Applying for a residence permit in Sao Paulo (family reunion)

Edy
It is a process but possible in 90 days if you can get everything you can and approved at the Embassy.
It is harder while in brazil if you need something legalized/apostilled and sent to you (need an address). The Police background check cannot be over 90 days old from all counties you lived in within the past 5 years, Some may be given digital some not.
That said if you get the majority of documents, you go to the PF office ( better to try an airport). They will give you a "protocol" for "X" amount of days to return with the document(s) and you are allowed to stay in Brazil that amount of time.
PF has the final say on immigration since 2017. Even if you get the visa, you still have to get it approve by PF in Brasilia.

06/23/21

Edy,

I agree with everything Texanbrazil said.  Pre-covid it was possible to complete the process within 90 days IF all of your documents were complete, apostilled as necessary, and in order.  The pandemic has upset everything, so it's hard to predict.  The advantage of the VITEM XI is that it gives you a year to resolve any issues, as long as you start the process within 90 days.

As far as I know, the document requirements for a VITEM XI are about the same as for an Authorization for Residency with the Federal Police, although consulates don't usually require Sworn Translations,  and the Federal Police always do.  So double and triple check the lists before you conclude that the Federal Police require less.  You could arrive with an incomplete document package that way.

Good luck.

You will need all ghe same documents to register at the PF that you need for the vitem XI visa if you were to apply at the consulate. All of which need an apostille certificate before you arrive.

Many thanks to all for replying so quickly. Much appreciated.

Actually, i have compared the requirements from both PF and the consulate in Berlin. Consulate is asking for my slovenian birth certificate with sworn translation and appostile and also my wife's birth certificate, which is not the case with PF. If my parent's names are on the marriage certificate issued by brazilian consulate (which is the case), then it should be fine. Additionally, consulate is asking for proof of my residence in last 12 months. They also need 3 weeks to process the application. What made me think to go directly with PF is the fact that even if i arrange the VITEM XI, i will still need to sort things out with PF. If doing it directly with PF, the only missing document as of now is the EU criminal record. My plan was to come with all required documents to SP and shortly after that apply for residence. What i don't know if they will ask me for an address where do i temporary reside. My wife has address in SP, so i can provide that, or they could ask for some document which proves that? To my understanding i can't be registered at an address if i don't have a residence permit.

I would list her address, I did. Also, get a BR phone bill with her address.
You will need that for your bank account and it will help with PF.

06/24/21

The Federal Police will accept your wife's address as yours, that should no be a problem.  Phone bill, electric bill, water bill, receipt from payment of IPTU (property tax) -- most formal documentation of residence is acceptable.

You should have the birth certificates with you just in case, but only offer them if requested:  the Federal Police can request any additional documents they want.

Slovenia did not have a separate visa agreement with Brazil prior to joining the EU, so you're stuck with the normal EU rules:  90 days in every 180.  You probably will not be allowed to renew your visa if it expires, so you really need to have everything accepted within ninety days of your arrival, no slip-ups.  It's possible, but requires good planning and allowing for the unexpected.

The Brasilian Consulate in San Francisco explained to me that the proof of your current residency is to establish which Consulte has jurisdiction over you, they said they're quite strict about that. However, as part of my VITEM Xl application, they accepted two utility bills from me as being sufficient.

The SF Consulate also did not ask for or require any of my documents to be translated in Portuguese while my birth certificate and the majority of my US Citizenship documentation are in Icelandic, not even English. I sent my application package into the SF Consulate by USPS Priority mail and had it back, approved, within two weeks.

For my interview with PF in Sao Paulo last December, I did not have to have even one single document translated, everything other my Icelandic stuff was in English.  There were no delays, and everyone could not have been nicer or more professional.

Thank you all. All your advices are very helpful.

rraypo, very glad to hear all worked well for you! Where in SP did you go for an interview? Did you just show up or boooked the appointment "somehow"?

Shall i also mention to PF, that once/if i get a permit, i would change my employment contract to a local one, since we have subsidiary located in SP?

Edy,
"Shall i also mention to PF, that once/if i get a permit, i would change my employment contract to a local one, since we have subsidiary located in SP?"

