Marriage in Brazil

The whole process is explained in the following topic post:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=280525

Your son should have at the minimum a 90 day stay, better still one that can be extended to 180 days even if he has all the documents in order, just in case some problems arise. This shouldn't be a problem for your son since his UK passport will entitle him to a 90 day stay (without applying for a visa) and the Visa Waiver Program agreement with the UK provides that UK passport holders can extend their stay by a further 90 days, unlike other VWP and Schengen Area passport holders who cannot extend their stays.

Regarding his bride immigrating to the UK that is entirely up to your government. That said I've seen many reports on the blog of UK citizens complaining that their spouses have been denied visas to reside in the UK. I would suspect that your government is taking a very critical look at all newly celebrated marriages, with a view to their being "marriages of convenience" entered into with the sole purpose of obtaining permanent residency in the UK. You must be advised that marriage in and of itself generally is no guarantee of residency in many countries, so your son might be in for a bit of a struggle to accomplish this plan.

You should also be aware that, unfortunately, Brazilians who marry foreign nationals are among the group most considered as doing so for immigrations purposes and not marrying for love. This is not my opinion, just a statement of how they are seen on the international scene.

If it is a true love relationship and a marriage that is going to last, thrive and flourish then your son might want to consider in living here in Brazil with his bride for an extended period of time before trying to have her immigrate to the UK. This time together here in Brazil would serve several purposes:

1.  It would go a very long way to alleviating many of the concerns your government would have about the marriage being one of convenience.

2.  It will give your son sufficient time to be accepted into his new family as a productive and welcome member.

3.  It will provide a real opportunity to see firsthand if there are any other interests or motivating factors on the part of his bride (and her family) for the marriage to take place. Unfortunately we "gringos" are often seen as little more than a source of wealth for the entire family. Other marriages are seen simply as a means of escaping Brazil, a country in chaos. Foreign governments know this only too well and it is for this very reason they look at marriages with a very skeptical eye.

4.  It will provide time to see if the marriage is really going to work out. Imagine all the trouble of going through the bureaucratic struggle to get the bride to the UK only then to find out the marriage isn't working.

Again, I'm not making any judgements about your son's particular situation. I am merely stating what often happens and how Brazilian marriages are viewed on the global scene. Surely, there are many marriages (my own included) that are loving and extremely rewarding unions. I have absolutely no doubts about mine because I'm far from being rich and struggle to make a comfortable living. Also my wife has absolutely no interest in leaving this country.

I hope this gives you and your son a lot of food for thought.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Expat-blog Experts Team

Thanks William....they have been together for 2 years and she is lovely girl who is loved and a part of our family....so hopefully all will go well for them both.  Thank you for the advice & best wishes.

That's great to hear and it should make it much easier for your son to have her immigrate to the UK. He should contact the British Consulate in Brazil to see about the process for getting her visa and what kind of visa it should be. He should also think about registering the marriage with the Consulate as well.