Expert: Sandra - 7/12/2009

Question
My fiance he's brazilian , he ask me go to live in there with him and now I still in America but I'm Thai ...my visa is tourist and will expire in the end of september after that I can go to live in there and get married or not..? Could you reccomend me about this case..How can I go there and get married with my fiance.Thank you

Answer
To go to Brazil, you don't need a tourist visa as a Thai citizen. You may have to explain that to the person at the airline check-in on embarkation from the U.S. The airline may want to see evidence of a round-trip ticket or of your means of leaving Brazil, before letting you board. (If you are refused entry for some reason, the airline is responsible for flying you back, so they want to avoid this.) On entry, passport control should give you a 90 day entry (prazer) , which can be renewed for another 90 days at the Policia Federal, prior to the expiration of the original 'prazer'.

In order to get married in Brazil, you will need a number of documents from your home country. The place where people do a civil marriage in Brazil is called a cartorio. Each cartorio is a private business and can have slightly different requirements for the documents for marriage. Your fiance should go to the cartorio he wants to use and ask them for a list of the papers they require. You might also want to send him a legal power of attorney (procuracao) which can be drawn up at the Brazilian Consulate nearest you in the U.S., and allows him to act for you to deal with required documents. This will speed up the process of things you personally have to do in the limited time the "prazer" gives you; some things can be already accomplished by the time you arrive.

Each document has to be "recognized" and stamped at the Consulate that has jurisdiction over the location where they were emitted. If, for example, your birth certificate is from Thailand, then the Brazilian Consulate that deals with Thailand would be the one to "reconhecer" (recognize) your documents. In the U.S., the cost is U$20 per document.
http://www.brazilembassy.or.th/

Then each document in a foreign language has to be translated by an "official" translator in Brazil. There is a list of translators who do English, French and other more common language, but for Thai, I have no idea who might be allowed to do the translation. I would ask the Brazilian Consulate nearest you in the U.S. and also email the Bangkok Consulate/Embassy to help locate an approved translator or ask their advice. The cost is usually about R$60 per page.

Once your documents are ready to be submitted, your fiance takes them, along with his, to the cartorio. There is usually bout a month's wait until the papers are processed and the marriage is scheduled. Commonly in larger cities, a large number of couple get married together in the cartorio chamber. Dress can be very casual, or you can choose something more formal. Friends and relatives usually do not attend, but the couple usually throws a party for them afterwards.

After you are married, you can begin the process for your permanent residency in Brazil, which requires more documents, such as a police report, which also need to be "recognized', in addition to those you used for the marriage.

I hope this information is enough to get you started. Another good resource for immigration/marriage questions is the forum of the expat site www.gringoes.com, which includes a lot of people in a similar situation to yours.

Best wishes for a happy future in Brazil.