Family reunification and extension of the effects of refugee status

Refugees recognized by the Brazilian government may request a family reunification visa on behalf of their family members who are in other countries. Applicants for recognition of refugee status whose request for recognition of refugee status has not yet been decided by CONARE may not request a family reunification visa. 

The visa must be requested and collected at a Brazilian consular representation (Embassy or Consulate) in the city/country where the refugee’s family member is located. It is important to check whether prior scheduling is required. 

If your family member is already in Brazil, see more details in the next tab. 

It is important to emphasize that the Brazilian government and UNHCR do not have any programme to partially or fully finance the travel of refugees’ family members to Brazil. Therefore, all costs related to the journey, such as airfare, are the responsibility of the applicant. 

Step-by-step procedure – Requesting Family Reunification:

1️⃣ Complete the electronic visa application form in the Integrated Consular System of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Note! Choose the appropriate purpose of travel: Residence (family member of a resident in Brazil or of a Brazilian national). 

2️⃣ Pay the consular fees. 

3️⃣ Check with the Brazilian Consulate where the visa application will be processed regarding its own workflow (need for prior scheduling, individual interview, submission of original documents, etc.). 

4️⃣ Attend the Consulate with the receipt confirming completion of the form and the required original documentation.

Consult the Consular Office in the place where your family member is located for information about all the documentation required to support the visa application and about its processing time. 

Once the visa application has been submitted, the refugee’s family member may consult the consular unit and the electronic platform of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to find out whether the visa application has been approved. The refugee may also contact the Immigration Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DIM-MRE) to ask about the progress of the request by e-mail at [email protected]. For further information about the family reunification visa, please consult the Interministerial Ordinance No. 12. 

The type of visa to be requested will depend on the family relationship, as below:

I – Spouse or partner; 
II – Ascendants or descendants (father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather, great-great-grandmother, child and grandchild); 
III- Members of the family group in the collateral line up to the fourth degree who are economically dependent on the refugee (brother, sister, uncle/aunt, great-uncle, great-aunt, nephew/niece, great-nephew, great-niece, cousin); 
IV- Relatives by affinity who are economically dependent on the refugee (stepchild, father-in-law/mother-in-law, brother-in-law/sister-in-law). 

The temporary Family Reunification visa will have a maximum period of one year for use to enter Brazilian territory. After entering the national territory, the family member must register with the Federal Police to request recognition of refugee status or, within 90 days, to request residence authorization for family reunification purposes. 

If you need help with this process, please contact the nearest UNHCR partner organization. 

Persons recognized as refugees by the Brazilian government who have family members who are already in Brazil may request the extension of the effects of refugee status to their family members. This is a more simplified procedure, which may dispense with the individual interview, with the status being recognized upon presentation of documents proving the family relationship with the refugee and, where necessary, economic dependency. 

Spouses, ascendants and descendants of the refugee may benefit from this procedure, as well as other members of the family group (such as siblings, uncles/aunts, nephews/nieces, cousins, parents-in-law, son-in-law/daughter-in-law) who are economically dependent on the refugee. 

Note! A person who is recognized as a refugee through this procedure will not be able to extend their refugee status to another family member. 

If the family member is not yet an applicant for recognition of refugee status 

The family member who has recently arrived in Brazil must register their application for recognition of refugee status in SISCONARE and, when completing the form, indicate the relative who is already recognized as a refugee in Brazil. The document proving the family relationship with the refugee must be attached to the case file. 

If the family member is already an applicant for recognition of refugee status with an individual application 

The asylum seeker must complete the request for conversion of the application for recognition of refugee status into an extension and submit it to the General Coordination of CONARE through an electronic petition in SEI. You can find more detailed step-by-step instructions for this petition on CONARE’s website and/or see the tab below.

If an applicant for recognition of refugee status decides to convert their application into an extension, the family member who is already recognized as a refugee by CONARE must agree to the request.

Step-by-step procedure – Conversion of an Application for Recognition of Refugee Status into an Extension:

1️⃣ Fill in, print, sign and scan (or take a legible photo of) the Request for Conversion of an Application for Recognition of Refugee Status into an Extension in the case of adults, or the Request for Conversion of an Application for Recognition of Refugee Status into an Extension – C&A in the case of children and adolescents under 18 years of age. 
Important! The form must be signed both by the person whose application will be converted and by the principal applicant to whom the extension will be linked. 

2️⃣ Register as an SEI user in accordance with the instructions in the manual. 

3️⃣ On the left side, under “Peticionamento”, choose the option “Intercorrente”. 

4️⃣ Under “Número de processo”, enter the Refugee Protocol number of the principal applicant, or the Refugee Protocol number of the person whose application will be converted from principal application into extension. Then click “Validar”. 

5️⃣ After clicking “Validar”, SEI will fill in the information “Migrações: Pedido de Refúgio” in the “Tipo” field. Click “Adicionar”. 

6️⃣ Next, go to the option “Escolher arquivo”. Select the form that has already been completed with your information and signed. 

7️⃣ Under “Tipo de documento”, choose “Formulário” and, in the field “Complemento do tipo de documento”, write CONVERSÃO. 

8️⃣ Under format, choose “Nato-digital”. 

9️⃣ Then click “Adicionar”. 

🔟 After including the form, click “Peticionar”. 

After this process, your registration will be analyzed by the General Coordination of CONARE. 

If you need support, please contact the Ministry of Justice by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at (61) 2025 9734. 

If you need help with this process, please contact the nearest UNHCR partner organization.