John Cherish

@Cayari I will point out that NuBank is a much better product than the digital account with Itau. Iti is somewhat limited with its restrictions on its use and such that make it less than Ideal in some respects, where as NuBank is more full ... Read More

@abthree Yes I agree this is a good move also I highly recommend Itau they are the best commercial bank in Brazil IMO as many big companies use them Read More

@martinsan I was given a list of things needed for the regular Itau accountCell phone numbere-mail addresslocal mailing address ( proof ) Utility bill or suchRNECPFa letter from my employer asking to open the account for meIt took them 2 weeks to ... Read More

@roddiesho Yes you can do it that way but even still you needed a CPF and at least the protocol for your RNE. Since you are married to a Brazilian it was b/c of that you were able to open the account. Since you would eventually get an RNE they ... Read More

@Guest7852 You are correct they will not accept the protocol for your RNE in most cases unless you submit a letter from your employer as well which was the way I had to go when I did it, But afterwords they required me to present my RNE Read More

@ibdegen You say it is the Digital account at Itau perhaps they have changed it since I opened my account 10 years ago I needed all the documents listed below for NuBank when I opened my account at Itau. However NuBank is your best bet, they ... Read More

@martinsan Do you have a CPF number? Do you have an RNE? You will need those to open the account along with a permanent address in Brazil. Also needed is a utility bill from where you live, preferably one in your name. A cell phone number ... Read More

I live in Manaus, and yes there is crime here just as in any big city. The crimes are usually grab and run on the street usually with the aide of a motorcycle to get away quickly. Don't advertise that you are a foreigner, this usually will ... Read More

I don't think it is forbidden, but as I said before it would be really stupid to import a car and pay 3 times it's original value in taxes to do so. For that kind of Money you could buy NEW here and be better off. The taxes alone are one ... Read More

Got conflicting information, one website says 1.5 million another says $200,000 and yet another says $150, 000 the one for $200,000 says that a Brazilian company can apply for your visa as an investor as long as you maintain your investment in the ... Read More

Naturalization as a Brazilian citizen - Reference Brazil Embassy for specific details, however, a synopsis is given below of that information Foreigners may apply for Brazilian nationality if they meet the following criteria: Normal Circumstances ... Read More

I didn't say the Police are that way, I said the attendants at the front desks which are contracted help, act like they are the DPF and make the decisions that really they aren't supposed to make. They are the ones who give you access to the ... Read More

Welcome to Brasil the land of a thousand different standards for the same thing. It probably even differs by the attendant at the DPF, after all, they are not The ones who make the decisions but they act as if they are. This is the way a lot of the ... Read More

Sometimes it is, However, make sure they stamp the passport when you pick up the card and ask them to do it. Having the stamp in the passport means they have to also see your CIE, If you don't have the stamp in there if you travel out of the ... Read More

That is only the protocol you will have to check back with the DPF for the card itself. They publish the approvals in the official journal at that time you can inquire about your card they have really expedited the procedure quit a bit to a matter ... Read More

You don't have to renew for 9 years BUT, if you happen to be out of the country for more than 2 years you must renew it again there is that stipulation in the law so don't be out of country longer than that. I hope you are aware of this ... Read More

I pay taxes on the Income i earn here however that said the money I earn here is very insignificant to be taxed and usually the taxes are very small due to the progressive tax table they use. I imagine if i earned more the tax rate could be as high ... Read More

I think you will have to renew it after all, you said 13 years and they typically are valid for 10 years and must be renewed after 10 years, you are 3 yrs out from that. It is possible to renew but you must provide all the information presented the ... Read More

I know that living in Brazil as an expat on permanancia is fine for most things. The only reason I would consider giving up my US citizenship is if the US ceased to exist. So I don't really see an advantage to having a Brazilian passport as I ... Read More

I don't think you will find many people who have actually done it. I researched it as well and was not keen on paying again almost the price I paid originally for the car to import it. So I sold my car and bought one here. Read More

It would be a fools errand to import a car into Brazil, The customs taxes alone are excessive. Best advise is to buy one here. The reason being you would pay almost the value of the car to import it and that is a big waste of money Read More

On a side note the way some of the drivers drive here it makes you wonder how they were able to get a license at all. Especially cutting off other drivers, and turning cross lanes ( left hand turn from the right lane etc). I am used to it and this ... Read More

A lot of the information would be based on what State you live in visit your local DETRAN for specifics. The procedure varies by states. From my understanding you get a translated certified & notarized copy of your drivers license ( make sure ... Read More

