Brazil
Immigration and Residence in Brazil
From your first visa application to permanent residence and Brazilian citizenship — practical guidance through the Migration Law of 2017.
Contents
- •The Migration Law of 2017
- •Visitor, temporary and permanent visas
- •Residence through investment
- •Work authorisation and the work visa
- •Family reunion and Brazilian family ties
- •Retirees, digital nomads and Mercosur
- •Registration after arrival: CRNM, RNM and CPF
- •Permanent residence and naturalisation
- •Common pitfalls and document legalisation
- •Conclusion
Brazil rewrote its immigration rulebook in 2017, replacing a security-era statute with one of the most openly rights-based migration laws in the Americas. For investors, directors, retirees, remote workers and families with Brazilian ties, the result is a system with genuinely accessible routes to residence — provided the paperwork is right and the deadlines after arrival are respected.
1.The Migration Law of 2017
Brazil rebuilt its immigration system with Lei nº 13.445/2017, the *Lei de Migração*, in force since November 2017 and implemented by Decreto nº 9.199/2017. It replaced the 1980 *Estatuto do Estrangeiro*, drafted under military rule, which treated the foreigner first as a security question.
The new law defines the migrant as a subject of rights and rests on principles including:
• Non-criminalisation of migration — irregular status is administrative, never criminal
• Equality of treatment with Brazilians in access to public services
• Universal access to healthcare and education, whatever the migratory status
• Family reunion as a protected right, not a discretionary favour
• Humanitarian reception for those displaced by conflict or disaster
In practice, someone who falls out of status inside Brazil can usually regularise without leaving.
Four bodies share the work: the Ministério das Relações Exteriores issues visas abroad, the Polícia Federal registers residents, the Ministério da Justiça decides most residence authorisations, and the Conselho Nacional de Imigração (CNIg) issues the *Resoluções Normativas* that set criteria for investors, directors and retirees — which is why thresholds change without the law itself being amended.
2.Visitor, temporary and permanent visas
The visitor visa (VIVIS) covers tourism, business meetings, conferences and transit: 90 days, extendable once to a maximum of 180 days in any 12-month period. Paid work for a Brazilian source is prohibited. Many nationalities are visa-exempt, but since 10 April 2025 citizens of the United States, Canada and Australia again need a visa, applied for online as an eVisa.
Temporary visas (VITEM) are numbered by purpose:
1. VITEM I — research, teaching or academic extension
2. VITEM II — medical treatment in Brazil
3. VITEM III — humanitarian reception
4. VITEM IV — study, from language courses to doctoral research
5. VITEM V — work, on a prior residence authorisation
6. VITEM IX — investment and director assignments
7. VITEM XI — family reunion
8. VITEM XIII — Mercosur residence
9. VITEM XIV — policy categories, including retirees and digital nomads
Permanent residence, historically labelled VIPER, is no longer a separate visa class: under the 2017 law it is a residence authorisation for an indefinite term, granted at the outset on the investor and family routes or on conversion from temporary residence.
3.Residence through investment
Three investment routes exist, each set by a CNIg resolution. Thresholds are fixed in reais and revised periodically, so confirm the current figure before transferring funds.
Company investment — Resolução Normativa nº 13/2017. A foreign individual investing at least R$500,000 of externally sourced funds in a Brazilian company may obtain residence for an indefinite term, supported by an Investment or Business Plan showing real potential to generate jobs or income. A reduced threshold of R$150,000 applies where the investment targets innovation, or basic or applied scientific and technological research — the founders' route. Funds must enter through a registered foreign-exchange operation and be recorded with the Banco Central do Brasil.
Real estate — Resolução Normativa nº 36/2018. Urban property, built or under construction, worth at least R$1,000,000 also supports residence, and the threshold is 30% lower — about R$700,000 — in the North and Northeast, a deliberate incentive to spread capital beyond the São Paulo–Rio axis. Residence runs initially up to two years, renewable, then convertible to an indefinite term.
Both routes extend to spouse or partner and dependent children, and neither obliges the investor to live in Brazil full time.
4.Work authorisation and the work visa
Employment-based immigration is employer-led, and the sequence is always authorisation first, visa second.
Step one. The Brazilian employer files for a residence authorisation with the Coordenação-Geral de Imigração Laboral (CGIL) of the Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego, via the electronic Migrante Web system. The file must evidence the candidate's qualifications — typically a degree plus two years of experience, or nine years in the field — with the employment contract and the company's corporate documents. Decisions appear in the *Diário Oficial da União*.
Step two. Once published, the applicant requests the VITEM V at a Brazilian consulate, presenting the authorisation reference, passport, criminal-record certificate and photographs. The visa runs for the term of the authorisation, commonly up to two years, and converts to indefinite residence.
The director route. Resolução Normativa nº 11/2017 covers an administrator, manager, director or executive representing a foreign investor in a Brazilian company, on proof of external investment of at least R$600,000 per appointed executive.
Employers should note the Labour Code's "two-thirds rule": two thirds of employees and payroll must normally be Brazilian.
5.Family reunion and Brazilian family ties
Family reunion is the strongest and least appreciated feature of Brazilian immigration law, and for many applicants simply the fastest route.
A Brazilian, or a foreign national already resident, may sponsor:
• A spouse or stable partner, including same-sex partners and *união estável* partnerships registered before a notary
• Children and stepchildren who are minors or dependent
• Parents and other ascendants where dependency is shown
• Siblings, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who are minors or dependent
Where the family member is Brazilian, residence is granted for an indefinite term from the outset, with immediate labour-market access. It carries real protection too: the law bars expulsion of a person with a Brazilian child under their guardianship or economic dependency, or a Brazilian spouse from whom they are not separated. And under Article 66 a Brazilian child or spouse cuts the residence needed for naturalisation from four years to one.
