Help moving to Brazil to be with my sick civil partner

If you have the British certificate of your Civil Partnership, you MAY well be able to register it yourself at the nearest Brazilian Consulate to you in Australia; in that case, you should be able to apply for the visa right away.  You may need a British apostille on it, contact the British High Commission to ask how that is done.  In the US, there are services that will obtain apostilles remotely, for a fee of course.  I would assume that there are similar services in the UK, and a web search should turn them up for you.

All the best!

- @abthree

"The standard of cancer treatment in Brazil is quite high, so depending on the specific diagnosis, there's certainly reason to be optimistic."

07/03/22 Thanks so much for the quick response. I'm all good with getting the certificate certified/apostiled but I think - from what I've read - that it needs to be registered at the consulates of each of our countries in the country in which the civil partnership took place, ie. United Kingdom. Is that right? Apparently, from what I've read, that service can't be done remotely and may require both of us present?

- @LiamT

If your partner also has a copy of the British document, ask him to take it to the cartório if he's able, and register it there.  If he is able to do that, they should issue him the Brazilian version of the British document.  He should request multiple originals, and send one to you:  you should be able to use that to apply for a VITEM XI with the Brazilian document, even if you aren't able for some reason to use your own British document.

07/04/22 Liam, it's certainly worth a try.

When we got married, my Brazilian husband came ahead while I was wrapping up loose ends in the US, and registered our marriage at the Cartório do 1° Ofício on his own.  We had already registered our marriage at the Brazilian Consulate General in Chicago, but he didn't need me at the cartório.

You or your partner can find a Sworn Translator through a web search on "tradutor juramentado (name of city)".  There's also an online service I like that can work from scans of the document, fidelity.com.br

If there's writing on both sides, don't forget to have the back translated, too.

- @abthree

07/05/22 Thank you so much for all your advice and help, @abthree. Do you know/can you remember what other (if any) documents my partner will need to present at the cartorio along with the apostilled, translated certificate? Do I need to get anything else translated? Will we need to organise recently issued copies of our birth certificates, or ID cards/passport scans, that type of thing?

- @LiamT

You're going to need at least your birth certificate and your criminal background check to get the VITEM XI visa anyway, so you might as well request those ASAP and have them in reserve.  You're going to need them again for the Federal Police after you arrive to request your Authorization for Residency, so requesting duplicate originals is a very good idea, as is having scans of all documents and apostilles.  The Consulate should not require Sworn Translations and apostilles, but the Federal Police will.  Whoever does the Sworn Translation for the Civil Union Certificate can do the others; Sworn Translations can be requested anytime, and they never expire.  The Federal Police will also need copies of (at least) the identification pages of your passport, but passports do not ordinarily require either apostilles or Sworn Translations.

@sprealestatebroker Thanks so much for taking the time to compile this information. As it happens, my husband has a very comprehensive private health insurance coverage and is being very well looked after in that respect, so we're all good

07/06/22 Liam, sounds like you're doing everything right.  Great idea to get fresh originals of your Civil Union ("União Estável") declaration, and to have one sent, with an apostille, directly to your partner in Brazil.

The way the process works for you is that the VITEM XI visa let's you enter Brazil; you're supposed to go to the Federal Police within 30 days of arrival to apply for your Authorization for Residency, and should meet that deadline if at all possible.  But if you have complications, e.g., waiting for documents , you have up to a year to complete the process, and the days you expended previously on a tourist visa don't count against you on your new visa.  A few weeks after accepting your application, the Federal Police will issue you a foreign resident ID Card, your CRNM (Carteira de Registro Nacional Migratório) and you'll be a legal resident of Brazil.

If the Consulate won't or can't give you a VITEM XI, you can still apply for residency with the Federal Police on the basis of your União Estável with a tourist visa, but you'll need to complete the process before your visa expires.

You'll need to present these documents:

• Online application form
• One 3x4 color photo, front, white background, smooth paper 
• Declaration of email address and other means of communication
• Passport and visa
• Birth certificate or other official document, like a marriage certificate or a consular declaration, showing the full names of your parents (apostille and Sworn Translation required)
• Criminal background check (apostille and Sworn Translation required)
• União Estável document proving your relationship with your partner.  If you are able to register your relationship at a Brazilian cartório, the document from the cartório should be sufficient; if you use your British document, it will require an apostille and a Sworn Translation.
• Your partner's Brazilian ID card ("RG"; simple copy is probably enough)
• A declaration by your partner that he resides in Brazil
• Receipts for the required fees

You can see the entire list (in Portuguese) here:

https://www.gov.br/pf/pt-br/assuntos/im … o-familiar

The 90-day rule (actually more of a practice) applies to the day you actually use the document, whether at the cartório or the Federal Police.  Both are relatively lenient; they don't want really old documents, but they'll usually accept a document that's four months old, especially from a person who's traveled very far and is cooperative and easy to deal with.  So the best time to request your documents depends on the turnaround time:  you want them recent, but to receive them well before your departure date so you're not stressing.

