever your daughter was born), that should be enough for the Consulate:  they should recognize and accept an official Brazilian document.

@abthree so when i send in my application to the consulate here, they will send my birth certificate back to my house when they are finished rev right?

09/30/24    @abthree so when i send in my application to the consulate here, they will send my birth certificate back to my house when they are finished rev right?        -@Joeymendes31

They probably won't send anything "back to your house":  you'll likely to have to go back to the Consulate to pick everything up.  They may return your documents to you, but you should email them with the question at the address in Post #9 above to make sure.  The reason that I always advise people to have duplicates of everything is so they're not stuck if one agency or another decides that it needs to keep a document.

You should definitely have a duplicate of any document that will require an apostille in Brazil, because once an apostille is attached to a document, the apostille and the document cannot be detached from each other and re-attached without voiding both documents, not even to copy them.

@abthree I scheduled an appointment for my fingerprints for the FBI check. Will I be able to just print out the one that they send to me online and submit use that? Or will I have to wait for it to come in the mail?

10/12/24 @abthree I scheduled an appointment for my fingerprints for the FBI check. Will I be able to just print out the one that they send to me online and submit use that? Or will I have to wait for it to come in the mail? -@Joeymendes31

Good morning.  You'll need to submit the original that the FBI sends you on their paper to the Consulate.