Diddolution of Uniao Estavel

I have residency in Brazil through a Uniao Estavel of 3 years duration (we have been together 8 years). There is a possibility my partner and I might separate, will this affect my residency status? How do we dissolve our relationship officially? I would appreciate your help.

Hi Mazinha,

If you have already been granted the VIPER Permanent Visa then dissolution of the União Estável should not necessarily mean loss of your permanent resident status, no more than a divorce would mean the automatic loss in the event for someone who obtained permanency based on marriage.

That said, you should know that the Brazilian government doesn't quite seem to understand the dictionary definition of the word "PERMANENT" since PR status is never actually permanent. It is unlikely that just out of the blue they would track you down and cancel your visa should you separate, but that possibility does exist, so you must be aware of that.

It really will depend on your partner or anyone else who might have some grudge against you. If someone contacts the Federal Police, Ministry of Justice or Conselho Nacional de Imigração and raises enough of a stink about the separation, yes you might be asked to leave voluntarily, but again not a great risk and I'm sure you would have some chance to defend yourself against that.

The big risk is if your partner is vengeful or very materialistic and wants to try and use this as a threat to extract the maximum or all of the joint assets out of you.

Good luck! Keep your fingers crossed and hope for the very best.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Brazil & Canada Expert, Expat-blog Team

Regarding the actual process of legally ending the union really depends on its level of formality. If you have a União Civil through the Cartório or court then you would apply to the cartório just as you would with a divorce. If it is just the fact that you are living together then you really need do nothing if it is by mutual consent and there is no dispute about any other issues.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Brazil & Canada Expert, Expat-blog Team