I don't know what the protocol for obtaining apostilles is in Australia, but you'll need to find out.  In the United States, apostilles for Federal documents (FBI Background Check) are issued by the Federal Government, but apostilles for State documents (birth certificates, etc.) are issued by the respective State.  If Australia follows a similar practice, be sure to make your request to the right government to avoid delays.  A web search should clear it up for you quickly enough.

- @abthree

Liam, I'm pretty sure it refers to the 'título de eleitor' (basically, it's a 12-digit number that signifies you as a registered voter for Brazilian elections). Obviously to vote, you have to be a Brazilian citizen, so you can't get one at this stage. Ironically, to get the título de eleitor, you would also need to have a CPF (really, you need a CPF for just about any form of bureaucratic process here, as you may already know).

Hello, everyone. I just wanted to pop back in and let you all know that the consulate in Sydney issued my VITEM XI visa this week in absolutely record time (I think they were with my passport for only 2-3 working days before it was sent back to me) and thank everyone for their assistance in providing information and guidance through the process. I'll no doubt be back in the forum over the next week or so with my next questions while I prepare for my return to Brazil in a couple of weeks so I look forward to chatting with you all again then!

09/15/22 @LiamT -- What good news -- congratulations! 🥳  Good luck on your move.

Congratulations LiamT!

Thank you for sharing the good news with us.

We wish you all the best.

Cheers,

Cheryl

Expat.com team

@LiamT

Good to hear and we welcome any questions we can help with.

So here's my first couple of questions to chew over while I pack my bags and try and find a flight I can afford in these fuel-expensive times in which we live...

Health care: presumably once I register with the PF and they give me my RNE etc, I am able to access the health care system in Brazil? As a foreigner am I able to take out a private health insurance policy there? My husband is already covered under one taken out for him by his parents but obviously I am not. I'm just thinking about my travel insurance policy for when I fly over and how long I should take it out for, if that makes sense? At what point after arriving in Brazil do I stop being a traveller and start being a resident of Brazil.

Oh - and when i register with the PF, do I just need the same documents I sent to the consulate in Sydney? Or do I need translations of them all as well? And do I need all the ones listed above by @abthree when he was talking about the Stable Union application? The literature sent back to me by the consulate suggested simply that I should take my documents with me because the PF "may" need to see them but for whatever reason I was under the impression I needed to supply translations and all manner of other things as well. I might have been getting confused.

09/18/22 Hi, Liam. Naturally, make sure that you arrive with all of your documents in order and properly apostilled, so that you don't encounter any delays with the Polícia Federal.

Yes. As soon as you have your CRNM, you can register with SUS, the national health system. you can also take out private health insurance. Check and see whether your husband's insurer offers a family discount that could benefit you. Since he's already a client, you may be able to buy into that immediately, even while your residency is still being processed. You can always change later if you want to.

You will need official Sworn Translations; they can and probably should be done in Brazil. You can do a search on "Traduções Juramentadas" in the city where you'll be living to get them done locally. There are also Sworn Translators who will work from scans and do everything online. I've had good experiences with fidelity.com.br Be sure to get several quotes. People become Sworn Translators through passing a competitive examination like a civil service examination; in some areas the ones already approved have a semi-monopoly, and use it to jack prices up.

The Polícia Federal have wide discretion on what documents to require. Since you have the right visa, they may only take a cursory look at things, but coming literally from the other side of the world, you probably want to be ready for all eventualities.

Good luck!

Hello everybody!

Well... I'm here! Glad to be back with my partner but what a fretful few months of running around and sending documents and then sending them again etc. Very happy that part is over.

NOW - I have another thorny issue that has been bubbling away simultaneously with my partner and his various health issues and there is a now a worry that the registration of our civil partnership/marriage in Brazil will negatively impact his application for early retirement due to ill health. I'm not interested in any responses speculating whether or not he's likely to get it, etc, thanks. Rest assured, he has a plethora of issues and is unfit for work.

