Cruelly denied reentry into Brazil - help!! 🙏🙏💜💜

Michael H,
A lot to read. I am guessing you could not get past the Cartóriorio for the marriage process?
The PF has some flexibility, but as to appeal, I would have done this at the airport. If you would have paid before leaving PF may have worked with you this trip.
I have seen at GRU the fine was reduced at the airport on 1 occasion.
There are many things that could go wrong in the PF minds. Who is to say that there may be a "fallout" between you two, so extending a visa or reducing the fine may be a long shot.
You could ask your girlfriend to speak with the PF as to the situation and get an idea. (Do not mention "Cruelly denied reentry into Brazil". The law is the law.)
Best of luck

12/22/21

Tex had called it, and there's not much I can add.  Like him, I'm curious as to how you could be here that long and somehow not find a cartório that would marry you, but there's no way to fix the past.

The easiest way I can think of for you to get back to Brazil now, if you can swing it financially, would be to bring your girlfriend to Canada, get married there, register your marriage at the Brazilian Consulate General responsible for Manitoba (probably Toronto, but the Brazilian Embassy website can tell you for sure), and apply for a VITEM XI (family reunion) visa.  The new visa should get you back into Brazil and on the path to permanent residency  - and legal employment  - although you still will probably be on the hook for the fine.

Hi and thanks for the quick replies!

It seems I'm not the victim that I'd hoped to be. It's been a long time since I was home.

Yes we could not find a cartório open as I was there during the height of the pandemic and many business were closed by government order. Also of issue was money; there are some legal costs involved and both of us struggled for work at different times.

I'm currently in peru waiting for earliest Brazil reentry date of February 11.

Unless someone knows something that I don't?

I do not know as to your earliest date. Are you fully vaccinated?
Brazil has introduced restrictions on all travelers (land and air). Some include quarantine.

12/22/21

Best of luck.  I hope that you have all of the Canadian documents with you that you'll need for the cartório to get married, and then for the Federal Police to apply for residency. 🤞

*ETA*  You're not going to be able to work legally in Brazil until the Federal Police approves your residency application, and they won't even consider it until you're married, so those need to be your top priorities on arrival.  Any groundwork that your girlfriend and friends can lay with a cartório as soon as the Christmas holidays are over to get you married ASAP will be well worth the effort.

Great information from abthree. I was just thinking about re-entering Brazil. Have you looked at the Brazil Consulate's website in Toronto?
It will list all documents required or https://www.gov.br/pt-br/servicos/obter … igratorio.
It is very difficult to do this in Brazil. Most documents will require legalization and translation.
If you are able to enter Brazil you need to register within 60 days.

Hey, very similar situation to me, except mine was 2018-2019 before pandemic. I moved to Brazil with my then girlfriend (now wife) with the intent to marry and live here with her. I came on a tourist visa with the expectation things would move quickly enough that I'd have all the documentation sorted out before the 90 days ran out. I also read online that the fine was a much more reasonable R$20 a day or something like that, and missed that it had recently changed to about five times as much. When my first set of documents finally arrived, they were missing the stamp, which completely f'd up my plans and I had to reapply and have them sent again, which took almost a month. During this time, we had gotten all other paperwork on the Brazilian side ready and were just waiting on one document, so we had some official paperwork here and foolishly assumed it would be helpful. I should say that I was a little relaxed on the timeline at the start and lost just over a month by not starting any of the processes (idiot, I know) and so my tourist visa quickly ran out and I stupidly (I know) didn't think it was worth extending before that time due to my foolish ambition things would move quickly back home and here and the fine being so low... But not extending the visa really came back to bite me in the ass as you need a valid visa to get married and register, which I now didn't have, and the only way to get is to leave and come back.

Went to leave the country for a holiday with what I considered my wife already at that point, and was given the overstay fine of almost R$10,000. We explained the whole situation that we are getting married, presented all our notarised documents and explained that we just couldn't finish the process over the visa and they didn't give a monkeys, my friend.

I Tried to pay then and there but was told to pay on return and I could get back in no problem if I did. On return, the fine had gone up a little and as I was about to pay, my wife asked to double check I could enter after paying and was told straight "no". So I didn't pay the fine and instead took a flight to Paraguay where I spent the next 6 months (if you know, you know haha) to wait for my visa to reset. When I could finally re enter Brazil, the fine had gone up considerably and I paid, got my tourist visa, went straight to the notary office, officialised our marriage and a few weeks later got my permanent resident status and ID (and a week later the pandemic started).

Anyway, long ramble above, but essentially expect to go through pretty much that I would imagine.

I was in the same boat 3 years ago but was able to renter without paying. Not sure if i was lucky or there is a loop hole.
I had a R$10k fine with my tourist visa. However when i returned to Brazil a month later, i came in with a 1 year student visa for my MBA at a brazilian university. I had $3k in cash with me to make payment but the nice agent processed my new student visa in the system and said welcome to Brazil and good luck with your studies. I think i was blessed and the guy saw the fine and ignored it. When i got married and changed to permanent residency. The PF processed my application, saw the fine but said because the initial agent had let me in and i was now married to a brazilian, they cannot go back and ask for the fine. I got my residency but now when i leave brazil or reenter with my CRNM card, the agent has to go get a waiver from a PF manager in the office and im always free to go. I always laugh about it with the PF agents as they tell me im lucky.
In short, come ready to pay but you might be lucky to have an agent thats nice that overides the multa and lets you in. Not really sure up till today if its because i came in with a different visa and not the tourist visa or just a very nice PF agent having a good day

yea canadian here. you will under no circumstances get past the wall without communicating with the consulate in your province, and with the increase concern for new covid variants will be harder. you will need to pay the fine before reentry and there isnt much of a way to exploit this. there is plenty of work in canada and it will be 10 mil real + multa / juros so expect to pay near another 10 mil depending on how old the fine is. you can take care of this with your to be wife - as she can head down to pay on your behalf and give you a copy to take to the consulate.


