A first consultation is only as useful as the information you bring to it. Come with a rough description of “I want to move to Brazil” and you’ll spend most of the meeting on questions that could have been answered by email beforehand; come prepared, and that same meeting can produce a concrete recommendation on your visa category and next steps. This is the preparation checklist we’d hand anyone before their first conversation with us.
Have a clear answer to these four questions before the call
How long do you actually want to stay? A year to test things out and a permanent, indefinite move call for entirely different visa categories, and the honest answer to this question, not the one that sounds more committed, should drive the conversation.
Where does your income or capital actually come from? A pension, a remote job, savings you’d invest in a business, or funds earmarked for real estate all point toward different categories with different documentation requirements. Have real numbers in mind, not rounded estimates.
Do you have a Brazilian family connection? A spouse, partner, or child who is Brazilian changes the available categories and the residency timeline toward citizenship. If this applies to you, it’s usually the single most important fact in the entire conversation.
What’s your realistic timeline? “As soon as possible” and “sometime in the next two years” lead to very different advice, particularly around document preparation, which has its own lead time independent of anything else in the process.
Documents worth having on hand (even in draft or scanned form)
You don’t need finished, apostilled, translated documents for a first consultation, that comes later. But having these on hand, even as photos or PDFs, lets the conversation get specific instead of hypothetical:
- Your passport’s photo page
- Recent proof of income (a pay stub, pension statement, or bank statement) if your category depends on income
- Any existing property purchase agreement or business investment documentation, if applicable
- Marriage or partnership documentation, if a Brazilian family connection is part of your situation
- Any prior Brazilian visa or residency documents, if you’ve held Brazilian status before
Questions worth asking during the consultation
Beyond letting the lawyer ask you questions, come with a short list of your own:
- Which category do you recommend for my specific situation, and why that one over the alternatives?
- What’s the realistic timeline for this category, given current processing conditions?
- What’s the full cost, fees, translations, apostilles, government charges, not just the legal fee?
- What documents do I need to start gathering immediately, given their own lead times?
- What’s the single most common reason cases like mine run into delays?
What not to worry about yet
You don’t need a finalized property, a signed business agreement, or completed sworn translations before a first consultation, in most cases, the right sequence is: get clarity on the correct category and process first, then invest in the documentation and, where relevant, the underlying transaction. Applicants who reverse this, buying property or signing a business deal before confirming it actually supports the residency category they want, sometimes discover a mismatch only after the money has already moved.
If your situation involves more than immigration
Many cases genuinely span more than one legal area, buying property alongside a residency application, starting a business alongside an investor visa, or handling a family law matter alongside a family reunification case. If that’s your situation, mention it upfront rather than treating it as a separate conversation; a firm that handles both the immigration filing and the underlying transaction (property due diligence, company formation) can usually coordinate the two more efficiently than handling them through separate, uncoordinated professionals.
A realistic sense of what happens next
After a first consultation, expect a specific recommendation on category, a rough timeline, and a concrete list of documents to start gathering, not yet a completed application. Most cases move from there into document collection (which has its own timeline, covered in our document checklist guide) before any filing happens. Coming to the first conversation prepared, as outlined above, is what turns that into a productive meeting rather than a first of several information-gathering calls.
FAQ
Do I need to bring original documents to a first consultation? No, scans or photos are sufficient at this stage; originals matter later, once you’re actually filing.
Is it normal for a first consultation to not result in an immediate answer? For straightforward cases, a clear category recommendation is usually possible in the first conversation. More complex cases, particularly those involving multiple potential categories or unusual income structures, may reasonably need a short follow-up after the lawyer reviews specific documents.
Should I prepare questions in writing beforehand? Yes, it’s easy to forget questions in the moment, and a short written list (like the one above) makes sure you leave with real answers rather than remembering the question on the drive home.
What if I’m not sure which visa category I even want to discuss? That’s a normal starting point, describing your situation honestly (income source, family ties, timeline) is usually enough for an experienced lawyer to narrow the options quickly.
Can a consultation happen remotely if I’m not in Brazil yet? Yes, most of this process, including the first consultation, is routinely handled remotely by video or phone for applicants who are still abroad.
Ready to have that first conversation? Souza & Santos Advocacia offers consultations in English and Portuguese, remotely or in person in João Pessoa.
Souza & Santos Advocacia
Av. Gov. Flávio Ribeiro Coutinho, 500, Sala 927, Manaíra, CEP 58037-005, João Pessoa – PB, Brazil
contato@souzaesantosadvocacia.com.br · +55 83 99644-2180
Avenida Paulista, 1471 – Conj 512, Bela Vista – São Paulo/SP
+55 11 98849-4224