His father is looking after it all, as he does most of his affairs, and seems to have put it to my husband that we shouldn't register our marriage until AFTER the retirement is approved. Firstly, we never managed to get a Brazilian certificate from a cartorio, the one he went to to try just shrugged and said they didn't know how to do civil partnerships or something. So my Visa was approve by the consulate in Sydney with just my apostilled UK certificate, which is what I'll be presenting at the Policia Federal in a couple of weeks.

So is our marriage already registered in Brazil or not? They've let me in based on a foreign certificate but it's not been registered in Brazil at all (Even though it should have been years ago, but we didn't know.)

Secondly, does anybody know anything at all about the process of early retirement and would they be able to offer some insight as to whether his suddenly having a  husband will affect the application at all? His dad might have just said that to stir the pot. I know processes in Brazil are slow but he's been "working on" this for my husband for a couple of years now and I can't help but think he keeps pushing it to the bottom of the pile (there are reasons I think this, but they re not for here).

Thanks in advance as always!

LT

10/12/22 Welcome, Liam -- glad you made it.

WRT to the cartório, That's a strange reaction from a cartório, unless it was either the wrong kind of cartório (different cartórios have different specialties), or he happened to run into a homophobe behind the counter. I don't know what part of the city you're in, but these cartórios do write up declarations of união estável, and seem to take questions by phone:

1. https://cartorio19barrarj.blog/uniao-es … 19barrarj/  in Barra da Tijuca
2. https://marmottao.wixsite.com/cartorio in Copacabana
3. https://cartoriolaranjeiras.com.br/  in Laranjeiras
   
   
4. WRT to early retirement, I think that you and your partner need to talk to a retirement lawyer. Unlike immigration lawyers, they're pretty common in Brazil. Ideally, your partner knows an attorney who, even if s/he doesn't specialize in labor and/or retirement law, can recommend someone. If not, you can do a search through Directory of Lawyers on jusbrasil.com.br Your questions sound to be pretty straightforward.
5. 
   
6. Good luck. Please stay in touch.

Hi Liam, sorry to hear about your situation. May god bless you with his kindness.

Please don't waste your valuable time,money & energy with those cartório. They are a beaurocractic hell. Contact one of those suggested by abthree! Believe me it's more worth it than those pathetic cartório. I had similar EXP and got mine certificate within 2 days by using a agent just paying $100 more than cartório. We just did everything at our home and got our certificate. As you said your marriage document is already apostilled, So no more formalities required for it, just get a Sworn Translation of it, which cost R$150(appox) per page.

CHECKLIST - RESIDENCE AUTHORIZATION BASED ON FAMILY MEETING ( CODE - 285/286 )

• Own application, through an electronic form duly completed on the PF website (available at Obtain Residence Permit ).
• 1 (one) 3x4 photo, recent, color, white background, plain paper, front (in case of unavailability of the Federal Police's biometric data collection system, presentation may be required);
• Declaration of electronic address and other means of contact, preferably accompanied by a simple copy of proof of residence.
• Valid travel document or official identity document;
• Birth or marriage certificate or consular certificate, when the travel document or official identity document does not contain data on affiliation.
• Criminal background certificates or equivalent document issued by the competent judicial authority where you have resided in the last five years.
• Declaration, under penalty of law, of absence of a criminal record in any country, in the five years prior to the date of application for a residence permit.
• Birth or marriage certificate to prove the relationship between the applicant and the Brazilian or immigrant beneficiary of a residence permit, or a valid document that proves the bond.
• Identity document of the Brazilian or immigrant beneficiary of a residence permit, with which the applicant wishes to meet.
• Declaration, under penalty of law, that the calling family member resides in Brazil.
• Documents that prove economic dependence, when applicable.
• Proof of the stable union bond between the applicant and the Brazilian or immigrant beneficiary of a residence permit.
• Joint declaration by the spouses or partners, under the penalties of the law, regarding the continuity of an effective union and coexistence
• Proof of payment of residence permit fees (revenue code 140066, value R$168.13) and CRNM issuance (revenue code 140120, value R$204.77).

Hi all,

LiamT here, the original poster, but having to login with a different account because I can't access my old one anymore. I need some urgent advice so I'm going to be very brief.

My husband passed away last month. Unfortunately, relations between myself and his mother and father deteriorated so badly that when I returned from several weeks away between May and June, they were keeping him somewhere and wouldn't tell me where he was or allow me access or contact, only to tell me that he was being treated for his cancer and that he was doing well, after which they blocked me from messaging them further. Long story, but he didn't have his own phone or access to his own socials at the time, otherwise I'd have been able to maintain constant contact with him. As things stood, his mother took advantage of being the person through which we maintained what little contact we could by severing it altogether. It appears she told my husband that I had lost my job, and decided to leave him and return to Australia, all complete lies which made me determined to find him and show him I was still here, wherever he was. I supposed he must have been in a hospital or clinic but subsequent disturbing events and discoveries have made me less certain of the assumption.

