In its seven years of operation, our office has received many divorce cases from marriages performed overseas, from unions established between Brazilian citizens, or between Brazilians and foreigners. In all these cases, we have acted with consultancy, advising on procedures and documentation, and also representing the parties during the process. We have already written about it here on the blog.
A marriage performed overseas must be registered in Brazil
Brazilians can get married abroad but must register the marriage in Brazil, either at the Consulate, at a civil registry office (Registro Civil de Pessoas Naturais) or carry out the recognition through the Superior Court of Justice (Superior Tribunal de Justiça). In Brazil, a divorce can be carried out at any notary public office, and the divorce certificate must be registered at the civil registry office when there are no minor or incapable children involved or no consensus between the spouses. When the above conditions are not met, the process must be done through a family court.
Divorce in Brazil
In cases of divorce in Brazil of a marriage performed overseas, our strategy of action was consolidated after a thorough verification of the procedures with the Itamaraty, Brazilian consulates abroad and notaries and civil registry offices in the country. First, the marriage should be registered in Brazil and then the process must follow a series of procedures.
The problem of the lack of CPF of the foreign spouse
A complicating factor in the divorce procedure may be the lack of CPF (Cadastro de Pessoa Física, the Brazilian social security identification) in the case of a foreign spouse. To register the marriage certificate at the National Council of Justice (Conselho Nacional de Justiça), this document is required. However, the Federal Internal Revenue office allows foreigners to apply for the CPF at any Brazilian consular office in a single day, having to present only personal documents, such as passport and proof of residence.
The importance of the Hague Apostille Convention
The relative ease of registering a marriage performed overseas and its related divorce is due to the Hague Apostille Convention, signed by Brazil in 2015. This agreement allows the mutual recognition of Brazilian documents abroad and foreign documents in Brazil. Thus, a document made by a notary public, such as a public power of attorney, must be apostilled by the competent authority (in Brazil, notaries are competent for apostille) in order to be valid in another country.
Finally, with the confirmation of procedures and documents, we are able to register the marriage and file for divorce in a few weeks. To facilitate communication, our lawyers can speak Portuguese, Spanish, English and French. Valente Reis Pessali is a specialist firm in Family Law and has experience in advising and consulting for foreigners. You can find our contact details here.