I would not. This raises flags that you do not need! You can take care of it after you receive your CRNM and then the Work Permit.

rraypo wrote:

The Brasilian Consulate in San Francisco explained to me that the proof of your current residency is to establish which Consulte has jurisdiction over you, they said they're quite strict about that. However, as part of my VITEM Xl application, they accepted two utility bills from me as being sufficient.

This is true, but for two different reasons.

In countries where Brazil has multiple consulates, the Foreign Ministry divides the country into regions, and assigns the regions to the individual consulates; a candidate is required to seek services in the consulate of their region only, and must prove residency there.  If not, they're just referred to the correct consulate.  This distributes traffic among the consulates.   Also, each consulate keeps a registry of all the Notaries Public in its region:  this is why Brazilian Consulates in the US normally don't require apostilles.  But the San Francisco Consulate won't have LA notaries in its register to check against, for example.

In Brazil, the Justice Ministry needs to confirm that the applicant actually lives in Brazil.  Marrying a Brazilian or having a Brazilian child allows the Brazilians to bring their spouse/parent into Brazil to live here.  It does not confer any right on the foreigner to permanent residency if they choose to live elsewhere.   If the Federal Police are not satisfied that the applicant is a bona fide resident,  they won't be referred elsewhere.   They'll be rejected and told that they can reapply if they decide to move here later.  Until then, they're welcome to visit Brazil as tourists.

Texanbrazil wrote:

Edy,
"Shall i also mention to PF, that once/if i get a permit, i would change my employment contract to a local one, since we have subsidiary located in SP?"

I would not. This raises flags that you do not need! You can take care of it after you receive your CRNM and then the Work Permit.

Absolutely right.   That is NOT a discussion that you want to initiate.

abthree wrote:

Texanbrazil wrote:

Edy,
"Shall i also mention to PF, that once/if i get a permit, i would change my employment contract to a local one, since we have subsidiary located in SP?"

I would not. This raises flags that you do not need! You can take care of it after you receive your CRNM and then the Work Permit.

Absolutely right.   That is NOT a discussion that you want to initiate.

Crystal clear! Thank you both.

Hey Edy,

thanks for your post. One question: Did the marriage certificate with parents name on it work for you without need of a birth certificate?

Also, does someone know if he união estável certificate done in a cartório will have my (foreigners) parents name on it ?

It's basically just to have a document with the "afiliação" written on it.

It would be a blessing, since getting a German birth certificate is complicated, impossible online, and then the legalisation from e different regional state entity even worse

thank you

Hello Mitchell,

i will apply in November. However to be on the safe side i just shipped my apostilled slovenian birth certificate to a Sworn Translator in SP. So i can’t really tell if marriage certificate we received from Brazilian consulate would be enough. But my parent’s names are stated on it.

I hear you. I live in Berlin and have experience with German bureaucracy. I need to arrange EU criminal record here and it takes about a month to get one (at least what they say).

thanks for replying. German bureaucracy is a nightmare honestly. For the criminal record did you request it by mail there -

Bundesamt für Justiz
– Besucherservice –
Adenauerallee 99 – 103
53113 Bonn

I believe it's the only option, isn't it? Because any online service looks very fake to me.
abraço

That is correct address. It is possible to request it online (if you meet requirements) https://www.bundesjustizamt.de/DE/Theme … _node.html

You should also request the Apostille.

I will go through the process via Bürgeramt in Berlin in person.

it sounds so easy, but unfortunately I don't have the e-reader lol. They are trying, but at the end I guess the best way is to request it in person as you do

The police record needs special planning as it should not be more than 90 days old at the time of residence application . If you will do everything via post consider the following:
- shipment time to Germany
- German only police record takes up to 2 weeks
- Appostile ( i presume up to a week)
- optional shipment time within Germany
- shipment time to Brazil
- translation

In worse/best scenario you can plan a short trip back home to have this done and to arrange other documents you may be missing.