I'm leaving out enough drama and chaos here to write a film script but basically he died three weeks ago and they didn't tell me and had his funeral without me. In fact, if my mother in Australia hadn't contacted my husband's mother directly herself, they probably still would not have told me. It appears that they have their eyes on his "pensao por morte" and are carrying on with applications for such benefits as if I don't exist. I guess if I didn't know my husband was dead, then they have a head start making their claims with the INSS. I've already submitted my own application online with the INSS but having cleared out his house in my absence, his parents have a great deal of the necessary documentation the INSS ask for as part of this application process and are obviously not going to cooperate with my attempts to claim this benefit over them...

1/2

...I've included as part of my application an explanation of this calamitous situation, but also a list of my late husband's "social security relationships" supplied by the INSS for my confirmation as part of the application process seems to suggest that benefits of some description have been paid on and off since 2017. This was brand new information to me, and I can state with absolute certainty that my husband knew nothing about them either. As described in one of my previous posts, there was "apparently" some effort or worry about applying for early retirement benefits but that was a much more recent thing and we were both told - by my parents-in-law who were handling that stuff - the application was unsuccessful, and neither of us having any reason at that time to suspect anything sinister going on, and me having not much understanding of the Brazilian social security system, never thought to question it further. However, it appears the in-laws might have been raking it in in the name of their terminally-ill son for some years, even predating his cancer diagnosis by some four years, and were so desperate for this deception not to be uncovered and to be able to continue using their son as a cash cow even in death, that they refused to allow me anywhere near my own husband in his dying weeks, lied to me about his health and well-being, blocked me from making further contact with them, and only told my own mother about him dying two days after they buried him. (Against his wishes, I might add, he was very clear about wishing to be cremated but it has become clear that they really didn't care about him at all.)

So here's the bullet points that I need advice about:

• How does my husband's death affect my residency status? Do I need to apply for a different type of residency now my partner is no longer alive? Or do I just cruise along with my current document until it expires and worry about it then?
• Does anybody have any advice about how I might go about sourcing my own copies of the required documentation the INSS need for my application for the pensao por morte to be successful? I understand there is a heirachy of dependents and spouses trump parents, but what happens if they have already applied successfully because they got in first and the INSS had no record of me?
• How do I go about finding about my husband's estate? I dare say the in-laws have already opened an estate, as they are carrying on as if they are the legal nexts-of-kin and that I don't exist, but I want to be recognized as a rightful heir of at least part of anything my husband has. Even if there is nothing, I want the inventory done to confirm it because after everything I've discovered, I don't trust his family one bit. What do I do? This is vitally important, and as I understand it, time sensitive. They packed up his house, including many things bought for him or us by myself. I can't remember what might have been in the house when they cleared it out but a lot of it was mine, or at least should be mine now my husband has passed. They've basically stolen my property. Jesus, they basically kidnapped him for the last month or so of his life.
• Is there anything else I should be or have to do legally in Brazil because my husband died? Are there any bodies or organisations that need to be advised or any processes that must happen that I haven't already mentioned above?

This post makes me sound money hungry and obsessed with inheritance etc. I couldn't have given a sh!t about about any of it until my husband died. But what these people have done to both me and their son in his dying days - seemingly in the name of money they are only entitled to claim if they can get away with convincing the INSS I don't exist - I'm going to make sure they are deprived of as much of it as I can. I don't even know how much a "pensao por morte" is. I don't care. I just don't want them to have it.

Please help. I am hurting.

Thanks in advance.

2/2

08/10/23 Hi, Liam.  My condolences on the death of your husband, and on the circumstances surrounding it.

As a widower, your husband's death should not affect your residency status.  I don't think that you have to worry about it until your current document expires, and then it should just be a matter of renewing it.

For your other questions, you need to find an attorney that you can trust ASAP, because you are correct that the situation is time-sensitive.  Your chances  of resolving a conflict of this type with a "grieving family" on your own are essentially zero.  You need competent professional help.  The file that your lawyer builds to resolve this dispute will also be helpful when the time comes to renew your residency.

Best of luck to you, and again. my condolences.

Anybody know how one goes about having a death certificate amended? My cursed in-laws have registered my husband as "solteiro" on his certificate which is obviously a lie and deliberately designed to make life difficult for me as per my account above.

