Fines and Overstay

Hi all


Is anyone able to clarify the position regarding overstay fines? If so please also send me a link to any official information that I can cite.

My understanding is that the fine rate was increased to 100BRL a day up to 10,000 max from 21 Nov 2021.

My son arrived in Brazil on 18.08.2017 and left on 24. 01.2018. He had been told not to worry about the overstay by the Fed Police but of course it was never going to be that way. My son was visiting us (my Brazilian husband and I) under a tourist visa. I am a UK national but was living in Brazil at the time under a perm visa.

He was issued with a fine of 6,400 BRL upon leaving. Is this a correct assessment and if not could I ask my lawyer in Brazil to challenge this successfully and cost effectively?!

I must make a trip to Rio next year and would like my son to join me. He is worried about the fine because he feels that the assessment has been calculated incorrectly,is disproportionate and unreasonable. He is therefore not minded to visit Brazil again.

Any guidance would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

It is 100,00 $R per day with max of 10,000, plus interest.

You did not mention if the visa was extended. If it was not he only had 90 days to stay before the fine began.

Texanbrazil is correct on the fine & interest.  The interest apparently begins to accrue the day he leaves Brazil and this doesn't have a limit.  It's probably too late to appeal or have a lawyer involved (although you could ask) since it's been around 4 years. 


I don't think Brazil is unique in over-staying a tourist visa..I'm fairly certain many countries have limits/penalties for tourist visas. 



https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=947834


https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=736799

10/20/22 Hi, @jacinto61. Texanbrazil and madrac are right: your son's fine was calculated correctly. 


The current fine schedule went into effect on November 20, 2017, simultaneously with the new Law of Migration. Your son had the bad luck to start his overstay that day, so was one of the very first people to run afoul of it. Brazil counts day of departure as a full day, so 64 days sounds right. Interest has probably been accruing at a rate of 1% per month. He should be prepared to pay on arrival, but only if and when asked.

10/29/22 @essxiv.  Were you charged interest, too, or just the original fine?

I don't get why people miss their exit dates, do they forget, many on the forum have mentioned visa extensions to the 180-day maximum, I am not sure if this is easy or not. I spent 16 days here in June and July and although my passport was looked at by the frontier guard he still put on 90 days for this visit, I am leaving here after another 27 days to head to Uruguay for 21+ days before coming back into Brazil, I am keeping an open mind that they could at some point count those days in June and covering all angles. From reading other posts I'm guessing the sixteen days will lapse in the new year?

10/20/22 @Itoby955.  I couldn't agree more.  Far too many "Ugly Americans" -- and "Ugly Brits" and "Ugly Europeans", for that matter -- treat Brazil as if it weren't a "real" country, and its rules shouldn't apply to them.  Extensions are easy to get if a visitor qualifies for one, but it DOES require putting oneself out to go the Polícia Federal office and ask.  The authorities were quite understanding and flexible during the height of covid, and are still sometimes flexible in the face of real personal emergencies (i.e., emergencies attributable to something other than personal negligence).  Aside from that they enforce the law, and I say, good for them! 👍🏻


To your other point, days incurred in June 2022 drop off your record on July 1, 2023, and so on.

Pre 2017 PF could fine overstay and BAN entry. That was with the R$8.day fine and you had 8 days to pay before leaving


"I don't think Brazil is unique in over-staying a tourist visa..I'm fairly certain many countries have limits/penalties for tourist visas."

-@madrac


You are quite correct, as an example, while the USA does not have a monetary fine, they are quite strict in barring overstayers from return trips to the USA for up to 10 years. even if a tourist overstays by just one day they are penalized. I do not understand overstayers who complain about penalties for their willful actions.


See https://www.uscis.gov/laws-and-policy/o … issibility


"Unlawful presence is the period of time when you are in the United States without being admitted or paroled or when you are not in a “period of stay authorized by the Secretary.” You will be found inadmissible (unless an exception applies):


If you again seek admission within three years of departing the United States, after having accrued more than 180 days but less than one year of unlawful presence during a single stay and before removal proceedings begin;


If you again seek admission within 10 years of departing or being removed from the United States, after having accrued one year or more of unlawful presence during a single stay, regardless of whether you leave before, during, or after removal proceedings; or


Permanently, if you reenter or try to reenter the United States without being admitted or paroled aft about penalties. er having accrued more than one year of unlawful presence in the aggregate during one or more stays in the United States.


You can find these inadmissibility grounds in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) section 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(I) and (II) (the three-year and 10-year unlawful presence grounds of inadmissibility) and INA 212(a)(9)(C)(i)(I) (the permanent unlawful presence ground of inadmissibility)."

Hi, English guy that had overstayed my tourist visa during the process of marrying my Brazilian wife here! I was charged R$9800 on exit (was leaving to go on holiday while waiting on documents for our marriage to finalise) and was told to just pay when I return, even though I insisted we could pay on the spot. So, left, came back a few weeks later and was told that I couldn't enter the country, even if I paid, and I would have to wait 6 months to enter again. I again asked to pay the fine, was told not to worry and to do when I can return again. So, flew from SP to Paraguay and got my six month tourist visa there, and afterwards, went back to Brazil to enter again. My fine was now magically at around R$14-15,000 and I was told only then that they add interest to it...


We went to a lawyer, went over options, and ultimately they advised us that there would be very little point in fighting this as it would cost more in legal fees and ultimately would not get overturned. Paid the fine, got my legal visa, finished the marriage process and had my permanent visa in a matter of weeks after all that.


Not helpful, I know, but something to be aware of. This was before Covid (I arrived in Brazil in August 2018) so I don't know if anything has changed, but they got the money in the end. Back then, that was almost £3000.

went back to Brazil to enter again. My fine was now magically at around R$14-15,000 and I was told only then that they add interest to it...

-@English Penguin

Wowsers! So much for what I thought was a R$10.000 limit

EP has done it all and you can rely on his advice.

Yeah. It's 10,000. That's the fine cap. However the caveat is that there is no limit to how much that gets taxed. I overstayed due to old PF officers retiring and just stopped caring what they said. Paid about 15 mil after a period. Came back to a new reformed PF office at the airport where everything was more streamlined


Fighting fines like EP mentioned just exposes you to a huge amount of costs for a small small chance. Pay fine and call it a day 😊

@abthree

Definitely charged interest. Not sure how much but I know for a fact I paid almost double if not more.

I've been extremely worried about the interest because I had a 10.000 fine when I left and it's been a year plus since I arrived today. I landed in GIG (Rio) and I only have to pay the fine, no interest.


From what I've seen from another post,  it seems like it's better to fly into Rio, rather than São Paulo if you are trying to avoid the interest.  I've tried calling before but the bureaucracy is different and I received multiple different answers so I was very anxious when I arrived.

So is there a value for overstays per day or is it just a random pick by the border police?

11/23/22 From what I've seen from another post, it seems like it's better to fly into Rio, rather than São Paulo if you are trying to avoid the interest. I've tried calling before but the bureaucracy is different and I received multiple different answers so I was very anxious when I arrived.
-@Astro T


Welcome!  I think that it's more a question of individual Immigration Officers and arrival conditions (e.g., length of lines, number of flights arriving simultaneously, etc.) than it is of arrival location.  Regardless, you lucked out -- congratulations!  Enjoy your stay.