Permanent Visa

Hi Naythen,

Permanent Visas are issued only under the following circumstances:

Marriage to a Brazilian Citizen (or foreign national who holds a Permanent Visa);

Having a Brazilian Child (biological or legally adopted) who is in your custody and financially dependent on you;

Stable Union (União Estável) either heterosexual or same-sex union that has had at least one year of duration;

Family Reunion, this visa is to reunite those who have immediate family members who are Brazilian citizens, parents, children, grandparents, etc.;

Investor Visa, min. R$150 thousand investment currently;

Retired person able to meet income requirements (presently you must show a foreign income you can bring into Brazil of US$2,000/mo.);

Refugee;

Assylum

I don't know if any of those will apply to you.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Hi again Naythen,

Actually as far as Permanent Visas go, the Investor Visas is probably the easiest and safest way to obtain permanency right now. The current government has exerted great pressure on the Conselho Nacional de Imigração (CNig) and the Ministério de Trabalho e Emprego (MTE)to grant ALL Investor Visa applications that the paperwork is in order. I've heard this from a number of sources. Also there is little if any follow-up by them on the operation of the business. The only real requirement is proving the initial investment has not been repatriated when the initial 3 year visa is renewed. The government doesn't really care what kind of business venture it is, where in Brazil it is located or even if it produces employment for Brazilians. It need only provide stable employment and income for the investor.

I've heard of many cases where the supposed "business plan" was to purchase property(ies) for rental purposes. The investor then purchased a couple of houses or apartments and used one as his primary residence, paying rent to the business (i.e. to himself essentially) from his "salary" from the business and rented out the other(s) in order to provide some income. This from everything I've heard is a perfectly legal strategy and the visa is granted. I don't know if the government was informed that one of the properties would be used as a primary residence, but I hardly think they'd even care.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team