Residency Visa - Proof of address

I had a telephone installed in the place I was staying, in my name. That bill was perfectly fine with the PF in SP as proof of my residence, it was easy

@matthewcovell

Bom dia!

I have had the experience in my applications for a bank account, driver's license  and other things that they are not very strict with the requirement for living somewhere (residency.). I have brought with me a few times the water bill or energy bill (both in our friend's name who is on the lease for the house we are renting). They were totally fine with that Same with the PF when I went to register for my RG last July.  This was acceptable to them asa long as I had the bill with me.  Hope this helps!  Martin in Paraíba

01/18/23 @matthewcovell.  Welcome Matthew!

Good input from both rraypo and MA22 above.  Either of those solutions could work for you.

If not, try changing one of the utility bills, like electricity or internet, to your name; you can always change it back.  Or, you and the friend who's already renting to you could just document the actual situation in a lease -- there are standard forms for that -- that would give you a paper that the Polícia Federal can put in their files.

If none of the above seems feasible, an attorney or a despachante could probably make the problem go away for you, but there's no point in going to the added expense until you've tried the low-cost solutions.

I’ve had similar experiences. I’ve used the utility bills of the owner of the home at various agencies. This tends to be accepted. I’ve also printed statements from cell phone plans and banks which you can easily change online. It’s often quite fluid thankfully.

As others have said, open a phone line or internet service under you or your partners name. Anything that gets a bill sent to the address should be fine. I don't believe your partner should be unable to do something like this either being unemployed, its probably the only way to get this done. I lived in Brazil for over 3 years without a proof of address as none of the bills or accounts were under my name, and it was a pain!

If it is on you and you don’t have a CPF then you’ll have to get one first. I had the same issue for my VITEM. Went to TIM they wouldn’t work with me without a credit history. Went to Vivo and got a contract. I had to send over whatsup 30 day bank statement from the US to a Vivo rep and they gave me an account. Just know that you have to wait for the first month billing statement invoice to present to the PF.

Hello,
First time posting here, so hello to everyone!

We have found ourselves in a difficult situation during the residency visa application process and Im hoping someone can offer some advice.

I am married to my Brazilian partner and currently in Brazil on an extended tourist visa which expires in March.

I went to the PF in curitiba yesterday to apply for residency, everything was fine, but the only part missing is the proof of address.

We are currently renting from a friend where all the bills are included in the price.

She explained that we need a contract or a utility bill in one of our names. Issue being that my partner currently has no salary so wouldn't satisfy any credit checks to be able to rent a property in his name or take out a contract with a utility company. Also when ever I try to rent somewhere, they either don't want to know since im a tourist or ask me to provide proof or residence.

I feel at a total loss, the logic being that If I wish to reside in Brazil I have to apply for a residency visa, but in order to get a residency visa I have to prove I already reside here, it makes no sense!

We are genuine in our intentions and we want to do everything by the book, but if I cannot rent somewhere in my name, then I feel like we are stuck.

would trying to speak to someone at the PF and explaining the issue make any difference?
-@matthewcovell

If your partner is Brazilian then that means that he/she has a CPF and that alone is enough to change the utility name to his/her name or get any kind of legal contract that proves your partners residency in Brazil and along with it, your residency. That this was not done is odd because this is known among any Brazilian.

What you could also do is the following. Since you're renting from a friend, ask that friend to draft up a legal yet simple lease agreement which includes your friends information + the persons data (yours: foreign passport + your partners: Brazilian ID so CPF + RG). Make sure your partner is the 1st person renting and per that the one responsible, and you're the 2nd person renting. This way you will also have your name on a legal document that you can use for your needs. Your friend will continue to receive the money just like always and there's no problem with your partner having a salary/credit check or not.

What might be a setback is your friend not wanting to do this because right now he's not declaring his taxes since my guess is you've been renting from him/her without a contract. Your friend doesn't need to worry about tax problems with this lease agreement if he sets the value way below the minimum salary. Now I think it's R$1.3k so setting it at a R$400/600 amount is acceptable and believable.

Want to make it more believable? Add things such as R$500 rent + R$30 cleaning costs + $100 condomínio if it's an apartment (go with 1 bedroom not 2), but never add; water, electricity, internet, tv etc because for that price you can't get an all-inclusive place. And if you want a ''near perfect'' contract, then you want to go with a room contract lease in an apartment. So the both of you will be renting a single room in an apartment. You can even put ''partially furnished'' but not fully for the price of R$300 excluding monthly costs of water - electricity - internet etc at the price of and aditional $155 which is okay only if you're renting a room and not an apartment.

For that contract to be legally binding and according to the books, you all (friend, you + partner) will have to go and take the lease agreement to a cartório. Your friend and partner can legalize it, but there might be a chance that you can't which is not a problem. Just having your name on the contract counts. Then you're good to go.

When my partner came to Brazil I insisted that the lease agreement was also on his name as a proof of residency that he could take anywhere and apply for what he needed. Because the 2nd best legal document (1st being a Brazilian citizen) that he could use anywhere for anything in Brazil, was a lease contract. I put my name as the main and his as the 2nd and after doing the signature patent at the cartório (legalizing it), he used that for everything despite not having his signature patented because he couldn't.

Hope it helped!

Hello!

Firstly, thank you so much for everyones support!

I asked the landlord if he could make a declaration that we are tenants, this involved him visiting the cartorio after filling out a form with his declaration letter. On it he detailed our names, passport numbers, CPF's and a note to say when we moved in. He returned with a document signed by the cartorio and stamped.

I re-visited the PF and this time they accepted the documents and submitted the application.

So fingers crossed that should be sufficient!

Thanks again for all your help, when faced with so much uncertainty it really means a lot ❤️

@matthewcovell Good stuff and really fast turn-around by the landlord!

@matthewcovell That's fantastic! Happy it all worked out. Things will go smoother now for you guys.

I'm about to have the same issue. I was granted residency but now have my final appointment at PF to finalize soon. Maybe next week. I have been living in Airbnbs since I've been in Brazil waiting for residency. I am paying someone to do my residency and they say some PF won't accept Airbnb receipts and address. She recommends that my girlfriend write a letter and certify it that I'm temporarily staying with her at her residence. Do you think this is a good option? I have nothing in my name because with Airbnb everything is included. I heard PF verify if you are actually living at the address you give? Could that be a problem?

They never verified me

We just used my wife's bank account statement which listed her home address .... no problem in Cuiaba.

I am pretty sure they don't verify anymore ..... they didn't come knocking on my door.