My Permanent Visa - Parte dois (2)

That is the line I have chosen to sum up my experience last Friday (August 12th) at the Brasilian Consulate in Chicago.  Let me try to lay out what happened in an orderly and understandable fashion.  This will prove to not be an entertaining post in any way, but an informative one to those who care to know.

To begin, if your situation is like mine (Me=American / Wife=Brasilian), then be sure to take her with you.  According to the Chicago website it makes it sound as if you can do this alone, but that is not true.  Luckily, we emailed the consulate ahead of time and they advised us that it would be wise for her to accompany me.  I will explain the reason for this later.

Now, for the document checklist that I listed in the first "Permanent Visa" post, it all turned out to be correct.  Everything that I listed was exactly what I needed to bring so there were no surprises there.  As for the "non-criminal record), the one from my local sheriffs department was just fine.  They just expect it to be on official letterhead and having it notarized by the county helps as well.  I point this out because several other Brasilian Consulate websites state that you need an official one from the FBI.  There is a procedure for this and it does cost money and time.  However, for some strange reason Chicago is fine with something local.  Mine was very simple to obtain.  I sent an email to the sheriff explaining what I needed.  He did the background check, typed something up on department letterhead, had it notarized, and had me come pick it up from him in person.  All in all that process took 24 hours.









Here is where the surprises came into play!

1.  $5.00 Authenticate my wifes "Carteira de Identidade"  (Brasilian ID Card)
2.  $20.00 Authenticate the "Compromisso de Manutencao"  (Authenticate my wife's signature)
3.  $10.00  Authenticate a copy of my American Passport, which THEY copy. 
4.  $5.00  Authenticate a copy of the Brasilian Marriage Certificate, which THEY copy. 

All of these things were not told to us ahead of time.  No websites mention needing to do the "authenticating" and also the price for each was different.  In my opinion this is the kind of messed up situation only a government can produce.  And to make things more difficult they only accept money orders from the United States Postal Service, which by the way has no office in the building of the consulate.  To save time I ran about 7 blocks to the post office while my wife stayed at the consulate as to hold our place in line.  Luckily, they accepted the documents and began the "authentication process while I was gone to get the money order.  Another thing they do not tell you is that you do not pay the $340 fee for the visa until you pick it up.  So, we have a money order for that just waiting here.

If you have never been to the consulate in Chicago before I can tell you that it is somewhat confusing to find.  But, as of this last visit I have some great news to report to those of you going for your first (or tenth) time.  It is easier to find now.  Gracing the front of the building is an enormous Marilyn Monroe statue.  I would estimate it at 60' tall.  It is of that famous picture of her where her skirt is blowing up.......  Just see the pictures..........

Lets wrap things up.  The consular said it would take about 1 month for me to recieve my permanent visa.  That is MUCH less than what the website states.  So I'm very excited about that.  The only stipulation for it to stay valid is to enter Brasil at least once a year on it, however that will be no problem since we will be living there.  I do find that that information clashes with that of the website though.  The website states that to keep it valid that the holder must not remain out of Brasil for no longer than 2 consecutive years.  Ehhh......whatever.

I would call this all good news.  My biggest fear was getting there and they would say we were missing documents!  That would be another COSTLY trip up to Chicago.  Gas, parking, taking a day off, food, etc......it all adds up.  Also, instead of having to go up there again to get the visa we can pay an extra $20 for convienence and send my passport with a pre-paid envelop to the consulate and they will mail it back.  This is much cheaper than making the trip again.

Cross your fingers........in a month I'll put a post with the visa in hand!

Brandon