CRNM Timeline

05/15/22  If you have all of your documents in order when you arrive, and have an appointment with the federal police...it will still take 45 business days for your official CRNM to arrive.  That is the policy of the Federal Police.

- @HighVoltage1045

@rraypo did VITEM XI help in getting the CRNM? I though it was unnecessary to get the visa unless I need it to enter Brazil. Also, wouldn't there be problems receiving the CRNM while being located in the US?

05/16/22 @rraypo did VITEM XI help in getting the CRNM? I though it was unnecessary to get the visa unless I need it to enter Brazil. Also, wouldn't there be problems receiving the CRNM while being located in the US?

- @Alex1281

@abthree I have sent in all documents numerous times and haven't received an appointment since applying back in Feb ‘22 and going to PF office in Goiania numerous times . I am in Brasil on a Family Reunification Visa.

05/16/22 @abthree I have sent in all documents numerous times and haven't received an appointment since applying back in Feb ‘22 and going to PF office in Goiania numerous times . I am in Brasil on a Family Reunification Visa.

- @kmitch0077

@abthree thanks for your responses I really appreciate your time. The website doesn't respond and when I go to office they just say everything is done online.

@Pukapi thank you will try this website as well

@rraypo did VITEM XI help in getting the CRNM? I though it was unnecessary to get the visa unless I need it to enter Brazil. Also, wouldn't there be problems receiving the CRNM while being located in the US?

- @Alex1281

@rraypo

1. is it possible to pick up CNRM by an agent? I asked some people and they told me it is mandatory to pick up in person.
2. how to assign an agent?

Thanks!

@jaberosmani I believe the PF will want to check your ID and fingerprint you, so you cannot send an agent...

Keep and print the email notice they sent. My  wife received the notification in January. We'll pick it up in November, when we'll go there next before we move. I was also concerned with a deadline for pickup.

06/10/23 Keep and print the email notice they sent. My wife received the notification in January. We'll pick it up in November, when we'll go there next before we move. I was also concerned with a deadline for pickup.
-@Roger Fonseca Santos

That's a long time.  Unclaimed CRNMs are returned to Brasília for destruction after a time.  I'm not sure what the deadline is, but eleven months may be pushing it.  Be alert for a Second Notice, and don't forget to check the spam folder.

@Roger Fonseca Santos I agree with Abthree - too risky to leave it 11 months, it is worth a quick visit just to get it in your hands...

@rraypo

is it possible to pick up CNRM by an agent? I asked some people and they told me it is mandatory to pick up in person.
how to assign an agent?

Thanks!
-@jaberosmani

Good afternoon to you.

1. Yes, absolutely, with a power of attorney, it is easy to do. Agents do it all of the time. Mine did this for me. actually, he had his agent do it for me, then they mailed it to me in the USA by DHL. .

Trying to get the idea how long the process to obtain CRNM takes, could people here share their timelines?
I would be applying on the grounds of marriage in Porto Alegre. Is it realistic to get it in a month? Also, will the police visit our home?
Thanks!
-@Alex1281

I did my VITEM XI through the San Fransico Consulate. They were very fast and professional, communicating only by email. Once I had the paperwork completed and sent to them, I had my visa back in my hands in under two weeks, it was very easy and straightforward. After that, and like everyone else, I had trouble getting my PF appointment in SP for the final interview. Another member of this group pointed me to a professional facilitator in SP. We spoke with him and he had our appointment made for us, on the day and time of our choice; It was easy. The PF even gave me a letter of pre-approval for bank accounts, like a personal letter of introduction. After our appointment, he took us to aCartório to register my name, RNM, photos, and signature. Straight out of there, we went to the bank of our choice and he made sure I left with bank accounts, along with both credit and debit cards. Then, exactly 30 days later, to the day the PF said my card would be ready, my facilitator's agent picked up my CRNM and sent it to me in the USA by DHL. Easy breezy 

@Peter Itamaraca Thank you guys, for your input. I'll send an email to them asking if there is anyway to hold.

@abthree Quick Question - i have my CPF, but will soon have my Residence Visa by Spouse appointment with the Federal Police when my lawyer is fully prepared for the appointment.

