Post: #1

I have read a couple articles about Americans living in Argentina, both online. One in the New York Times, and the other in New York magazine. I was wondering about the legal/visa requirements to doing this. And by "this," I mean staying for a seemingly indefinite period of time.

I just took a look at my passport, and was surprised to see that the tourist visa for Brazil allows for 90 days. I was under the impression it was 180 days, but I guess that's because at the bottom it says, "Visa valid for 5 years. Maximum: 180 days per year." So what, leave the country before 90 days are up, and then come back for another 90 days?

Do you know what it takes to live there for a longer period -- like, say, a few years? I am sure that getting married would allow for it, but apart from that, are there any options?

Any info/advice appreciated on extended stays in S.A.!

Post: #2

(04-27-2010 11:40 AM)Chaz Wrote:  I have read a couple articles about Americans living in Argentina, both online. One in the New York Times, and the other in New York magazine. I was wondering about the legal/visa requirements to doing this. And by "this," I mean staying for a seemingly indefinite period of time.

I just took a look at my passport, and was surprised to see that the tourist visa for Brazil allows for 90 days. I was under the impression it was 180 days, but I guess that's because at the bottom it says, "Visa valid for 5 years. Maximum: 180 days per year." So what, leave the country before 90 days are up, and then come back for another 90 days?

Do you know what it takes to live there for a longer period -- like, say, a few years? I am sure that getting married would allow for it, but apart from that, are there any options?

Any info/advice appreciated on extended stays in S.A.!

in brazil, you can study abroad for a year on a student visa, you can invest I think 500 thousand dollars into the economy (i'm not sure of the exact number but I think it's in the 6 figures), you can get a job and get a work visa.

the work visa i think would be the hardest to obtain. check out the PUC-Rio website for study abroad options.

Post: #3

Every country is different. In Argentina you can do a border run every 3 months indefinitely as long as you have space in your passport. I posted about Brazil's visa requirements recently... do a search.

Post: #4

(04-27-2010 11:43 AM)UgSlayer Wrote:  

(04-27-2010 11:40 AM)Chaz Wrote:  I have read a couple articles about Americans living in Argentina, both online. One in the New York Times, and the other in New York magazine. I was wondering about the legal/visa requirements to doing this. And by "this," I mean staying for a seemingly indefinite period of time.

I just took a look at my passport, and was surprised to see that the tourist visa for Brazil allows for 90 days. I was under the impression it was 180 days, but I guess that's because at the bottom it says, "Visa valid for 5 years. Maximum: 180 days per year." So what, leave the country before 90 days are up, and then come back for another 90 days?

Do you know what it takes to live there for a longer period -- like, say, a few years? I am sure that getting married would allow for it, but apart from that, are there any options?

Any info/advice appreciated on extended stays in S.A.!

in brazil, you can study abroad for a year on a student visa, you can invest I think 500 thousand dollars into the economy (i'm not sure of the exact number but I think it's in the 6 figures), you can get a job and get a work visa.

the work visa i think would be the hardest to obtain. check out the PUC-Rio website for study abroad options.

Knocking up a B-girl would probably be the easiest path to residence.

Post: #5

in Peru you only get 90 day visa... however the punishment for overstaying your visa is simply a dollar per day fine that you pay at the airport when you leave the country. I over stayed my 90 days by 116 days and paid the fine when I left. No problem, no questions asked. You can also do the leave and come right back to renew, like in Argentina but its usually cheaper to just stay and pay the dollar a day fine.

Post: #6

Chaz,
For Brasil, the 90-180 days works like that:

Initially, on a tourist visa, you can stay upto 90 days. If you want to extend that and stay another 90 days, you'll have to go to a Militar Police (Policia Militar) office and fill the proper forms. They'll extend your visa for another 3 months which would take you to the max amount of time one can stay LEGALLY in Brasil on a tourist visa per year (rolling 365 days, not calendar year! careful of this!). After your 180 days in Brasil, you'll need to leave the country and won't be able to LEGALLY return for 6 months. After that, you can stay again for upto another 3 months, extendable once for another 3 months and the cycle can be continued indefinitely.

