Expert: Sandra - 8/8/2011

Question
Hi,
I am in love with a Brazilian woman since last two years,we both are mature ,we both are in thirties.Now we made a conscious decision to marry each other.She is not willing to relocate herself to India for some years as she is having old mother and her mother is dependent on her care.I am much adaptable ,i can care for the needs of her mother but her mother wishes to pass her last few years in her country.
My problem is -what kind of Visa i should get to go to her and marry there ,She lives in Porto Alegre (RS) and what kind of documents i should carry to marry her or i should ask her to find out the documents needed there and than i should arrange and carry them for the needful,what kind of procedure is adopted there for marriage in Brazil.
After marriage,we both are planning to start some kind of work there by our own to earn for living ,I will invest  some amount to start our small store and import /export work.For us work is no problem .
We both are much adaptable but her family situation does not permit her for relocating to India and i don't know anything or any procedures that i should follow to reach her,I know i have to take a visa but visa has time limit and in that case how i will be able to live with her as husband ?
I am by profession an Engineer but i am giving up my engineering carrier here in India ,because i can not live without her now ,nor she can't live without me .Kindly guide me so that we can marry and live a happy married life.

Answer
She should go to the "cartorio" she plans to use for the marriage and ask for a list of documents that will be needed. (Cartorios register official signatures, draw up powers of attorney and other such official legal tasks, but each is an independent business, and as such may have different, individual requirements.)

Your documents must be 'recognized' as legal and not fraudulent by the Brazilian Consulate/Embassy with jurisdiction over where the individual document was emitted.This usually costs about U$20 for each document.

Then the documents should be sent to Brazil to be translated there by an offical translator, on a government list of offical translators. (If there is not an official translator available for the language your documents are written in, you should ask the Embassy/Consulate in India what to do.) This usually costs about R$60 per page.

You may need to draw up a "procuracao" (power of attorney) in Portuguese, at the Br. Embassy/Consulate nearest you to allow her to act on your behalf (until you can arrive) regarding these documents and other marriage related legal tasks you specify.

When all of your documents are prepared, and hers are ready, she can present them to the cartorio. They will set a marriage date for you, usually about 30 days out.

You can travel to Brazil on a tourist visa. (There is no fiance visa, such as some countries have.)

After the marriage, go to the Policia Federal to register for "permanencia" (permanent residence) based on the marriage. (Or you can return to India to apply at the Br. Consulate/Embassy, which is much faster, but also somewhat more costly.) You will need a recent police report for this process, so it is easiest to have it recognizes and translated along with all the marriage documents. You will receive a letter stated your legal residence status, until the official c ard comes eventually. As part of the permanencia process for those applying from inside Brazil, expect to receive a surprise home visit from the Policia Federal.

Best wishes to you both for a happy life in Brazil.
If you apply