If they provide me with a CRNM after 45 days will I be able to travel back and forth out of the country then?  My stuff in storage is getting very lonely.

Roddie in Retirement

@abthree Quick Question - i have my CPF, but will soon have my Residence Visa by Spouse appointment with the Federal Police when my lawyer is fully prepared for the appointment.
If they provide me with a CRNM after 45 days will I be able to travel back and forth out of the country then? My stuff in storage is getting very lonely.

Roddie in Retirement
-@roddiesho

When you leave your PF appointment, providing everything goes well, they will provide you with a temporary residency document. With this document, you can do anything you can with your CRNM, travel, bank accounts. etc.

06/11/23 @abthree Quick Question - i have my CPF, but will soon have my Residence Visa by Spouse appointment with the Federal Police when my lawyer is fully prepared for the appointment.
If they provide me with a CRNM after 45 days will I be able to travel back and forth out of the country then? My stuff in storage is getting very lonely.
Roddie in Retirement
-@roddiesho

In the Before Times, most Federal Police offices were pretty good about getting CRNMs back within a month or even less.  A lot of them seem to have gotten back to that.  I know that where you live is pretty remote, but I would still have some hope that you'd have it.  Yes, then you're perfectly free to leave and return as long a you have the card with you..

Rraypo may be right that you can travel on temporary documentation.  If my last experience of returning to Brazil had been like yours, I sure wouldn't want to be the one to test that theory.  I'd wait for the card.  But I don't like drama.

I have the protocolo with me and was checking ok the site they mentioned... There I have my rnm number and also the expiry date. Just want to know if they will call me or email me about CRNM card pickup or I have to keep checking their site.

10/31/23    I have the protocolo with me and was checking ok the site they mentioned... There I have my rnm number and also the expiry date. Just want to know if they will call me or email me about CRNM card pickup or I have to keep checking their site.
   

    -@Shahbaz Shaikh786

Good morning.  The PF should email you, but there are a lot of reasons that an email can go astray.  If it's been at least a month since you completed the process, particularly since it appears that your card has been issued, consider going by the PF office and asking whether it's ready for pickup.

@Shahbaz Shaikh786

The PF will send you email and on sismigra website also be mentioned that your card is ready to pickup

@abthree it's been a week now and it gives me the details in verificar protocolo tab but doest show the detail in andamento requiremento tab.

So once it's completes one month I can visit PF once without any appointment?

@ahmad raza57 thanks brother❤️

@rraypo @abthree Ok, this is an old post I just came across, so since the two of you gave great advice then I guess it went haywire somewhere along the way. Needless to say it is Halloween and the 45 days is in the rear view mirror. I have been waiting for my Permanent Residency Visa by Spouse since May.

I might have been confused by the original question. What is the difference between the CRNM and what I have been waiting for - Permanent Residency Visa by Spouse.

No hurry I will be running around the house looking for Kleenex for the tears , so please get back to me when you can.

Roddie in Retirement

    @rraypo @abthree Ok,

What is the difference between the CRNM and what I have been waiting for -  Permanent Residency Visa by Spouse.

Roddie in Retirement

I am not sure of your question, but let me take a stab at this one. First, the "C" in CRNM only stands for the actual plastic card you are issued. The RNM part stands for Registro Nacional Migratório (RNM, National Migratory Registry) due to the New Immigration Law (Nº 13445) enacted in May 2017. The RNM is Permanent Residency for us and we carry the "C" card as proof. Some of us have to periodically renew our RNM while others do not. I do not have to ever renew.

A visa and Permanent residency are not really the same thing (think tourist visas giving us the right to enter another country). Today, the Permanent Residency Visa by Spouse is called a VITEM XI Visa, for Family Reunification. This is the step some of us, including me, have taken to get Permanent Residency, RNM. Some of us apply for RNM while in Brazil. Many, many, many people have posted here and in the various FB groups that it is much easier to do the VITEM XI step outside of Brazil. Obtaining my VITEM XI was VERY simple and straightforward.

