Traveling with your protocol number

We're you able to travel with just the protocol slip?

There is no problem traveling with the protocol. I have done it twice. Be sure to bring your current entry slip. You should have no problems.
Jim

No problem as far as re-entering Brazil is concerned. Airlines in other countries on the other hand aren't very up to date on just what the Hell a protocol really is and they may gripe and give you problems in boarding. Just make sure you point out your existing visa, the protocol and tell them that the protocol is essentially your provisional visa while the process is underway, that should satisfy them. Just remember that you cannot be outside of Brazil for longer than 90 days at a time until you've actually been granted the visa. After you have your VIPER Permanent Visa that can be up to 2 years before you'd lose permanent resident status.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, EB Experts Team

I really don't get this system

Does my viper visa over ride the protocol in the long run....like if a protocol expires....
to my understanding a permanent VIPER visa is a permanent visa

Also is it true they can't deport you from Brazil if you are Married to a Brazilian and have the Brazil Marriage certificate , regardless of your visa status....or is this misinformation?
Just trying to understand how all of this really works and what the strongest documents are in terms of one's rights

Hi Steve,

Your protocolo is only a temporary document (usually issued for 180 daysI at a time) while you're waiting for your Cédula de Identidade Estrangeiro if applied for here, or until your passport is returned to you with the (consular) VIPER Permanent Visa attached. In order to receive either you must surrender the protocolo when you collect it.

If your visa or CIE aren't ready in the time frame then you must have it stamped with a "prorrogação" by the DPF here, or the Consulado abroad.

You're correct. If legally married to a Brazilian citizen, or if you have a Brazilian child you are considered "inexpulsável" and in fact can apply for your permanency at the DPF even if your visa has expired. These are the only two circumstances under which they're required to take an application from anyone with an expired visa. Law here requires everyone to carry their Civil ID, for foreigners that means their CIE or passport (certified copy of the ID page and visa page will satisfy the law), if you are on an expired visa then you had best carry a certified copy or the original of your Marriage Certificate around with you, because if the police should ever check your ID for any reason they are required to turn anyone with an expired visa over to the DPF immediately. The Marriage Certificate is going to save you a world of headaches once you arrive at DPF headquarters. They'll chew you out, tell you to get your stuff together and apply for permanency, but they will kick you loose on the spot.

I would not, however, recommend that anyone think that they don't need to apply for permanency simply because they're married or have a Brazilian child. While you can't be removed from the country, you also don't have the document that you need in everyday living... the Cédula de Identidade Estrangeiro that shows your RNE number. Without that and your CPF you're like the Invisible Man (or woman), and all the gauze in the world isn't going to help you be seen.

Cheers,
James       Expat-blog Experts Team

Great - thanks for that comprehensive reply , that pretty much answers all my questions