Polícia Federal Sistema de Agendamento

The fine can be $R100 per day. Did they give you a protocol?
PF can and will sometimes make an exception, but I would not "bet on that horse" if you did not come back in a certain time.
Go to the airport PF office. See if they can help.

I recommend calling the Federal Police and asking them if you can come by to drop off the one missing document.  It might help for your Brazilian spouse to do the talking. Good luck.

The lady at the first meeting said go get the document and book another appointment and she salão said not to worry now I’m in the process that I am legitimate and she has seen cases open for up to two years. There was no mention of 30 days and then COVID hit and everything shut down for a while.

Luckily my wife is a lawyer and has been handling everything for me! I really do not know how people manage this process without a lawyer! We tried the system one last time today and sent an email but any human or phone contact the responses are pretty much ‘computer says no’. I will try call tomorrow and maybe go in this week.

Clicked reply again by accident and can’t delete the post**

Alright mate, I was in a similar situation as yourself. Moved here in 2018 from London and due to issues receiving documentation on time, I overstayed my visa and ended up paying after fees over R$13k back when £1 was around R$5! As Texan mentioned, unless they've given you a protocol, I'd fully expect to get fined for the overstay and them to make life as difficult as possible. I had similar reassurances at first from the PF handling my case and that it would be fine because I started the process. I made the mistake of not getting a protocol of any kind though.

As for that system, it was a pain for me as well. Had to constantly refresh the page and had my wife on it as well the whole time. I recently had to do this song and dance again to get my drivers license usable in Brazil and it was the same as it seems to be now, impossible to get appointments.

Good luck!

Thank for the reply although a pretty depressing one ha! I love Brasil so much but this kind of stuff is super embarrassing for them as a country it seems to be a reoccurring theme and I guess it’s just to makes as much money as possible during the process!

I also have to do the driving license process too thanks for the heads up that it may be a pain too!

Honestly, there is a crazy amount of bureaucracy here haha. The story with my fine is a piss take as well. When I went to leave the country for a trip, I was told not to bother paying for the fine then and to pay when I returned. The fine was about R$9.3k then and although I tried to pay on departure, I wasn't allowed. When I returned to the country shortly after, that fine had gone up to 13.5kish and when my wife asked them if I could enter the country again if I paid, I was told yes, yes I could. Then, after paying, we were told that no I couldn't enter for another 180 days. So I had gone to get all the documents to make my marriage here official and then couldn't enter the country legally again to make it official. They wanted to send me on a flight back to Lisbon but luckily they allowed me to book a new flight from SP to Paraguay where I could stay with friends until I could enter Brazil again.

How long have you been in Brazil?

Also, the driving license, better to do sooner than later when you can. I went to do everything in October and passed but I still haven't received my license. I was told it can take well over 90 days to get anything back.

I'm not sure what level Portuguese you speak, but I had to do a one hour interview with a psychologist as part of the driving test all in Portuguese. Other than that, if you already have a UK license, it should be a piece of piss.

Ah man that is a horror story. I have no plan to leave the country until this is all resolved I really couldn’t afford a hefty fine like the right now! My main concern is that I do want to be separated from my daughter not even for one day!

I have a full Uk license and I thought they just swapped it out? My understanding of português is good but talking is probably equivalent to a child haha.

Sadly it's not that straightforward, although it was much better than I first read it would be. I originally was finding info about having to resit the entire process in Brazil, from lessons up to the practical exam. Then I was told that I would just need to listen and write down some words or sentences in Portuguese and to do the normal phycology exams, which I was please with as like you, I understand the language far better than I speak it. I headed to the exam centre expecting to just match shapes and patterns and to write down some words or phrases that someone would say out loud to a class of people. Instead I was brought into a room to have the physical exams like the eye test and the pattern recognition etc. But before all that I was sat on my own in an empty classroom with a psychologist who went ahead and gave me a 1 hour interview, all Portuguese, asking me about everything and anything. Life story, talk about myself etc. and then started asking me about driving, rules etc. It could be different in each city though, but I was bricking it.

Ah goodness well thanks for the heads up I was hoping to come here and get some more positive feedback but I guess it will play moot just as I expected!

The process for getting a driver's license based on your foreign license is a little different from state to state:  it shouldn't be, but it is!  When you go to DETRAN in Florianópolis to inquire,  they should have a form that tells you exactly  what they require.   It may be on their website, too.

Ok thanks a lot some great advice!

For one more reference point, here's what was required of me at DETRAN in Amazonas in 2019:

- one page request form, completed and signed;
- CRNM, original and copy (all original documents were immediately returned after inspection)
- CPF
- valid Driver's License from country of origin, original and copy
- Sworn Translation of Driver's License
- receipt for payment of fee.

The form says in bold print, "Foreign Driver must speak/understand Portuguese ".  There's no test, this seems to be left to the discretion of the person receiving the application.

I had to pass a standard vision test, and a "pychotechnical" test, which was a timed, written test of recognizing traffic signs, patterns, and possible hazard indicators.

I then had a choice to either take and pass the written test on traffic laws, or sit through a five day, one hour per day, refresher course on the same material, with attendance required, but no tests or grades.  I did the course, and received my license on the last day.

Ok that seems pretty straight forward!

I think I’ll go down the course route too!

abthree wrote:

For one more reference point, here's what was required of me at DETRAN in Amazonas in 2019:

- one page request form, completed and signed;
- CRNM, original and copy (all original documents were immediately returned after inspection)
- CPF
- valid Driver's License from country of origin, original and copy
- Sworn Translation of Driver's License
- receipt for payment of fee.

The form says in bold print, "Foreign Driver must speak/understand Portuguese ".  There's no test, this seems to be left to the discretion of the person receiving the application.