I obtained my VITEM XI Visa through the Brazilian Consulate in San Francisco, Ca., as they were responsible for the region of the USA I lived in. After lining up the required simple list of documents, I sent them to the SF Consulate and had them back in my hands in about one week. They did not require translations of anything, and my birth certificate is in Icelandic, not even in English. Once I obtained my VITEM XI Visa, which the Consulate glues into your foreign passport, I then traveled to Brazil, having a final interview appointment with the PF in Sao Paulo. The only difficult part was in making the actual appointment with the PF. We ended up finding and hiring a professional facilitator who had been recommended to me by another member of this group. He had no trouble in making our appointment when no one else could. We have since used this man for many things. He can make ANY bureaucracy in Brazil simple. It was all quite fast and easy for me. We left the interview and went to the nearest notary to register me, my photos, and my signature, then straight to the nearest and easiest bank, ITAU, for me to get my own bank accounts, credit, and debit cards. Then, off to lunch and caipirinhas.

The PF told us my CRNM would be ready in 30 days, and it was, to the day. My facilitator picked up my card and sent it to me back in the USA by DHL, and it was champagne time.

If I can be of any help, please, just ask.

   10/31/23 @rraypo @abthree What is the difference between the CRNM and what I have been waiting for - Permanent Residency Visa by Spouse.

Roddie in Retirement-@roddiesho

Let's see whether I can do this without adding to the confusion!

1 . As rraypo wrote, the CRNM is the Carteira de Registro Nacional Migratório, the ID card that every foreigner who is approved as a legal resident of Brazil receives as evidence of their legal status.  CRNM holders can enter and leave Brazil at will with just their CRNMs and their passports, because they're considered legal residents of Brazil during the validity period of the card.  There are many ways for a foreigner to qualify for a CRNM.  The one that applies to you is "Reunião Familiar", Family Unification, being called to live in Brazil by a qualifying Brazilian, in your case your wife.

2 . Normally, there are two methods to obtain Permanent Residency through Family Unification, either:

• to obtain a VITEM XI temporary visa from a Brazilian Consulate abroad.  The Consulate receives all the documents needed to process the applicant's residency request and analyzes them.  A Consulate ordinarily does not require apostilles or Sworn Translations for documents of the country to which it is accredited.  The holder of a VITEM XI visa reports to the Polícia Federal (PF) in the city where s/he will live on arrival in Brazil and requests an Authorization for Residency.  In principle, the  PF will accept the visa as sufficient approval for the Authorization because of the Consulate's analysis, and request a CRNM for the applicant without requiring further documents, although they can request to see some of the documents that were provided to the Consulate if they choose. Prior to the pandemic, it was taking about 30 days for the CRNM to come back from Brasília and be available for pickup; now it's still taking somewhat longer in many places.  Or --

• To come to Brazil on a Visitor (Tourist) Visa and request an Authorization for Residency directly from the PF.  In this case, the applicant must supply ALL of the documents that would have been provided to a Consulate to issue a VITEM XI, plus apostilles and Sworn Translations.  Without a VITEM XI to rely on, the PF does its own analysis of the request and the documents provided which will take longer, around 45 days or even more if they have additional questions.

3 . There's a third category, which unfortunately you fall into because of the difficulties with your documents:  you had to go directly to legal appeal.  There's no way of knowing how long that's going to take, it depends on how the discussions go between your attorney and the PF.  One piece of good news is that you're in Brazil legally until your case is resolved:  you're not overstaying in any way.  You'll probably be approved eventually, since you're married to a Brazilian, and have been for a long time, and in the end will be issued a CRNM. 

@abthree Thanx! I was going to hide in my Halloween costume, but apparently it is not observed in Brazil, so I will go back and hide under my bed.

Roddie in Retirement

P.S. The curious part of it is that so far it appears that they are having the most difficulty with documents showing that me and my wife are married.

I am traveling to Brazil from India the second time and the first time with my RNM which is valid for next nine yrs as I got it 2 months back.

Do I need a visa or just my rnm and passport is enough. Is there a need to visit the embassy in my city for some stamp or anything...

@Shahbaz Shaikh786 I would say if the residency card is valid and you have your passport you are fine.

@Shahbaz Shaikh786

So long as your passport and the RNM are current and in date, you do not need a visa...