A true nightmare 😖 much better to be in Germany and have it ready before flying to BR

hey ... up til now I have only been paying the least little attention to this thread.... we went to the carterio in Bom Jesus this morning to inquire about marriage....the girl told us she had never done a marriage with an american before.....she reviewed their standard instructions and told me I needed to give her a certificate, verified, of my marital status from the USA....only, as I told her, there is no such thing that I know of ... Ive got my last divorce, apostilled, and |I could give her my tax returns for the last 6 years showing I filed single, but thats all there is that I know about ....she said that she would research it, but how did you guys cope with this?

07/29/21

Inubia,

Best of luck -- I wouldn't like to be trying to do that in the Sertão of Bahia!

I wasn't able to find any official guidance from the State of Bahia, but below is official guidance that's been issued by the State of Goiás, which may be helpful.  It says at the bottom that divorced foreigners need to present apostilled, translated copies of their marriage certificate and divorce decree, and that should be enough:

https://www.goiasinternacional.go.gov.b … tenda.html

07/29/21

Inubia,

This list from a cartório in the Comarca of Salvador shows the same requirements as the information above from Goiás:

https://www.registrocivilsalvador.com/r … -casamento

Inubia wrote:

hey ... up til now I have only been paying the least little attention to this thread.... we went to the carterio in Bom Jesus this morning to inquire about marriage....the girl told us she had never done a marriage with an american before.....she reviewed their standard instructions and told me I needed to give her a certificate, verified, of my marital status from the USA....only, as I told her, there is no such thing that I know of ... Ive got my last divorce, apostilled, and |I could give her my tax returns for the last 6 years showing I filed single, but thats all there is that I know about ....she said that she would research it, but how did you guys cope with this?

_____
Honestly, if you still have a home residence in the USA, I would fly there and do the process from there, through the Consulate in charge of the area in which you live.  In this way, the process is quite fast and pretty easy. Then, just a return to Brazil, a very fast and easy appointment with the Carterio, then the PF, and you are totally done with it all. It's way easy this way for an American wanting to immigrate with a CRNM and marrying a Brazilian.

Hello Inubia,

i can't give any advice based on personal experience for getting married in Brazil as we did it in my home country (Slovenia) and then we registered the marriage with Brazilian consulate in Slovenia.

In regards to marital status.. maybe you could ask for declaration at one of US consulates in Brazil.

um, my marriage certificate is, um , going to be an interesting  challenge .....the forum wont let me post personal photos, but the certificate is written in Amharic language in geeze script ....even the dates are 7 and a half years different from western calendar ......

Here in "the back woods" the level of ignorance is pretty high, yes, but on the other hand the desire to be helpful is ubiquitous ...I love Brazil for that, everyone I deal with is so friendly and forward .....the girl we talked to in the carterio said she had never done a marriage with an american before but she would do her best to make it happen .....also it helps that my new stepdaughter works in the same office .....

Inubia wrote:

um, my marriage certificate is, um , going to be an interesting  challenge .....the forum wont let me post personal photos, but the certificate is written in Amharic language in geeze script ....even the dates are 7 and a half years different from western calendar ......

_____
Now I was using the Consulate in San Francisco, but some of my original documents, Birth Certificate etc., were in my language of Icelandic and they accepted those without any translations,.

Inubia wrote:

Here in "the back woods" the level of ignorance is pretty high, yes, but on the other hand the desire to be helpful is ubiquitous ...I love Brazil for that, everyone I deal with is so friendly and forward .....the girl we talked to in the carterio said she had never done a marriage with an american before but she would do her best to make it happen .....also it helps that my new stepdaughter works in the same office .....

07/30/21

Very true.  Sounds like there's a "jeitinho" in the works. Fantastic! 

Inubia wrote:

um, my marriage certificate is, um , going to be an interesting  challenge .....the forum wont let me post personal photos, but the certificate is written in Amharic language in geeze script ....even the dates are 7 and a half years different from western calendar ......

07/30/21

I'd be surprised if there's a Sworn Translator for Amharic anywhere in Brazil; here's hoping that the cartório comes up with a workaround.

EdyNoBrasil wrote:

In regards to marital status.. maybe you could ask for declaration at one of US consulates in Brazil.

07/30/21

(See 13ofClubs post below.)

In regards to a declaration of civil status, they can be executed at a US Consulate (US$50) or self-certified, notarized and apostilled in your home state (anywhere from $16-50 total).