My Best advice is for you get an attorney, Some felony convictions could present problems. If you have served the time for your sentence and have no further crimes they may grant you a CIE based on having Children. But with legal matters you should ... Read More

I exchanged some dollars here in Manaus and actually got a good rate the exchange rate then was 3.11 on the dollar then they exchanged at 3.01 to the dollar with a 10 centavos charge on the reais the math involved $60 USD = R$180 BRL at the ... Read More

You are better off to buy one here as mentioned before the import taxes and hassles of just doing it isn't worth the effort, unless your into dealing with Brazilian bureaucracy at its highly practiced best. The hassles then to get it licensed ... Read More

I think he should consult a lawyer in this case. Since expatriates might not have the legal expertise to answer this question. But possibly someone more familiar with Brazilian law might post on here. Read More

If it was a voting thing I believe Brazil leads over Argentina and Columbia in terms of quality of education in its best rated universities, I might be wrong on this because I am biased as far as Brazil goes. Brazil leads the game Read More

I think that studying in a foreign country is a very good Idea. Although it has been many years since I last attended any school as a student. My reasons for this is from a USA citizens perspective. Many students in universities in the US has no ... Read More

Make sure you get the all the copies of your passport certified as copies at the cartorio as This was required when i submitted them. I also had to submit a copy of my birth certificate translated as well and have that accompanied with a counselor ... Read More

My life circumstances are different for most that may come here. My wife is the owner of a beauty salon and finding a place to live was no problem as the section that houses the salon also has 4 apartments in it 3 which we sub-rent out to others. ... Read More

I am really sorry to hear that you have having problems with the DPF. My wife and I were married in the United States and the whole process to get all the documents for the DPF took all of 180 days to get sorted. It was mostly because in Brazil ... Read More

Hi I have 2 cats, The one was an abandoned female left on my doorstep as a kitten. The other is a male that came to visit her and decided to stay. ( she is fixed) Both are adorable and follow me around everywhere I go . John Read More

If you are Married to her then there is no 1 year requirement. You are already married and are permitted to stay. I don't understand why you haven't done this already. Go to the DPF and find out what documents you need. Get the copies of the ... Read More

I would want you to come and live in Brazil despite its problems. I see a country that is trying to be the best it can be in South America. I am from The US but that doesn't mean I want Brazil to be second rate. I live here with my wife and ... Read More

A person that visits for 2 or three weeks at a time really has no idea about the problems that Brazil faces as a country or of actually living and working here. I am not saying Brazilians are not nice people or that the families aren't nice on ... Read More

To Brazilians this is normal, to most of the developed world these kind of abuses aren't permitted or allowed to carry on for long. You go on strike you had better have money set aside there is no getting paid while on strike. Strikes like these ... Read More

One of the major misconceptions I found was that people think every day was like it was pictured in the movies. Street bands, samba, and Carnival. These are some exciting things about Brazil and maybe for some it is like that for them especially if ... Read More

Yes some things do in the old process my permanacia was approved on day 179 one day before the expiration of my 90 day extension otherwise I would have had to leave, I wasn't going too. With or without I was going to stay with my wife and they ... Read More

I really don't understand what you want to do. But if your friend is to come and visit with you it is simple depending on what country he is coming from. He will need a passport and possibly a visitors visa. Some countries do not require a visa ... Read More

I am married to a Brazilian woman we were married in The US her on a K1 Visa as we originally planned for her to stay in the US. But that changed so I came to Brazil and did the process here. They have simplified the process somewhat but things you ... Read More

I would have to second that exactly as you stated James. The dress is for most part is normal business attire with the exception of Manaus. Here for most part polo shirts without a tie or a plain short sleeve shirt again without a tie. The reason ... Read More

Just saw your posts and spent some time reading them. I can only speak of Manaus. I must agree with you James on the "bubble". In terms of Bureaucracy I think it is one of the most depressing in terms of this. Seems they make up rules as ... Read More

Why would you want to retire in Brazil? Sure the weather is about the same year round except maybe for the extreme southern part of the country. I can think of many nicer places to retire. They say Taiwan is wonderful for retirees from the US no ... Read More

There are provisions if you have income other than social security you can claim those taxes paid to Brazil and deduct from taxes you paid in the US. But that said there are no taxes on Social Security payments to individuals deducted from the ... Read More

It was at a restaurant and it didn't taste off flavor but again It was only luke warm from a cafeteria line at a restaurant I sometimes frequent the temperature should have warned me not to eat it. Usually I get the beef right off the BBq grill ... Read More

