Residency application after marriage

Hi Floripabound,

Once you've got the marriage certificate in your hot little hands then go to the Policia Federal, Departamento de Estrangeiros nearest you and apply for your Permanent Visa, RNE and Cédula de Identidade Estrangeiro.

The documents necessary for your permanency application can be found on the following Ministério da Justiça website, you will be looking for the information under "Documentos necessários à instrução do pedido com base em casamento com brasileiro:". Just remember they always add the catch phrase "and any other documents deemed necessary" so you may be asked for additional items that are not on the list.

http://portal.mj.gov.br/main.asp?View=% … 0F4CB26%7D

Your Criminal Record Check needs to be recent and it must be legalized by the Consulado-Geral do Brasil in the country, and region where it was issued (i.e. nearest consulate to your hometown), and translated into Portuguese by a notarized translator in Brazil. If you have no criminal record then you will be permitted to make a Declaration (available from the Federal Police) in lieu of the Criminal Record Check, this will save both time and money.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Hi William,

I'm getting married tomorrow and after that will have just a few days left on my tourist visa to apply for my permanent visa.
Do I have to get all of the documents stated on the website you linked BEFORE I go to the PF, or do I apply there first with just my marriage certificate and passport, and then start collecting all the necessary documents?
How recent must my Criminal Record Check be? I received and legalized mine about 4 months ago in Holland, and had it translated here in Rio about 2 months ago. And could you please elaborate a bit on the situation when you have no criminal record, I didn't understand that part. I will be permitted to make a declaration about not having a criminal record at the PF, and this will save me time and money? I'm not sure how this works.
Also what is the difference between a Permanent Visa, a RNE and a Cédula de Identidade Estrangeiro? Do I get them all in one go?

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,
John

Hi John,

Generally speaking yes, you must have all the documents ready at the time you apply for your Permanent Visa based on having a Brazilian spouse. I hardly think that they will ask you to leave Brazil just because you may be missing something, since under the existing law once married you can't be expelled from the country. Exactly what documents are you lacking?

Regarding the Criminal Record Check, once legalized by the Consulado-Geral do Brasil it is as good as gold until you actually need it. Don't worry about that one.

The Permanent Visa is your authorization to reside permanently in Brazil. The RNE is your Registro Nacional de Estrangeiro (equivalent to the Brazilian's RG - Registro Geral) this is a unique number by which you are identified, all information the Federal Police will ever have on you gets recorded to this number. The Cédula de Identidade Estrangeiro (CIE) also called Carteira de Identidade Estrangeiro is the physical ID card it will bear your RNE number, full name, parents' names, photo, right thumbprint and your signature in the form of a digital image.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Hi John,

Generally speaking yes, you must have all the documents ready at the time you apply for your Permanent Visa based on having a Brazilian spouse. I hardly think that they will ask you to leave Brazil just because you may be missing something, since under the existing law once married you can't be expelled from the country. Exactly what documents are you lacking?

Regarding the Criminal Record Check, once legalized by the Consulado-Geral do Brasil it is as good as gold until you actually need it. Don't worry about that one.

The Permanent Visa is your authorization to reside permanently in Brazil. The RNE is your Registro Nacional de Estrangeiro (equivalent to the Brazilian's RG - Registro Geral) this is a unique number by which you are identified, all information the Federal Police will ever have on you gets recorded to this number. The Cédula de Identidade Estrangeiro (CIE) also called Carteira de Identidade Estrangeiro is the physical ID card it will bear your RNE number, full name, parents' names, photo, right thumbprint and your signature in the form of a digital image.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Hi William,

Actually I think I have all of the documents, except for "declaração de que não se encontram separados de fato ou de direito, assinada pelo casal, com firmas reconhecidas", which is the actual wedding certificate, right? Will I be required to present authenticated copies of both the original Dutch documents and the translated versions? I will need some passport photos as well, right?
The form I have to print and pay (comprovante do pagamento da taxa respectiva) on the PF site is 140066, Pedido da Permanência, isn't it?

Thank you by the way for responding so quickly!

Cheers,
John

No it's not the Marriage Certificate, what it is is a simple declaration (under penalty of law) that you and your wife are not separated judicially or de facto; in other words that the couple exists. You can type that up yourself and sign it. You must then take it to the Cartório to have the signature notarized (reconhecimento da firma), your signature must be on file at THAT Cartório, so if you don't have on you must do what's called "abri firma" you'll need your documents for this.

