Hi,
I am secretly hoping WJ will answer this one ;-)
Scenario: I am being seriously considered as a candidate to be offered a job on a 2 year contract / work visa in Brasil, however; I am not yet married but have a girlfriend. In F&Q to applicants the sponsoring company recommends that those who ARE married do not apply as they (the company) does not assist in applying for the applicants spouse visa and cannot guarantee that any spouse application visa will get approved by the Brazilian gov.
Can anyone advise on whether MY chances of a successful temp. work visa application will be BETTER if I apply as a single person, in the eyes of the Brazilian gov. or would it not matter??
Moreover; what is the best chance of me getting my visa approved firstly; and my wife, 'to be or not to be'.
Our priority, as a couple, is that I get this job i.e. work visa
Do I/we:
i. Get married (before submitting the application) and include my Wife in the visa application a my spouse I am bringing with me.
ii. Get married but DO NOT include my wife as a spouse (or visa applicant); await confirmation of my successful application; and then apply for a 'reunion visa'
iii. Not get married (if chances of me being a single applicant offer greater success in my work visa approval); get married (AFTER my visa has been approved). - whereby I have to ask the additional question: what visa / process would we have to follow for 'iii.' when getting married to a non Brazilian (from UK) whilst working on a temp. work visa (2 year contract)?
I hope my dilemma is understood. Perhaps there is another option I could look at.
Essentially me and my wife 'to be or not to be', would adjust our core desire to get married based on the scenario that best improves chances of me getting the visa approval. As we both have a desire to live and work in Brasil together eventually just need one of our feet through the door first...
Thanks, in advance, for any help and useful advice. Any info sent / written ASAP will be appreciated because we would need to start the ball rolling soon :-)
'SilentRio'
To be or not to be: someone help me .. (complex visa question)
Hi SilentRio,
Since it does not appear that the company will offer to help in any way to obtain a visa for your (to be or not to be) wife, I would suggest the following:
Accept the job offer and apply for the visa with the company's assistance.
Once you have confirmation of your hire and the visa is approved you have a 90 day period in which to make your first entry into Brazil. This gives you a window of opportunity to decide whether you want to marry before you come to Brazil or not. If you decide the answer is YES then go for it. Your wife can apply for a temporary visa based on Family Reunion on her own and come later once it is granted. Generally speaking this type of visa is processed rather quickly (a matter 3 - 6 months) so it wouldn't be too long of a separation.
Should you choose NOT to marry right away, you can always continue the relationship long distance until you are both more certain about your own future plans. I would presume that you plan on returning home for visits and could always marry at a later date should you choose to do so. Then she could apply for the visa at that time.
Either way, she can do that independent of your company's assistance without any problems. Your employer need not even know should you choose not to tell them.
One important thing to remember, her visa would not permit her to work while in Brazil, but if she were to be offered a work contract at some point in the future it is always possible to request a transformation of one type of visa for another.
Hope this has been of some help to you both in your decision making.
Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team
Thank you so much for the reply 
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