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VITEM 11 – Visa based on Family Ties

STEPS TOWARD YOUR VISA 2. Check the requirements for your 1. Check if you need a visa visa. 3. Application form 4. Appointment (YOU ARE HERE)

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE VITEM XI VISA APPLICANT HAS A SIBLING WHO’S A BRAZILIAN CITIZEN OR A PERMENENT RESIDENT OF BRAZIL DISCLAIMER Take your time to read this guide carefully. The Consulate is not responsible for mistakes in your visa application and for losses related to travel expenses to Miami when applying for the visa or to your planned trip to Brazil in case your visa is refused, denied or not granted in time. Do not book rooms or tickets to Brazil before making sure you have the correct visa. Visa application fees are non-refundable by operation of law. Your application may be refused or denied if the requirements do not meet the specifications listed on this guide. The Consulate may request additional information if necessary. Click on each requirement to read details. You may print this guide and tick each item as you gather the requirements.

MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS  Background Check  Passport  Proof of residence  Photo  Money order from the United States Postal  Birth Certificate Service  Brother/Sister’s Brazilian ID/Passport (proof of  Electronic visa application form Brazilian citizenship) or RNE (proof of Brazilian legal residency) + a document that contains If you’re not American his/her parents’ names  Proof of immigration status in the USA  Spouse’s Declaração de compromisso de OPTIONAL REQUIREMENTS manutenção, subsistência e saída do Brasil None of the optional requirements serves as substitute for the mandatory ones. (Affidavit of support)  Prepaid envelope for mailing your visa and passport back PASSPORT Validity Your passport must be valid when applying for the visa. It does not need to be valid until the date when you intend to travel to Brazil, but it must be valid when we issue you the visa. We may issue you the visa even if your passport is about to expire, but before boarding a plane/ship or crossing a border towards Brazil, you must make sure you have a passport that is valid until your intended date of return (USA passports only) or valid for at least six months after the date you enter Brazil (passports of all other countries). If your valid visa is on a passport that has expired, you must then carry two passports: the expired one containing your valid visa and a new valid one. Signature Adults must sign their passports1. Passports of minors do not need to be signed. 1Very few countries have passports which do not require signature. Check your passport and make sure it is signed if there is a field for it. Pages Your passport must contain at least two blank pages, i.e. pages without any other visas or stamps. The pages for observations, annotations, etc. are reserved for your own country. We cannot use them. If your passport has run out of pages, you must obtain a new one before applying for a visa to Brazil.

Condition Your passport must be in good condition in order to be accepted as a valid document. It must not be torn, wet, damp, stained, cut, punctured, excessively dirty etc. Back to checklist

BIRTH CERTIFICATE You must present one of the two following options: BRAZILIAN BIRTH CERTIFICATE or FOREIGN (non-Brazilian) BIRTH CERTIFICATE 1. BRAZILIAN BIRTH CERTIFICATE It could be a birth certificate issued by a Consulate or Embassy of Brazil or by a cartório in Brazil. You must present the original document or a copy authenticated at a cartório or at a Consulate or Embassy of Brazil. 2. FOREIGN (NON-BRAZILIAN) BIRTH CERTIFICATE It could be a birth certificate issued in the United States or in any other country (except Brazil). a) BIRTH CERTIFICATE FROM FLORIDA i. You must submit the original birth certificate to the Florida Department of State in order to obtain an apostille. Check the instructions on how to proceed at http://notaries.dos.state.fl.us/notproc7.html. ii. Once you’ve obtained your apostille to the original birth certificate, you must bring them both to the Consulate (birth certificate + apostille) along with your visa application. b) BIRTH CERTIFICATE FROM PUERTO RICO i. You must submit the original birth certificate to the Puerto Rico Department of State in order to obtain an apostille. Check the instructions on how to proceed at https://estado.pr.gov/es/certificacion-documentos-y-radicacion-de- reglamentos/. ii. Once you’ve obtained your apostille to the original birth certificate, you must bring them both to the Consulate (birth certificate + apostille) along with your visa application. c) BIRTH CERTIFICATE FROM THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS i. You must submit the original birth certificate to the Office of the Lieutenant Governor in order to obtain an apostille. Check the instructions on how to proceed at http://ltg.gov.vi/contact-information-office-of-the-lieutenant- governor.html. ii. Once you’ve obtained your apostille to the original birth certificate, you must bring them both to the Consulate (birth certificate + apostille) along with your visa application. d) BIRTH CERTIFICATE FROM THE REST OF THE UNITED STATES i. Click on the following link in order to check who is the competent authority to issue the apostille to your birth certificate: https://www.hcch.net/en/states/authorities/details3/?aid=353 (It will depend on where your birth certificate was issued). ii. Once you’ve obtained your apostille to the original birth certificate, you must bring them both to the Consulate (birth certificate + apostille) along with your visa application. e) BIRTH CERTIFICATE FROM OTHER COUNTRIES WHICH ARE MEMBERS OF THE HAGUE APOSTILLE CONVENTION i. Check if the country where your birth certificate was issued is a member of the Apostille Convention at https://www.hcch.net/en/states/hcch-members. If it is, click on the following link in order to check who is the competent authority to issue the apostille to your birth certificate: https://www.hcch.net/en/states/authorities. ii. Once you’ve obtained your apostille to the original birth certificate, you must bring them both to the Consulate (birth certificate + apostille) along with your visa application. f) BIRTH CERTIFICATE FROM OTHER COUNTRIES WHICH ARE NOT MEMBERS OF THE HAGUE APOSTILLE CONVENTION i. Check if the country where your birth certificate is a member of the Apostille Convention at https://www.hcch.net/en/states/hcch-members. If it’s not, you will need to legalize your birth certificate at the Embassy or Consulate of Brazil responsible for that jurisdiction: http://sistemas.mre.gov.br/kitweb/datafiles/Miami/en-us/file/Brazilian%20Consular%20Offices.pdf. ii. Once you’ve legalized your original birth certificate, you must bring it to the Consulate along with your visa application. Back to checklist

