How to register a marriage to a Brazilian citizen outside Brazil

James · 2014-06-13T12:20:14+02:00

When a Brazilian citizen marries a foreign national outside of Brazil, while the marriage is legal in Brazil it must be registered at the Consulado-Geral do Brasil where they reside (not necessarily always the same country where the marriage actually took place.). It must also be registered in the 1º Oficio de Registro Civil in the Federal District (Brasília) or in the 1º Oficio de Registro Cívil in the city where couple will reside in Brazil. The following is a translation form the Ministry of External Affairs website regarding the procedure and documents required for registering at the Consulado-Geral: REGISTRATION OF MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE BASED ON LOCAL WEDDING A - GENERAL RULES The marriage celebrated by a foreign authority is considered valid in Brazil. To produce legal effects in the country must be registered in Brazilian Consular Office and later transcribed into 1st Clerk of the Civil Registry Office of the municipality of his residence in Brazil or the Clerk's Office of 1st Federal District. The transcript should be made preferably at the first opportunity in which one spouse travels to Brazil or within 180 days from the date of the final return to the country - For registration of marriage, it is necessary in the presence of the Brazilian Consulate spouse, which will be the declarant and sign the term to be entered in the Book of Records. If both are Brazilians, either of them may be the declarant. B - DOCUMENTATION Upon registration you will need to submit the following documents: a) Marriage Registration Form duly filled in and signed by the declarant, this should be the spouse of Brazilian nationality; - In case of proven physical or legal impediment of the Brazilian spouse, the Consular Authority may authorize, exceptionally, the foreign spouse can be the declarant. b) The local Marriage Certificate; - If the local certificate does not contain the required data. to the end of consular registration of the marriage, such as full name of both parents, nationality and date and place of birth, among others, the Consular Authority shall request supporting documents from both the Brazilian and foreign spouse. - If the marriage took place in another country and jurisdiction , the marriage certificate must first be legalized by the Consular Division of competent jurisdiction. (i.e. If the marriage took place in a country other than where it is being registered the local Marriage Certificate must first be legalized by the Consular Division in the country of issue.) c) prenuptial pact, if any. In this case, submit the original and, when deemed necessary by the Consular Authority, the official translation into Portuguese or English; - If the local Marriage Certificate does not mention the property regime or in the existence of a prenuptial agreement, arrangements for the division of assets to be stated in the Brazilian register of wedding shall be the legal regime under the law of the place of celebration of the marriage. d) Documents proving the identity of the Brazilian spouse: - Passport, if expired; or - Identity card issued by the Secretaria de Segurança Pública of a State or the Federal District, or other state or federal agency; or - License/Permit issued by any public agency that is recognized by federal law as a valid identity document throughout the national territory; or - Identity document issued by a regulatory body exercising a profession regulated by law; or - Driver's license with photograph issued by DETRAN; e) document proving Brazilian nationality of the Brazilian spouse: - Brazilian certificate of birth registration; or - Valid Brazilian passport; or - Certificate of naturalization; f) in the case of a foreign spouse, passport or identity card and valid certificate of Registration of Birth, issued by the competent local authority; g) in the case of a foreign spouse, declaration signed before the Consular Authority or notarized before local authorities, that the foreign party has never married and divorced a Brazilian before the present wedding. h) In the case of the existence of a previous marriage of either spouse, the applicant must also submit, together with the documents cited above, as applicable: - If Brazilian [marriage], Marriage Certificate with proper registration of divorce, original and copy; - If the spouse is deceased Death Certificate; - A foreign [marriage], a document proving the divorce; - If the foreign spouse has divorced a Brazilian , they shall submit the final divorce by the Superior Court of Justice in Brazil, even if the marriage had not been registered in a Brazilian Consular Office. Note: All documents must be originals or certified copies , accompanied by regular copies.

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timhoffnagle Active member

Member since 07 January 2022

timhoffnagleActive member09 February 2023 22:04:41

#81

@abthree it sounds like you may be able to answer this question.... My partner and I documented a stable relationship, which allowed me to get permanent residency in Brasil. By my understanding, a stable relationship is equivalent to a marriage in Brasil. Do you know if it would be recognized in the U.S. and, if so, is there any reason why we would want to have it recognized in the U.S.? She is very Brazilian and, while she likes to visit the U.S., has no desire to live there but I don't want her to miss out on anything that might be useful.

abthree Brazil expert

Member since 28 December 2017

abthreeBrazil expert09 February 2023 22:34:58

#82

6009

02/09/23 @timhoffnagle. If at some point you two wanted to move to the US, it appears that you would qualify as "spouses" under US Immigration law, since Brazilian law recognizes uniões estáveis (see "What is a 'Spouse'?":

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel … k-3.html#2

Since you don't want to live in the US and don't plan to, the only other reason that I can think you might want your relationship to be recognized in the US would be for inheritance purposes. If this is a concern for you, I would recommend contacting the office responsible for marriages in the county where your property is and/or where you last lived -- in most states but not all it would be the County Clerk -- and ask what the process is for recognizing your relationship. If it's a state that legally recognizes "Domestic Partnerships" or "Civil Unions" for opposite-sex partners, you'll probably be able to fit right in under that law. If not, you may be able to achieve similar results with a will.

If neither of those situations apply but you want to make occasional visits to the US, your partner can do that with a Tourist Visa. My husband has been visiting the US on one since 2014. Once the Brazilian partner builds up a list of compliant visits in the Immigration database, s/he gets waved on through once they scan the passport.

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