11/11/21
Sorry arman737ng but I have no experience with the Naturalize-se system.... yet I did go look at it because I'm curious about becoming a naturalized citizen here.
I'm sure that there are many with great need in becoming naturalized citizens here. I understand the need to be a full citizen of some place you can call home. Still, I'm not sure why I should do this and am looking for suggestions from other expats as to why and the best process to do so.
So I'm retired, married to a Brazilian and have Brazilian children, have retirement income, have property, have healthcare and seem to lack nothing except, perhaps, for a voice in choosing Brazilian political representatives. While I never plan to return to live in the USA because I consider this my home.
Any thoughts on what the best reason are to become a Brazilian citizen?
MattB
Matt,
I became a citizen about two years ago.听 You're right:听 Brazil is very generous with permanent residents, puts zero pressure on a permanent resident to naturalize, and in fact, a lot of people are rather surprised when we do.听 Permanent residents have all the rights of citizens except political participation, so the advantages are modest.听 Yet there are some.
Like you, I plan to live here for the rest of my life, and like the idea of participating politically.听 I probably would have naturalized eventually anyway, but being a partner in a same-sex marriage moved it way up my to-do list.听 With an openly and vocally anti-gay President and his allies in the Congress who would invalidate our marriage and the basis of my residency if they could,听 I wanted to place myself beyond their reach, and deny them even the remote opportunity of presenting us with a choice we don't want to have to make.
Both Brazil and the United States recognize dual citizenship, so that doesn't pose a problem.听 You and I are both past 45, so military obligation doesn't become an issue.听 Males between 18 and 45 theoretically have an obligation, but generally will be excused, since the Armed Forces don't have billets to even accommodate the whole cohort that reaches 18 every year by natural increase.听 According to my accountant, it didn't change my tax status.
On the upside, I can vote, which is nice.听 I can also participate in "concursos", the civil service tests for government jobs, but being retired, I certainly don't plan to.听 Brazil's passport is pretty strong, and while it's not as strong as the US's, it lets me go some places where the US passport won't, and some other places more easily.听 Other benefits are more theoretical.听 I can't be extradited, except to the US for crimes I may have committed before my naturalization, or for drug trafficking, but it's a little late in the day for me to start my Life of Crime.听 It may make it easier to live in other Portuguese-speaking countries; I need to research that.
The only downside I've identified is pretty theoretical too:听 the US government won't defend my from the Brazilian government, and vice versa.听 I never expect to be in a situation where I need that, so it doesn't worry me.听 Dual citizenship doesn't affect normal consular services.
As far as daily life is concerned, becoming a citizen didn't make me any more "Brazilian" in most people's eyes, just a "Foreigner who's a Brazilian Citizen".听 When I got my covid vaccinations, I used my green national ID card, my RG, just like every Brazilian does, not my old CRNM, but when my vaccination certificate was issued, it still listed my nationality as "Foreigner".听 At least here in the North, blue eyes still trump green cards most of the time!听 
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