Good luck!

and texan is right, PF is with express interest of only the brazilian people. so if you cannot show that your able to take care of yourself here. you will run into alot of issues, I think i have travelled frequently between canada and brazil at the heights of the pandemic even when all flights were restricted. was weird being only person in an airport or on an airplane lol!

Hi Michael H.

First, we both love to write, however, to be brutally honest your story is filled with emotion, interesting, and informative to read, but something the PF does not want to hear. The PF, and rightfully so, just want facts, sans fluff. So, for your sake, I suggest not offering up anything extra to them when you attempt to enter Brazil, file documents, or attend interviews.  Just provide the required forms along with the supporting documentation, and answer whatever questions they will have.

What is your country of nationality/citizenship? I am a U.S. Citizen, originally from Iceland.

From my own experience of 15 years basically commuting in and out of the states and into GRU as a tourist, (we own an apartment in Bela Vista, SP) and now as a Permanent Resident, (yes, all last year during the peak of Brazilian Covid without a single delay or issue, we just went in and out to the USA) I have found the PF exceptionally straightforward and easy to work with.  Remember, it is their job to protect their country and the borders of it, so just do things their way.

Over the years, I have been asked for proof of where I am going to stay while in Brazil, proof of sufficient funds for my stay, proof of my return trip ticket/plans to leave Brazil, etc., I have also never overstayed my visa. However, more typically, no one askes for anything or looks at anything. 

In 2021, I had to go to a Cartóriorio once, one near Terminal Rodoviário Barra Funda. I had no trouble, no appointment etc. I had to go to the PF once, I found it impossible to get an appointment online, no matter how many times I tried, every day, for two months. I hired a local professional facilitator and he had me in on the day and time I had wanted, without any problems.

As others have said.  I suggest to you to:
•    If it were me, I would regroup and start over.  While an appeal “might” work, I personally do not know anyone who has gone down that road and succeeded.
•    Apply now, today, for your CPF if you do not already have one.
•    Bring your fiancé to your country, get married in your country.
o    I am not sure what country you are a citizen in.  If the USA, be VERY CAREFUL with this.  The USCIS does not take kindly to tourists getting married to U.S. Citizens while in the USA.  They automatically see this as an attempt at immigration fraud until you prove otherwise to them.
o    I know of tourists who were denied entry into the USA at the airport because they said were coming to meet their fiancé, not just for marriage, but even for a visit. They were turned around and sent home.
•    Follow the instructions from the Brazilian Consulate governing where you live, for your application for your VITEM XI Visa. It is SO MUCH easier when done out of Brazil.
o    For me, I used the San Francisco Calif. Consulate, and they were very fast and professional, with everything done online. Yes, I read you are in Canada, but I am not sure of your country of citizenship, (lots of us here can help you with links).
o    For us, translations were never required, for anything, even my Certificate of Birth which was in Icelandic, my native country, were all accepted by the Consulate.
o    The FBI background check was done online and finished in literally seconds after clicking “enter”.
o    My fingerprinting was done at a U.S. Post Office
•    Once your Consulate approves your VITEM XI, you can travel to Brazil with your temporary new visa.
o    The travel timeframe limitation has changed twice over the past year, so stay up to date on all information to remain current.
•    I would plan on paying your over-stay fine upon arrival at GRU. If the PF do not charge you, then you have a bunch of money for your trip and stay.
•    After entering Brazil, you only have 90-days for your final appointment with the PF, so get started trying to get that appointment.  As I stated previously, I found that part to be impossible and hired someone to do it for me.
•    My VITEM XI interview went very fast, ending with a stop at the same Cartóriorio.  I asked the PF for and received a letter of pre-approval for a bank account, which I opened within an hour of my interview, along with receiving a debit/credit card, finally.

We all have are experienced with this process. My was doing the every 6 months in Brazil and 6 months in the US. But this all before the COVID nonsense also I did get a fine for over stay before it became very high. As I recall the max was 300 Reals. I have a couple of possible suggestions. As said you need to have all your paperwork in order to get married first. I had a overstay fine of one day and had my wife pay it after I left for the US before I was to return at the local FP office. Brazil has upgraded it information system so everything can be found about you even  internationally. How my wife and I would extend being together we would meet in Mexico for 2 to 5 months. We chose Mexico because my wife being Brazilian could go there with out a formal tourist visa. I am not sure  if this would be a option but maybe you could get married in another country go to the Brazilian Consulate get this all verify. First before returning to Brazil bring her there which is what I would do for my wife. We did get married here in Brazil and after that got a permanent residency. If you want to know if you have any chance to reduce your fine ask your Brazilian girlfriend to go the local FP present your case.