Yes I know James. I should have known better but sometimes you let your guard down and it bites you. Sorry I didn't see that post. But it is a very good one. You are right about the eggs they are never refrigerated here in the stores so yes ... Read More

I guess my point is never going to sink in. All I am saying is we should address our problems in our home countries first, instead of going around the world trying to fix problems in other countries, That one we have no power to correct in the ... Read More

So in your opinion NATO shouldn't exist to counter a Russian threat. Countries should not be spending money to support NATO. My response is go and clean your own house first before complaining how dirty your neighbours house is. Apparently you ... Read More

If you do some research you will see that none of my statements about WW2 are a rewrite of History those are all facts that happened during WW2. And fortunately they did happen. My point is all countries need a deterrent to Invasion. Poland ... Read More

Not according to the Argentinians they were merely trying to exercise their claim on the Islands, They considered the British as the invaders so its a point of view from which side you view it. As for the Polish I recall they were occupied by ... Read More

I will not bash Brazil on corruption as an American we have enough of that going on at home to worry about. Whichever country we are from they also have their various corruptions as well. There is no lack of corruption in the world if you look at ... Read More

I am not sure what that will do to the Real but it could push it further north to the R$ 4.25 range we will just have to wait and see what it does, It will be interesting. They have announced this several times before that they were going to raise ... Read More

The surest way to attract any aggressor is to appear weak defenceless or behind the times ask the Polish about that scenario. History had shown when they had to fight the Germans in WW2 with horse Calvary and WW1 era fighter craft they lost big ... Read More

Yes James i have to agree is a religion about believers of the book and that is where the difference lies the only book acceptable to adherents of Islam is the Qu'ran and its tenants. Even though the religion has the same basis of its origins ... Read More

The problem is not with Brazil, It is however where the Olympics will be held and countries they are fighting their jihad with will be here. They are not above causing harm to anyone as demonstrated in Paris and California with terror as their ... Read More

Many Brazilians are Christian and as a result those people could be targets for terror. ISIS has always used religion as a recruiting tool to justify their attacks. One of their 5 pillars of Islam is to kill all infidels. They consider Christians ... Read More

Depending on your income in the US if you are below a threshold amount and make less than the threshold amount for filing taxes you may not have to file a return at all in the US. We lived solely on my wife’s income from the Salon and I ... Read More

Living in Manaus, from my perspective the reason the crime is so great in Brazil the laws have something to do with it of course, but it also comes down to the attitude of its citizens. One example a freshly painted building looks very attractive ... Read More

Actually $2000 USD puts you at R$7540 per month based on current exchange rate provided by XOOM this amount will vary dependent on the current exchange rate. I think the correct figure is $2000 USD however at this time Read More

I think he would have to marry her. I don't think they will grant permanency based on a serious relationship. You would have to have some sort of document proving marriage or equivalent. if that were the case of only having a serious ... Read More

I think you will have to have a Contract to work from them not just a letter, It would have to be a firm job offer and a contract to pay you a salary. Then after 3 years if you are still here with them you could theoretically convert it to a ... Read More

James I didn't know about the VITEM-V being able to convert but you are the expert after all. The last time I checked both the workers Visa and student Visa were initially 2 years with renewal ( based on information I had from when I explored my ... Read More

To apply for permanency you need to be Married to a Brazilian / Have a child with one / or Invest In a Business and employ Brazilians. So in other words you must have a legitimate reason to live in Brazil. Other ways you can also get a Workers ... Read More

Unfortunately I have tried before to use my Debit Card here and have run into problems one where the money was never dispensed and I never was reimbursed for it R$1000. In effect they basically stole my money. Going to the bank was no use they ... Read More

A further report on using XOOM money transfer The transaction I started on Friday afternoon completed this morning without a hitch the total cost to transfer the money was $4.99 it went directly from my US account to my Brazil account at ITAU ... Read More

So they call this a paid 4 weeks vacation at the public’s expense plus they get raises to boot which will eventually increase the bank fees once again. Brazilians must like getting screwed over this way otherwise they would put a stop to this ... Read More

It should be that they shouldn’t be paid while on strike. That would end these long strikes in Brazil and give the employees incentive to negotiate in good faith. Since there are no consequences for the employees going on strike they do it ... Read More

If this was the US those people on strike would be looking for new jobs. Banks are not permitted to be closed to customers during normal banking hours. That means if there was a bank strike the bank would be obligated to hire other employees while ... Read More

I know that the fee from XOOM is $4.99 USD per transaction if you use your checking account as the source of funds. If you use a debit or credit card the fee is $5.99 USD. No fee charged for pick up but I don't use that method as I direct ... Read More