As US consulates are mostly closed to the public at this time except for emergencies and immigrant visas, you’re probably out of luck.  You may try to call or email, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Barring this, you may write up your own declaration in your home state, sign it before a notary public, then send it off to be apostilled. 

You cannot execute this document from inside Brasil, nor can you use a “remote notary” as no US state will apostille documents stamped by a remote notary. 

Unfortunately this cannot be done outside of a US Consulate in Brasil, or outside your US state of residence.

Hello all. Wanted to follow-up on this thread, as today i had my appointment here in Sao Paulo - Lapa de Baixo

I entered Brazil in October 31st. When entering, i found out that i had only 47 days to stay, even though i was out of the country for 9 months. Obviously, it was a mistake. PF officer who checked my passport when leaving at GRU, did not scan it. This caused the confusion in the system. The officer was not able to correct this, therefore he went to the supervisor, who sorted that out quickly.

For months i was trying to schedule the appointment via the PF official scheduling system, no success. I wrote to their email, no success. We went there personally and we got rejected. They provide the service with appointment only. At the end, last week i got in touch with a person who offers immigraion services in SP, and he was able to schedule the appointment for me in a week. Of course, that service must be payed.

So, today we went into the PF immigration office. We provided the documents, which are requested here https://www.gov.br/pf/pt-br/assuntos/im … o-familiar Additionally i provided the copy of my passport (all pages) and a copy of my wife's id. If the marriage certificate has the parents name included, no need for a birth certificate. We had a brazilian marriage certificate issued 2 weeks ago in Cartório Sé SP (based on the one issued by the brazilian consulate in Slovenia). It has my parent's name included.

At the moment of appointment, my criminal record was 103 days old. No questions asked. When we went there personally and expressed worries about the validity of my criminal record, they said there is a law in place, which states that certificates issued abroad and after 16.3.2020, have no expiration date, if the person did not leave the country for more than 30 days. This is valid until 15.3.2022 and it applies to all who are in the process of obtaining the residence. https://www.in.gov.br/en/web/dou/-/port … -340771055 Also, people can overstay until 15.3.2022, if they are in the proccess of obtaining the residence. All this due to pandemic and difficulties to get an appointment.

Process was quick and smooth. I walked out with a big smile and my protocolo. The CRNM will be ready in 2 months.

Thank you for sharing the details regarding trying to get an appt at the Federal Police, I have been trying since June and with all of the same efforts as you.  Would you please provide the contact for the person who was able to get the appointment for you?  Repeatedly Brazilians tell me to hire an "agent" to get it done quickly.  I can't locate these "agents" on the internet.  Obrigado!

Hey. I sent you the contact via PM.

I went through the process fairly recently also.  I took the easy way out and had a lawyer make my appointment, pay the fees, and gather my documents. including a recent FBI Background check which is very easy to get.  All I needed to do was to send him the translations via WhatsApp.  The only wrinkle I had was that the agent was not going to accept my birth certificate with some story that a translation was not quite good enough and that it had to go through some sort of registration.  I then pulled out my family reunification visa that still had about 6 months before it expired and that single issue became a non-issue.  What I thought was interesting was how quickly he scanned through the translations and shoved them aside as if they were not worth checking.  Not sure if it was because of the reunification visa or if my charming personality had won him over.  Either way, I was able to get all of my personal needs in order with the provisional document he issued, and the permanent showed up in about 1 month instead of 2.  I would encourage all of you to employ a lawyer and have them go with you.  It might cost you about $1000, but in my opinion it was money well spent.

11/24/21

Edy,

Good news - congratulations!   

Hi Edy, congratulations. Yes, our scheduling frustrations came to an end when we too hired a professional.  He had us in with the PF very easily, at least it was for us.

I hear that if you invest in a Business or property of $35k you can get PR but you have to renew every 3yrs and have language comprehension

I think there is a quick way

How do you get residency in Brazil? Investment:

individuals who invest a minimum of R$150,000 in a Brazilian company or real estate may qualify for residency. However, residency will need to be renewed every three years and the individual must prove that the company is in good standing and creating local jobs.

$35k CAD

Googled....

https://www.angloinfo.com/how-to/brazil … ligibility