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Getting official documents by post from Europe

lou1987

Hello, I'm living in Sao Paulo. I'm expecting some valuable documents (including a debit card) from Europe. After reading some horror stories about Correios, I'm a bit worried.

I know that parcels are often held up for months in Curitiba, but what about plain old letters? They don't require a CPF, do they? How fast can they get here? How frequently are they opened by officials and go astray? What if they are sent by registered mail: what are the odds of success vs non-registered? What about using a different service like DHL?

Thanks in advance for any tips.

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abushawashi

I recommend you to use DHL

Texanbrazil

I too recommend DHL/FedEx type carrier. You will be able to track the parcel.
Yes add CPF and goes faster

Fred

No question - Use DHL for documents.
You can track the package and they don't have a reputation for stealing from customers.
I've used them many times, and they did exactly what they claimed every time.

Golsucks

A registered letter posted in Canada took 4 days to arrive in Brazil. Then sat in the first postal station for 15 days!!!!   Another 4 days later it arrived in Porto Allegra
23 days.
I’m awaiting the results of a fingerprint check from the FBI. I can’t track this but they received my mail December 10.  They processed my payment January 6.
I have no idea how much longer it will be.
  Lucky for me my visa was approved without the check from FBI. (Note I lived in USA briefly within 5 years of applying for a visa here)
As the others posted best to use a courier.

Inubia

I just did the FBI thing ... I came back to the states to do it .... I filed the form online and paid online, and the computer gave me the location of the nearest place to do my prints.  I drove there and had my prints done two hours later.  By the time I got home, the final report was already available online.  A printed version on watermarked paper arrived in the mail two days later.

Californian.in.SP

Inubia wrote:

I just did the FBI thing ... I came back to the states to do it .... I filed the form online and paid online, and the computer gave me the location of the nearest place to do my prints.  I drove there and had my prints done two hours later.  By the time I got home, the final report was already available online.  A printed version on watermarked paper arrived in the mail two days later.


Does FBI document have to be verified by Brazilian consulate?

The FBI document is valid for 90 days, right?

abthree

Re:  Validation/Legalization

No, your documents do not need to be legalized at the Brazilian Consulate.

If you're in the US applying to a Brazilian Consulate for a visa, Federal documents and state documents from states within the Consulate's service area usually do not need to be legalized at all:  the Consulate will generally accept them as-is.

If you're in Brazil already, applying to the Federal Police for an authorization of residency, then your documents require apostilles and Sworn Translations.  State documents receive apostilles from the Designated Authority of the state where they were issued; this is usually the Secretary of State, but not in every state.  Do a search on "Apostille State of (your state)" to confirm.

Apostilles for Federal documents, including the FBI Background Check, come from the Department of State in Washington, DC.  Here's the contact information:



There are services available online that will obtain both state and federal apostilles for you, for a fee.

Sworn Translations are a Brazilian legal requirement.  They must be prepared by translators who have passed a competitive examination and been nominated by the Commercial Junta of a Brazilian state -- a translation by a friend or spouse will not be accepted.  An Internet search on "Tradução Juramentado" will identify the local ones.  There are also reputable online services that serve the whole country, and can work with electronic versions of documents.

Yes, the Federal Police do ask that the Background Check be no more than 90 days old.  They may be somewhat flexible on this, as long as they're not pushed too far.