Yes I know my wife won't let me go to the bank during the day alone. We always go during the day when there are a lot of people around. You would have to be naive to do it on the week ends. It is just too dangerous here in Manaus to visit an ... Read More

What actually started this for me was to find a way to get my Social Security Check deposited to my ITAU Account by Direct deposit. The paperwork is ridiculous and it didn't work my Social Security payment didn't get deposited at ITAU and ... Read More

The second test transfer was completed with XOOM $100 USD / R$382.30 took only 3 hours no problems money arrived in my account without a hitch. The real test next. I am really really disappointed with my bank a wire transfer started 2 days ago ... Read More

Does anyone have any experience with XOOM to transfer money I did a test send yesterday and it looks like it arrived this morning at my bank it was only for $10 USD / R$38.25 I also checked on my bank to transfer funds they want $40 USD to wire to ... Read More

Well that was in Manaus It is different in other parts of Brazil I think probably less bureaucratic in SP or RJ but ask James as he lives closer to there Read More

Sorry for the Confusion it is a CIE with an RNE no. on it but that said I don't carry my original as the original at one time was misplaced which I thought was stolen with the wallet, to make a long story short however it was found several ... Read More

I was stopped at a check point while driving, My international license was accepted no problem as well as a copy of my CIE no catorio stamp. I must have been extremely lucky that day. They did question the International licence but his superior said ... Read More

What was required of me in Manaus for Permanency based on Marriage : Copies of all, not the originals and all copies notarized. 1.FBI report of no crimes - Legalized in the US - and Translated in Brazil - by certified public translator 2. Birth ... Read More

There are 2 possible routes for permanency in your case Marriage to a Brazilian and of course once the baby is born by virtue of having a child in Brazil you can't be deported according to Brazilian law I have found a website with some useful ... Read More

Yes but she is a citizen of the US so she is not from one of those war torn countries looking for a safe place to move from. He is from Brazil not the other way around so I am saying she could be in for some culture shock moving from the US to ... Read More

I have been reading these post and not to discourage young love, The realities are that she might be in for an extreme culture shock living in Brazil. Although it sounds romantic to live here maybe she should try it some before she commits. Not much ... Read More

In my opinion the best thing to do is to get a job offer from an international company that is operating in Brazil. It is very difficult for a Non-Brazilian to find work as most companies prefer to hire Brazilians only and you will be discriminated ... Read More

Correct me if I am wrong you are both British Citizens? If you are I don't think it is possible to claim permanencia I thought one had to be a citizen of Brazil to apply for it. James would know more about this I think Read More

Actually I do have to say that the information I had for the CPF given previously is a year and a half old and it could have changed since I got mine. Brazil is wonderful they take something that works and bureaucratize it so information you once ... Read More

To Get the CTPS is free provided you have a CPF and present a copy of your CIE and CPF to them. If you don't have a CPF there is a small fee for the it R$5,80 this can be paid at the Post office or Bank of Brazil once you print the form I have ... Read More

Sometimes they will accept a valid credit card in your name with sufficient balance available to cover the 3 months you would need the last months statement. Or a bank account In your name with sufficient funds that can be drawn on also in your ... Read More

As you know William I also Teach English but on top of that in 7 months I can start drawing my Retirement so I plan to travel some because I won't be teaching as much. Might even come to visit you. My wife owns a car so I do drive here and we ... Read More

As I read it I think if you can prove that you have been in the relationship for a year, and that does not have to include only in country time. For instance e-mails, photos with date stamps phone bills with phone numbers showing you called him / ... Read More

yes I am extremely happy today b/c you changed your picture.rsrsrsrsrsrs...now my cat doesn't get scared ...rsrsrsrs btw you should check with the PF they actually had my CIE at the station in one week after I filed the RNE. But they never ... Read More

I did not receive any word that my CIE was at the Federal Police. Seems in Manaus it is not important to notify you. I went to the Police today and discovered it had been sitting there since October 6th, That was only 1 week from the date I did the ... Read More

From their DETRAN website it does say 6 months then you must apply for a Brazilian License the process involves getting a bunch of documents I have checked the Sao Paulo DETRAN and it differs from the Manaus one so apparently each state is ... Read More

That is even the problem in the US not just with water but with political matters. No one wants to take responsibility for any of their actions any more. It is always some one else that is responsible, no one thinks that responsibility begins with ... Read More

That picture should be posted in the news. It is serious in Sao Paulo yet they continue to waste water like there is no problem. Water is one of the essential things that all life needs to survive Going 3 days without water can be life threatening ... Read More