If you've applied for a Permanent Visa based on marriage or child read

05/08/23 @abthree … I would really like to make everything right… get the marriage registered, get our CPF’s, residency, and eventually dual citizenship…
-@BandD

You're very welcome.  My first thought was to suggest doing the things that I thought you could do with low risk, like getting CPFs and trying to register the marriage, yourselves, but as I re-read your story, I thought it best to suggest that you work with a Brazilian professional who can coordinate things, help you time them, and present them in the most favorable light.

Is there any chance of getting the letter for your son from the retired doctor?  The Brazilian authorities won't care about his current occupational status,  just about his professional credentials and his knowledge of your son.

I don't have a good solution for you with the FBI Criminal Background Check.  The person you work with may be able to arrange for you to be fingerprinted, so that you could request it from here.  There would still be an issue with the apostille, but one hill at a time!

What city do you live in, by the way?

The stress of feeling stuck can't be good for you; just feeling that things are moving again should be a help.

As for citizenship, that's a whole different series of hurdles, so leave that for another day.  Fortunately Brazil, unlike the US, puts absolutely no pressure on permanent residents to become citizens.  A dear friend of mine will celebrate fifty years as a permanent resident of Brazil next month.   She has a Brazilian husband and Brazilian children and could have become a citizen at any time.  She never chose to, and nobody ever pushed it. 

@abthree thank you again for such amazing advice… you are absolutely right, stress is bad on its own for anyone, and especially as a trigger for an MS relapse.. My husband is the very definition of calm and soothing… soft spoken, thoughtful.. everything one needs during stress.. which is ironic considering he is a death metal vocalist!!! He keeps us happy, laughing and relaxed even in the tougher moments..

I meant to mention this in my first response to you, my apologies for not.. I want to express my compassion for all members of the forum in the loss of your friend, James.. from what I have seen in reading the blogs, he was quite a presence…

We live in Porto Alegre… and to answer another question… no, I have tried to contact my son’s former doctor without success… he has retired to parts unknown… I can look at obtaining an advocate here, but I am very open to any suggestions that anyone may want to DM me, whether as someone well versed in these particular issues or as a professional.. Also, I am fairly certain that our marriage is not considered proxy.. I will have to go back and check to be sure, but I remember that was one thing I checked into before going that route… and when we took the marriage license and certificate (translated and apostiled) to the FP initially, they said it was acceptable… I hope so. We’ll see what happens from here.. thank you so much, I appreciate you, so very much

06/09/23 @BandD.  You're fortunate to have a US Consulate General right in Porto Alegre.  They may be able to direct you to somewhere to get fingerprinted for your Background Check. 

As you've already learned, not addressing administrative problems in Brazil is more apt to make them worse than to make them go away, so it would be a good idea to act deliberately and calmly, but without more delay.