PHOTO One of the requirements for your visa application is the photo. It must match the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) guidelines: http://miami.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/photo_specifications.xml. The photo must preferably have a white or light-colored background. The size of passport pictures professionally taken at pharmacies in the United States normally meets the ICAO standards. Back to checklist

SIBLING’S BRAZILIAN ID OR BRAZILIAN PASSPORT (SPOUSE’S PROOF OF BRAZILIAN CITIZENSHIP) + A DOCUMENT THAT CONTAINS HIS/HER PARENTS’ NAMES IF BROTHER/SISTER IS A BRAZILIAN CITIZEN You must present the original Brazilian identity card or the Brazilian passport of your spouse. If you choose to present the passport, it has to be valid and you must also include a copy of their birth certificate or any other ID issued by the Brazilian government that contains his/her parents’ names Other valid ID documents (always containing the bearer’s photo and signature): carteira de trabalho, carteira professional (OAB, carteira de identidade militar, do Poder Judiciário, do Ministério das Relações Exteriores), Carteira de Matrícula Consular etc. A copy authenticated at a cartório in Brazil or at a Consulate or Embassy of Brazil serves to substitute the original. A Brazilian driver’s license is not a proof of Brazilian citizenship, but it serves to prove the parents’ names if need be. IF BROTHER/SISTER IS A PERMANENT RESIDENT IN BRAZIL You must present your brother/sister’s original Brazilian resident card (RNE, CIE or CNRM – Registro Nacional de Estrangeiro, Carteira de Identidade de Estrangeiro or Carteira Nacional de Registro Migratório) or an authenticated copy of it. If your spouse has recently obtained a temporary residency visa and hasn’t received his or her RNE/CIE yet, you may present his/her passport containing the visa. We’ll also check your sibling’s passport for stamps of entry and exit in Brazil. If your sibling is in Brazil, he/she must authenticate the copies at a cartório. Back to checklist SIBLING’S DECLARAÇÃO DE COMPROMISSO, MANUTENÇÃO, SUBSISTÊNCIA E SAÍDA DO BRASIL (AFFIDAVIT OF SUPPORT) Your spouse must fill out and sign an affidavit of support (in Portuguese), available at http://sistemas.mre.gov.br/kitweb/datafiles/Miami/en-us/file/DECLARAÇÃO COMPROMISSO VITEM XI.pdf. If your spouse’s Brazilian ID/passport isn’t presented with the visa application and a) SPOUSE IS IN THE UNITED STATES: the affidavit of support must be signed and notarized. b) SPOUSE IS IN BRAZIL: the affidavit of support must be signed and the signature must be recognized by a cartório in Brazil (firma reconhecida em cartório). c) SPOUSE IS ELSEWHERE: a. If your spouse is in a country that’s a member of the Hague Apostille Convention (check it at https://www.hcch.net/en/states/hcch-members): You must notarize the affidavit and obtain an apostile by the country’s competent authority on these matters (check which authority is responsible for issuing an apostile in each country at https://www.hcch.net/en/states/authorities). b. If your spouse is in a country that’s not a member of the Hague Apostille Convention (check it at https://www.hcch.net/en/states/hcch-members): You must notarize the affidavit and obtain a consular seal (legalização) at the Embassy or Consulate of Brazil responsible for that jurisdiction: http://sistemas.mre.gov.br/kitweb/datafiles/Miami/en-us/file/Brazilian%20Consular%20Offices.pdf Back to checklist BACKGROUND CHECK You must present a background check from the place(s) where you’ve lived in the past 12 months. If you’ve lived only in the United States your background check must be preferably from FBI. However, background checks from the local police are also accepted. LOCAL POLICE BACKGROUND CHECK FROM THE UNITED STATES If you choose to present a background check from the local police, you must make sure you present the background checks from every address where you’ve lived for the past 12 months. If you’ve lived in more than one place, you must present a different background check for each place. BACKGROUND CHECKS FROM OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES If you live or if you’ve lived outside the United States for the past 12 months, you must present the background check from that place. Background checks from countries that are members of the Hague Apostille Convention 1. Check if the country is a member of the Convention at https://www.hcch.net/en/states/hcch-members. 2. If the country is a member, check who is the authority in charge of issuing the apostille for the background check at https://www.hcch.net/en/states/authorities. Background checks from countries that aren’t members of the Hague Apostille Convention If the country is not a member of the Hague Convention on Private International Law (HCCH), the background check must be legalized at an Embassy, Consulate or consular office of Brazil with jurisdiction over the place where the document was issued. Check the jurisdiction of all Brazilian Consular Offices in the world and their websites at http://sistemas.mre.gov.br/kitweb/datafiles/Miami/en-us/file/Brazilian%20Consular%20Offices.pdf. Back to checklist PROOF OF RESIDENCE You must provide a proof of residence for every address where you’ve lived for the past 12 months. Examples of proof of residence: driver’s license containing your home address, ID containing your home address, a utility bill (electricity, telephone, cable TV, Internet, water etc.). Back to checklist

