US retiring to Brazil maybe June 1 question

@schuett17 Welcome Kevin. I can't answer all of your questions, but I can tell you the process may be more expensive and potentially more time consuming with more administrative hurdles if you seek to get your Visa from the NY consulate. I engaged an attorney here in Brazil for mine. Her advice was to bring the papers with me and apply once here. I would be happy to give you her name if you are interested. Her fee is very reasonable.

Boa sorte,

Braun

@ibdegen Hello and thanks !! please send me any details you can and I was unaware a US citizen can get a retirement visa while actually in Brazil. I will be living in Sao Paulo and greatly appreciate any help.

Best Regards,

Kevin

03/15/23 @ibdegen Hello and thanks !! please send me any details you can and I was unaware a US citizen can get a retirement visa while actually in Brazil. I will be living in Sao Paulo and greatly appreciate any help.
Best Regards,
Kevin
-@schuett17

i'm glad that ibdegen had good luck in what he did, but I would advise strenuously against following that example.  Going through the Consulate, you don't need apostilles or Sworn Translations for all your documents, you don't need to pay legal fees at either end because you're not going around the system, if you're missing a document you don't need to move heaven and earth to get it sent to you from home, and when you go to register with the Federal Police with your visa, the process should be quick and painless because you and your documents have already been screened by the Consulate.

As for how long it takes, you'll have to e-mail them to find out at visa.novayork@itamaraty.gov.br . Pre-covid, it took most Consulates 2-4 weeks to complete visa requests, but their activities were disrupted during the pandemic, and each Consulate is restoring its processes at its own rate.

These, as you're probably aware, are the requirements at the Consulate General in New York:

https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/consulado- … ement-visa

I completely agree with Abthree for all of the reasons he states. It is much easier and safer to get your retirement visa in the USA.

@schuett17

Hello, Kevin. If you can actually meet with someone in person that would be ideal. But, if not, you should at least try to talk with someone from the Brazilian consulate in your area and read everything you can online about establishing residency in Brazil as a retiree.

I recently relocated here and am in the process of establishing residency. All you need to enter the country is your passport. However, you only have 90 days to establish residency, so any documents you can get ahead of time you should.

You will need to send your birth certificate to the Secretary of State in the state you were born in so they can issue you the Apostille. This should take less than two weeks and is the least expensive way to get the Apostille. There are companies who can do it, but they charge a lot and it was very easy for me to get it from the Secretary of State in Ohio and it cost me only $5.00.

You will also need to get an FBI background check with fingerprints. I went online and lucked out because the first place I called was able to send me to a business less than two miles fro my home where they did all of it. I got the results online in 24 hours and a paper copy mailed to me.

You will also want to get a VPN if you don’t already have one as you will still have to keep your US bank account for direct deposit of your social security and probably your pension, also.

I also hope you know some people in the city you are moving to. My son lives here and is married to a Brazilian. They have been very helpful and I would not have been able to do this without their help since I do not speak Portuguese.

I hope this helps some. Good luck with everything.

Martha