As to permanent residency in Brasil, there are 3 major ways:
Apply for an Investor visa, for which you'd have to invest $US100K in a local business where you'll be creating 5 full time jobs for 5 Brasilians for 5 years. At the end of your 5 years, they will not renew your visa automatically. They'll see what you've been upto and if you really contributed to the local economy. If yes, they'll renew your investor visa for another 5 years, if not, you're out of luck. You'll have to leave the country ASAP or they'll deport you. (I strongly suggest you to consult with a competent lawyer in the matter if you wish to apply for an investor visa to Brasil, that'd be the wisest investment you could think of!).

You could also get permanent residency by marrying a Brasilian.
Or you could knock up a Brasilian girl in which case, you'd be granted an automatic permanent residency for 18 years. During that time, of course, if you live full time in Brasil and have a means of supporting your family financially, you can apply for citizenship.

The work visa, don't even think about it, It's easier to win the lottery than to get a Brasilian company to give you a work visa, which involves a ton of red tape and is expensive (think about 10-15K to be paid by the company); not only that, the company also has to prove to the government that there is no Brasilian citizen able to perform the same position that they'd be hiring you for. As you can see, very highly unlikely, unless you are a professional athlete that a Brasilian pro sports team is hiring or a world class scientist or some kind to stand a chance to get this type of visa. Your best bet to work in Brasil is to get hired by a multinational and get sent to their Brasil offices. Working in Brasil as an expat and getting paid in US$, Euros or Pounds is the sweetest deal you can get if you want to work in Brasil. Another and the most achieveable way to live, at least half the year in Brasil is to get your own online business and spend the North American/Euro winter in Brasil. That's what I'm planning on doing starting this fall.

For Argentina, I have no idea and I'd be curious and interested to get the answer to that as well.

Hope this helps. Any more questions, feel free to ask.

Cheers.

Post: #7

Argentina has similar visa types but are easier to get: you can invest in the country (i.e. start a business) or marry or get a legit job. Or you can simply prove you have 2500 pesos ($700) in investment income coming in from abroad each month. I researched it a couple years ago.

This is taken from Expat Arg blog:
"the rentista visa has very simple rules. If you can bring in $2500 pesos per month into the country by means of an investment abroad, you get the visa. The investment could be anything -- a business, a stock, a bond, real estate, it doesn't matter. If you can show you have income that's not tied to a salary, you get the visa.

The only downside is that a rentista visa is a temporary visa that has to be renewed. "

However, I decided its not worth the hassle since you can simply take a 2 hr boat ride across the bay to Uruguay and back every 90 days and renew your tourist visa.

Post: #8

Sounds like knocking up a Brazilian is the easy ticket. You'd better get out there are start rawdogging some beach babes!

Post: #9

On second thought, maybe you could find a pregnant favela chick and pay her to say the baby's yours. Assuming the real father is of the same skin color as you, of course. You think they'd really do a DNA test?

Post: #10

I am certainly open to the idea of extended living in Brazil at some point in the future. Sounds like it would be a tough thing to achieve though.

For those of you living there long term, what are some of the major life adjustments you've had to come to terms with living in Brazil? I'm trying to think of what it would actually feel like to experience Brazil as a resident, rather than a tourist. I once read an account of an American expat in Italy who said it's not so much "la dolce vita" when you live there. Good luck getting mail or anything delivered on time, if something in the apartment breaks, it takes forever to get it fixed, took weeks just to get the phone turned on, shit like that. Sometimes you just can't imagine what it's like to live somewhere when you only visited as a tourist. It's a whole different game.

Post: #11

Don't know about Italy, but living in Brazil would be like living in any other S.A. country. Delayed service requests to any problems (phone, fridge), and a million other things you take foregranted in the 1st world.

Post: #12

(04-27-2010 12:27 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  Knocking up a B-girl would probably be the easiest path to residence.