Obviously forwarding it to my lawyer but wanted to find out if there is recourse in Brazil to correct certificates when they have the wrong information on them, how difficult the process is, etc etc.

Thanks

08/19/23  Anybody know how one goes about having a death certificate amended? My cursed in-laws have registered my husband as "solteiro" on his certificate
Thanks
-@billpr

Hi, Liam.  I'm glad that you've forwarded this to your attorney, and you definitely should follow up with him.  Here's the thing:  it's my understanding that a civil union ("união estável), unlike a marriage, does NOT change a person's marital status under Brazilian law -- see https://www.casamentocivil.com.br/uniao-estavel -- so technically the death certificate may be correct.  That should not change your rights, though, and your attorney should be able to help you realize them regardless.

Hi Liam, The marital status of the documents don't change authority over your husband's assets since under Brazilian law the spouse is the immediate and authorized beneficiary. Don't waste your time with changing your documents at Notary since they won't do it anyways and just having documents amended won't solve the problem you will have claiming INSS and removing your in-laws claims.

Furthermore, In Brazil, problems related to the transmission of inheritances are complex and rigid:-

Inventory and judicial division: Carrying out an inventory is a necessary step for the transfer of assets to the heirs. However, the inventory process can be bureaucratic, time-consuming and costly, especially when there is disagreement between the heirs. This can result in lengthy court disputes and delays in the distribution of assets.

Absence of succession planning: Many families do not carry out adequate succession planning, which can lead to conflicts between heirs and difficulties in managing the estate after the owner's death. The lack of a will or heritage protection measures can cause uncertainty and disputes between the heirs.

Ignorance of legislation: Brazilian legislation establishes specific rules for hereditary succession, including the order of hereditary vocation. Many people are unaware of these rules and may be surprised at how assets are distributed among heirs. This can lead to dissatisfaction and family conflicts.

Evasion of heritage: Unfortunately, the evasion of heritage is still a problem in Brazil. Some heirs may try to hide the existence of certain assets or underestimate their value, harming other heirs. This can result in family disputes and litigation.

Tax on heritage: In Brazil, there is a Tax on Transmission Cause Mortis and Donation (ITCMD) on the heritage. Rates vary by state, and paying this tax can be an additional source of conflict and expense for heirs.

It is important to emphasize that each case is unique, and the complexity of the problems in the transmission of inheritances can vary. In simpler situations, inventory and sharing processes can occur smoothly. However, when there are complex family issues, large estates or disputes between heirs, the problems can become more difficult to resolve.

Please have a look :- The sharing of assets is governed by the Civil Code (Law No. 10,406 /2002) , more specifically in Articles 1,784 to 2,027. These articles establish the general rules for hereditary succession and the way in which the assets must be divided among the heirs.

According to Brazilian law, succession occurs legitimately, that is, when the deceased did not leave a will. In that case, the heritage is divided among the necessary heirs, such as children, spouse, ascendants and descendants, according to an order of preference established by law.

The Civil Code also provides for the possibility for the deceased to have left a will, which is a legal document that expresses the individual's will regarding the division of their assets after the death. If there is a valid will, it must be respected in the distribution, as long as it is in accordance with the law.

Hi everyone,

A couple of quick but potentially thorny queries hoping one or more of you may be able to offer some insight and assistance.

1. Is there a maximum length of time for someone with an RNM document to be able to stay outside Brazil before the document is revoked or becomes invalid? I am returning to Brazil from Australia next week but it occurs to me it will have been slightly more than three months since I left and am worried about hassle about being to re-enter the country at the customs queue.
2. My lawyer is attempting to register my civil partnership with a cartorio in Brazil - something my late husband and I didn't get around to doing before his death: my residence was granted without needing to do so. However, the UK certificate and translation I have provided doesn't appear to be adequate for the cartorio, they are asking for a certificate that actually contains our signatures. I'm pretty sure that even the (long lost now) copies of the certificate that were supplied at the time of our marriage 12 years ago in London did not contain our actual signatures, nor have any of the subsequent copies I've had issued for various reasons since. Does anybody have any experience of this and if so what did they do?

Many thanks in advance, and for all the help and advice everybody has given thus far!

10/27/23 Hi, Liam.  On question #1, if you have your CRNM, it will become invalid if you're absent from Brazil for two years or more.  Less than that, and you're in the clear. 

Sorry, I have no idea on your second question.  Maybe the Registry Office in the UK can provide some documentation?

@abthree Thanks! Phew, that's a relief, and good to know for future reference. I had it in my mind that it was six months but then got worried it was three. It's just the kind of rotten luck I've been having this year.