Driving in Brazil and/or obtaining a Brazilian Licence.

The first thing to note is that you get 180 days from when you get into the country to use your foreign license. Even if you've already been in the country before I've heard that the clock resets when you leave. I knew I'd be there for a while and decided I didn't want to worry about keeping track. So this may give you more time to get a proof of residency if that seems reasonable. I was able to rent a car without issues in São Paulo.

If you are approaching the 180 days and if you have your license you should be able to go through a drastically expedited process. You will not have to go through any tests other than a physical and psychological evaluation due to an agreement in the Vienna Convention. I'm from the US but the UK is also a party to the Vienna Convention.

Regarding the psychological test, IIRC I don't think reading skills were at play at all during this. It was mostly logic with shapes and numbers. The physical test was simple. I think you pay for both of these but I don't remember the cost being very much.

Here's a pretty good article that discusses the topic and is what I experienced:
http://thebrazilbusiness.com/article/ge … -in-brazil

Depending on the amount of time you have to get this done you should either get a cell phone bill in your name for that address or you could just try what you had described. That is, bring your marriage certificate certified by a cartorio/consulate and the proof of residency with your wife's name.

I hope that helps. It's not too bad of a process. Best wishes.

Thanks for your reply Jota23.  I left the country August this year and only returned two weeks ago. So fingers crossed, the 180 days will still apply.

My income here is low and we largely rely on my wife's income, so no bills are in my name right now. So will try the marriage certificate (we got married here in SP state).

Cheers for your advice/comments.

Zeb

FYI. I believe these 180 days are from your first  entry in Brazil after obtaining your  permanent visa. It doesn't "reset".
The good news is: I was like you, I didn't ask fir for my local driving licence for a few years but when I went to DETRAN, it didn't have any issue and I didn't pay a fine.
The problem is only if you get stopped by PM when driving.