Note that whenever dealing with the Federal Police they never tell you anything correctly - when they say they want a signature notarized they mean for AUTHENTICITY. There are two different types of notarizing a signature in Cartórios in Brazil, by likeness (reconhecimento da firma por semelhança) which basically means it appears to be similar to the one on file at the Cartório. The other is for authenticity (reconhecimento da firma por autenticidade) this is more expensive, you must personally go to the Cartório and you must present identification and sign their register. Please beware the latter is the ONLY authentication that the Federal Police accept. However they never mention that little fact until you've wasted your time and money at the Cartório getting the wrong one. Cartório staff also aren't smart enough to know this little gem of wisdom either.

You should be able to get a "fill in the blanks" form of the Declaração at the Federal Police, if not PM me and I can give you the text you will need to type one up. They will also do a home visit anyway, in order to confirm that a couple really exists.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

So, im going to brazil this year to marry the girl of my dreams.

i understand the paper work required the main thing i am confused about is. after we get married, apply for my residancy (i am an australian male). How long is this process? can i work during this process? and can it be granted if i am outside of brazil?

also, I can stay as long as i want after marriage in brazil?

Have you visited Brazil before for at least 30 days total? You really need to visit it for awhile before you move. Visit a bank and apply for a CPF. That will give you a good taste of what to expect when you live there. Nothing is fast. It is a beautiful country with great people but from you are used in Australia the simplest tasks are the most difficult. I myself made this mistake and now I am back in the US and he is moving to the US. Just something to consider.. Marriage in Brazil is complicated.

does not answer my question. Can i work while the PR is processing??? i am aware it takes time.

Hi revelstoke,

Yes, you can remain in Brazil and obtain a work permit (Carteira de Trabalho e Previdência Social - CTPS) while being processed. Only VIPER Permanent Visa applications based on marriage or on having a Brazilian child carry this automatic right.

The application process itself has been taking up to two year or more to complete, however it is taking longer and longer all the time since it seems that all the Haitian and Syrian refugees and foreign medical doctor from the government's Mais Médicos Program are getting bumped to the head of the waiting line. My case is now in the system for over 4 years and going nowhere fast.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Expat-blog Experts Team

revelstoke wrote:

does not answer my question. Can i work while the PR is processing??? i am aware it takes time.

What is PR?

If you are asking if you can work before you get married, the answer is NO.

If you are asking if you can work after you get married, the answer is YES. You have two options, apply for permanency in Brazil and wait 2+ years to get your RNE. During the waiting period you are eligible to work and live in Brazil as if you had a permanent visa. The other option is you can return to Australia after you are married and apply for a permanent visa which takes 6 months. This is the faster option. The catch is you must remain in Australia until you get your visa.

Hope this answers your question now.

Hi everybody,

After getting married over a year ago and having the Federal Police conduct a house visit early this year, my name has finally been published in the Diário Oficial. As it´s been a while since I´ve looked into the process, I´m not sure what my next move is now. I can get a RNE card now, right? How do I proceed?

Thanks in advance!

Hi Johnny,

You have 90 days from the date of publication in the DOU to attend the Superintendência Regional da Policia Federal. - Setor de Estrangeiro in Rio and register in the Registro Nacional de Estrangieros and apply for your Cédula de Identidade Estrangeiro, so don't miss that deadline whatever you do.

Go to the DPF website: and follow the steps starting at No. 3. Fill out the online registration form (multi-page), schedule your visit online, generate and pay the GRU's online and then show up at the location and time indicated.

See the following topic thread for further details:  https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=403321

Pay particular attention to posting # 1 and # 5.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Expat-blog Experts Team

Thank you so much William! I managed to get everything needed (according to the DPF website) and am scheduled to appear next month. Hopefully everything will go smoothly. Unlikely, but it would be a pleasant surprise. 

Hi Johnny,

Yeah, the RNE and Cédula de Identidade Estrangeiro is the easy part of the process. You should breeze through it.

Cheers,
James

Craig,

The most important advice I could give you is go to the United States to get your permanent Brazilian visa!  Especially after the recent improvements in the processing, it is faster and much more humane to do all this from your local Brazilian consulate in the US.  For me, I got permanent residency after getting married, and it took less than three months.  You'll be an old codger and probably have a heart attack from the stress by the time you get it done in Brazil.

Actually now under the new system, provided that all the documents are in order, you are granted Permanência Definitiva immediately and your passport is stamped to reflect the fact that you're registered as a Permanent Resident. They are required to inform you if there is any problem with your documents and you have 10 days in which to resolve any problems. The only thing you need to wait for once you've applied for permanency is your ID (Cédula de Identidade Estrangeiro).

If you apply abroad, it still can take 3 months, you cannot enter Brazil (even on another category visa) until the VIPER has been granted and all the documents for the application are exactly the same. So there is really no longer a great advantage of applying abroad if based on marriage, stable union or family reunion.