Getting a VIPER based on family reunion

Hi Barrieanne,

Unless you're still a dependent minor, or if over the age of 18 were incapable of supporting yourself (due to illness) you would not qualify for a family reunion visa at the present time.

Since your mother does not presently require care you would also not be able to request a family reunion visa on humanitarian grounds in order to care for her. If her situation should change and require constant care, and you can prove that with medical reports, letters from doctors, neighbors, etc., then you might be able to request a visa on humanitarian grounds at that time.

As it stands about the only way you'd be able to stay in Brazil in the long-term (more than 6 months) would be to enroll in a course that would qualify for a VITEM-IV Student Visa and stay with the course or enroll in others in order to renew the visa every 6 months, or if you're fortunate enough to find a job here in Brazil (not at all an easy task) and obtain a VITEM-V Work Visa.

Cheers,
James     Expat-blog Experts Team

Thank you so much James for the quick and informative response.  Yes, I was afraid that this hinged on being a "dependent minor".  I've looked at the investment visa (which possibly may increase in price soon) and getting married in Brazil - and the student visa as well.  In little Santa Cruz Cabralia, near Porto Seguro,  not many schools are MEC certified.  I may have to bite the bullet and do the investment visa if I have any sums of money in a few years when I'm ready to go.
I did see one condition on one of the many consular sites here in the U.S. (and a lot of inconsistencies between the different consulates) saying that "economic care" of your parent holding a Brazilian visa might constitute family reunion.  Also, as she gets older, she'll need care .. I'm wondering what the exact specifics of that would be, who needs to validate, what kind of documentation, etc. etc.   Do you have any information about that?

Thanks so much for the information!

Actually I lived for a few years in Porto Seguro - BA and know Santa Cruz very well. There are a couple of universities in the Porto Seguro and Eunápolis area, If memory serves me, there is even special bus service from Santa Cruz and Porto Seguro to the university. You may want to check it out on Google.

Cheers,
James