MONEY ORDER FROM THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE (THE POST OFFICE) The only form of payment of processing fees accepted by the Consulates of Brazil in the United States is the money order of the United States Postal Service (USPS). No other forms of payment are accepted, not even money orders from other institutions. You must obtain your money order at a Post Office (https://www.usps.com/shop/money-orders.htm) before bringing your visa application to the Consulate-General of Brazil. Please remember to fill out the money order like the example on the left. You must bring a different money order for each person’s application. Check the correct amount for the money order on the table below before going to the Post Office. The processing fee varies according to the nationality of the passport you hold. You must obtain a USPS money order of the amount corresponding to the country of your passport: VITEM XI COUNTRY (the one whose passport PROCESSING you’re applying for your visa with) FEE (US$) United States 290.00 United Arab Emirates 155.00 United Kingdom (visa valid for more 215.00 than 180 days) United Kingdom (visa valid for up to 100.00 180 days) All others 100.00 Back to checklist

ELECTRONIC VISA APPLICATION FORM The application must be filled out completely online. There is no paper-base application form. You must access the following link: https://formulario-mre.serpro.gov.br/sci/pages/web/pacomPasesWebInicial.jsf. At the end of the process, the system will generate an application receipt like the model shown on the side. You must print it, glue your photo onto it and sign in the appropriate field. You will find guidance and tips on how to access the form and fill it out at: http://miami.itamaraty.gov.br/en- us/online_application_form.xml. Back to checklist

PROOF OF IMMIGRATION STATUS IN THE UNITED STATES If you’re not an American citizen, you must present proof of your immigration status in the United States. For example, a valid green card, visa, temporary resident card or I-94 form. If you’re an American citizen with double citizenship applying for a visa with a non-American passport, you must present proof of your American citizenship, for instance, your American passport or certificate of citizenship. Back to checklist PREPAID ENVELOPE FOR MAILING YOUR APPLICATION BACK You may leave a prepaid envelope for the return of your passport and visa by mail so you can avoid coming to the Consulate again to pick-up your visa when it’s ready. We recommend you use a Priority Mail Express envelope from the United States Postal Service. Make sure you include a tracking number. We may refuse to accept your envelope if there are doubts about its payment. Envelopes from Fedex, UPS, DHL or other companies may also be refused if the label says “bill sender”. The Consulate General of Brazil is not responsible for problems in the delivery of passports and visas by mail or courier services privately contracted. Leave an envelope at your own risk. Back to checklist