You and I clearly have different definitions of "easy"

Not saying its diffilcult to do but landing yourself with a kid is not "easy" in any way shape or form.

What would you name the little sprog anyway? visa shortcut?

Post: #13

I would be more worried about how you are going to make a living in Brazil honestly, unless you already have that lined up or are already stacked. If I were you I would just live 6 moths there and 6 months where ever else and try to get that work/student visa. I don't think it should really be THAT hard. I'm sure there are many less americans applying for work visas to Brazil than vise versa. I have a feeling that a good chunk of people that go to Brazil from the US only go to vacation and not work. I do have a friend that lived in Brazil for a year or two. I'm pretty positive she had a work visa. I know she left the country because her Visa expired, I'm assuming that was her work visa. I know Brazil enforces the same restrictments on other countries as other countries apply to their citizens, and I know tons of Brazilian in the US that have stayed for years at a time.

Post: #14

[quote='BaronStanley' pid='17212' dateline='1272413440']
Argentina has similar visa types but are easier to get: you can invest in the country (i.e. start a business) or marry or get a legit job. Or you can simply prove you have 2500 pesos ($700) in investment income coming in from abroad each month. I researched it a couple years ago.

This is taken from Expat Arg blog:
"the rentista visa has very simple rules. If you can bring in $2500 pesos per month into the country by means of an investment abroad, you get the visa. The investment could be anything -- a business, a stock, a bond, real estate, it doesn't matter. If you can show you have income that's not tied to a salary, you get the visa.

The only downside is that a rentista visa is a temporary visa that has to be renewed. "

For the rentista, You also need various notarized paperwork to back this up, as well as criminal clearances, etc.

For the investment route, it's only "easy" if you have around a million us to invest

Post: #15

(04-28-2010 01:16 AM)speakeasy Wrote:  I am certainly open to the idea of extended living in Brazil at some point in the future. Sounds like it would be a tough thing to achieve though.

For those of you living there long term, what are some of the major life adjustments you've had to come to terms with living in Brazil? I'm trying to think of what it would actually feel like to experience Brazil as a resident, rather than a tourist. I once read an account of an American expat in Italy who said it's not so much "la dolce vita" when you live there. Good luck getting mail or anything delivered on time, if something in the apartment breaks, it takes forever to get it fixed, took weeks just to get the phone turned on, shit like that. Sometimes you just can't imagine what it's like to live somewhere when you only visited as a tourist. It's a whole different game.

same deal in Arg.

Post: #16

Hey all, thanks for the great replies!

What got me wondering about living in Brazil was a blog by an American named Rob Cheng, who is married to a Brazilian and lives in Rio. He's an older guy who I think was an exec at Gateway Computers. I was interested to see that in one of his posts, he talks about how he is able to live off the interest from his savings account/CDs in Brazil. The interest rate there is (or was) about 1% per month, or 12% per year, and since he's got hundreds of thousands of dollars invested, he's sitting pretty. Interest income exceeds living expenses! But with regard to the visa thing, he is married and has a kid there.

Funny how it was mentioned that actually living there might not be all it's cracked up to be: Last year I was in Sao Paulo, and was talking to a Brazilian about this. He reminded me that, in his humble opinion, the quality of life is better in the USA, with fewer hassles and more conveniences. I gotta admit he is right about that!

Post: #17

(04-28-2010 09:41 AM)Chaz Wrote:  the quality of life is better in the USA, with fewer hassles and more conveniences.

Thats for damm sure!

Post: #18

(04-28-2010 09:41 AM)Chaz Wrote:  The interest rate there is (or was) about 1% per month, or 12% per year,

That of course is a much higher rate than you'll get in the US, but the inflation must be much higher there. Might even be higher than 12%.

Post: #19

An mmigration lawyer from Sao Paulo told me that it's possible to get citizenship within 13-14 months of marrying a Brazilian woman.

Hell, I was gonna do that and get it solemnised in their London Consulate so I wouldnt even have to go there. But they also want you to actually live there for 12 months after the ceremony..