I had to pass a standard vision test, and a "pychotechnical" test, which was a timed, written test of recognizing traffic signs, patterns, and possible hazard indicators.

I then had a choice to either take and pass the written test on traffic laws, or sit through a five day, one hour per day, refresher course on the same material, with attendance required, but no tests or grades.  I did the course, and received my license on the last day.

How recently was that, if you don't mind me asking? I am interested in the part where you mention getting your license on the last day. I am still waiting since mid October 2020 to receive my license after passing the tests and the interview and was adamantly told it would likely take over 90 days at least to hear back.

English Penguin wrote:

How recently was that, if you don't mind me asking? I am interested in the part where you mention getting your license on the last day. I am still waiting since mid October 2020 to receive my license after passing the tests and the interview and was adamantly told it would likely take over 90 days at least to hear back.

July/August 2019.  I had to wait a couple of weeks after my tests for that course.

Unfortunately, you got hit with a double whammy.  Covid has really clobbered Foz, as you know better than I -- I hope that you and yours are doing ok.  And, for all of its being a tourist center, Foz is still an interior.  The capital/interior distinction in services isn't quite as stark as it used to be, but staffing at the local DETRAN office may still be pretty thin.  I doubt that people in Curitiba are having to wait three months or more.  Hang in there!

rikkichandler wrote:

Ok that seems pretty straight forward!

I think I’ll go down the course route too!

I hope that it's available to you in Santa Catarina -- I found it very convenient.  But as I said, things are a little different from state to state.

abthree wrote:

English Penguin wrote:

How recently was that, if you don't mind me asking? I am interested in the part where you mention getting your license on the last day. I am still waiting since mid October 2020 to receive my license after passing the tests and the interview and was adamantly told it would likely take over 90 days at least to hear back.

July/August 2019.  I had to wait a couple of weeks after my tests for that course.

Unfortunately, you got hit with a double whammy.  Covid has really clobbered Foz, as you know better than I -- I hope that you and yours are doing ok.  And, for all of its being a tourist center, Foz is still an interior.  The capital/interior distinction in services isn't quite as stark as it used to be, but staffing at the local DETRAN office may still be pretty thin.  I doubt that people in Curitiba are having to wait three months or more.  Hang in there!

Ah no doubt Foz has been hit hard! It took a couple weeks of trying to even book my initial eye test and pattern recognition thing.

The eye test was carried out before the rest of the exams and the interview on a different day but once I had come back to do the interview and what not, they told me and my wife that it would take 30 days to receive because I am a foreigner. We took that for face value and 30+ days go by with no word about my license. Called DETRAN and they told us over the phone it would take 60 days minimum for a foreigners license to be ready. 60 days came and went and we managed to book an appointment again in the local office, where they tracked the process right in front of us and saw the documents hadn't even left Curitiba yet! This was just before Christmas, so maybe it's moved along by now, but still, crazy amount of time passed and the process had only gone from Foz to Curitiba!

As we know, what you hear from one person varies wildly from the other here, and this final appointment, the lady helping us made it very clear it's because I am a foreigner and the license just takes that long normally. Me and the wife both thought it was crazy but what can we do, especially in these times.

Thanks for the info, very nice to have some other experiences to reference.

I would suggest going back and checking on it. When I did my Uk driving license change, they said 90 days but due to delays on other things here I decided to check after 60 days, only to be told that nothing was being done because the application was missing a specific stamp. No one here contacts you to say anything, they just don’t complete the applications

Definitely going to chase it up as soon as I can get an appointment again, it's ridiculous how long it has taken so far.

As of 1155 there are several vagas na sistema with the Polícia  Federal in Lapa, for 31 Março and several days following.

I’m not in Rio unfortunately! Actually this Monday I gained access to the system and as I chose the date and time the system asked mento confirm I’m not a robot again and then kicked me out so I missed out again! Hopefully I can get in again this Monday

Try using an actual computer if you are using a phone. I remember not being able to book dates properly to the Brazil embassy in London on my phone/tablet without being kicked out.

I am going through the same here in Salvador, but I was able to finally get an appointment 45 days later.  Yes, it was one document not translated...

The maximum of the fine is 800 reais not 10.000 reais ...

mickeys wrote:

The maximum of the fine is 800 reais not 10.000 reais ...

This information is outdated.

Since the current Law of Migration went into effect in November 2017, the fine for overstaying a visa is R$100 per day, to  maximum of R$10,000.  The traveler may be permitted to leave Brazil without paying, but in that case, the fine must be paid on return, plus interest, before the traveler will be allowed to leave the airport.

abthree wrote:

mickeys wrote:

The maximum of the fine is 800 reais not 10.000 reais ...

This information is outdated.

Since the current Law of Migration went into effect in November 2017, the fine for overstaying a visa is R$100 per day, to  maximum of R$10,000.  The traveler may be permitted to leave Brazil without paying, but in that case, the fine must be paid on return, plus interest, before the traveler will be allowed to leave the airport.

While these fines may sound horrible to some, the USA simply denies re-entry into the country. "If you overstay by 180 days or more (but less than one year), after you depart the U.S. you will be barred from reentering for three years. If you overstay by one year or more, after you depart the U.S., you will be barred from reentering the U.S. for ten years." (alllaw.com)  If one overstays by less than 180 days, re-entry is solely at the discretion of the border agents whether at the airport or physical crossing.

Years ago, even as a US Citizen, I was detained at LAX on my return from a vacation in Mexico by the border agents, taken out of line, sent into a room, held there, searched, etc...  At one time, I had a girlfriend who while entering the USA through O'Hare, was detained without cause for hours and hours, missing her flight to see me etc. just for questioning.