The application may be filed abroad as a VITEM XI or, for someone already lawfully in Brazil, directly with the Polícia Federal — usually quicker.
6.Retirees, digital nomads and Mercosur
Three policy-created categories account for much of Brazil's non-employment residence.
Retirees and pensioners — Resolução Normativa nº 40/2019. An applicant who is retired or receives a survivor's pension qualifies on proof of a monthly transfer to Brazil of at least US$2,000 in foreign currency, covering the applicant and up to two dependants; further dependants require an additional monthly amount each. The income need not be a state pension alone — continuous complementary income such as rent or investment returns is accepted.
Digital nomads — Resolução Normativa nº 45/2021. Remote workers employed or contracted by a foreign employer obtain one-year renewable residence on proof of a monthly income of at least US$1,500 or bank funds of at least US$18,000, plus health insurance valid in Brazil. Work for Brazilian clients is not permitted.
The Mercosur Residence Agreement. Nationals of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador obtain residence on nationality alone — no job offer, investment or income test. Temporary residence runs two years; in the 90 days before expiry it converts to permanent on proof of lawful means of subsistence.
7.Registration after arrival: CRNM, RNM and CPF
A visa authorises entry; the registration done after arrival is what makes someone a resident in any practical sense. Missing it is the commonest and most expensive mistake.
Polícia Federal registration. Anyone entering on a temporary or permanent visa must register with the Polícia Federal within 90 days of entry. Appointments are booked on the gov.br portal, federal fees paid by GRU bank slip, and biometrics taken at the appointment. Registration produces the RNM (Registro Nacional Migratório) number — the permanent immigration identifier that replaced the old RNE — and the CRNM residence card. A protocol issued on the day proves status while the card is produced, typically 15 to 45 working days.
The CPF. The *Cadastro de Pessoas Físicas* tax number matters more in daily life than the card itself: no bank account, lease, property purchase, shareholding or mobile contract without it. Issued free by the Receita Federal, it can be obtained online or through a Brazilian consulate before travelling — strongly advisable.
8.Permanent residence and naturalisation
Brazil's progression from temporary status to citizenship is unusually short by international standards. Most temporary categories convert to an indefinite-term residence authorisation on renewal, provided the original grounds still hold.
Ordinary naturalisation (Article 65) requires:
1. Civil capacity under Brazilian law
2. Residence in Brazil for at least four years
3. Ability to communicate in Portuguese, assessed in light of the applicant's circumstances
4. No criminal conviction, or rehabilitation according to law
Reduction to one year (Article 66). The residence period falls to a single year for an applicant with a Brazilian spouse or partner and not separated, with a Brazilian child, who has rendered relevant service to Brazil, or who is recommended by professional, scientific or artistic ability. Nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries also qualify after one uninterrupted year.
Extraordinary naturalisation (Article 67). After more than 15 years of uninterrupted residence without criminal conviction, naturalisation is a right, not a discretionary grant.
Brazil permits dual nationality, and naturalised Brazilians cannot be extradited except for a common crime committed before naturalisation or proven drug trafficking.
9.Common pitfalls and document legalisation
Most refused or delayed applications fail on process, not merit.
Overstaying. Remaining beyond the authorised period attracts a fine of R$100 for each day of excess, capped at R$10,000, under Decreto nº 9.199/2017. It is usually assessed on departure and, until paid, obstructs future visas, renewals and naturalisation. Because migration is not criminalised, regularising from inside Brazil is normally possible — but deliberately, not discovered at the airport.
Working on a visitor visa. The VIVIS permits meetings, negotiations, site visits and conferences. It does not permit performing services for, or taking payment from, a Brazilian source. Invoicing a Brazilian client on a visitor visa is a frequent and serious error, and can create unintended tax residence.
Legalisation. Brazil has been party to the Hague Apostille Convention since August 2016, so public documents from member states need an apostille; documents from non-member states still require consular legalisation. Each foreign-language document must then be translated by a tradutor público e intérprete comercial — a *tradutor juramentado* sworn before a state *Junta Comercial*. Translations by anyone else, including certified translators abroad, are refused. Criminal-record certificates are generally valid for 90 days.
Brazil rewards applicants who prepare properly. The framework is genuinely welcoming, investment thresholds are modest by international comparison, the family-reunion and Mercosur routes are among the most generous anywhere, and four years of residence — or one, with Brazilian family ties — opens the door to citizenship. What defeats people is the administrative layer: the 90-day registration deadline, apostilles, sworn translations and CNIg thresholds that shift between resolutions. Astropel manages that layer end to end — choosing the right category, legalising documents, filing with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Labour and the Polícia Federal, and following the file through to the CRNM, the CPF and, in time, naturalisation.
Latin America's largest economy
Brazil is the largest economy in Latin America and among the ten largest worldwide, with a domestic market of more than 210 million consumers. A business established here serves a continent-sized internal market rather than exporting into one.
Agribusiness, mining and energy
Brazil leads the world in exports of soybeans, coffee, sugar and beef, and is a major iron-ore exporter. Its energy position is equally distinctive: the pre-salt offshore fields have made it a significant oil producer, while roughly four-fifths of its electricity comes from renewables, chiefly hydropower, wind and solar.
Financial infrastructure and innovation
The Central Bank's Pix instant-payment system was adopted at extraordinary speed and now carries a substantial share of everyday transactions, giving Brazil one of the most advanced retail payment infrastructures anywhere and underpinning a dynamic fintech sector.
Regional integration
As a founding member of Mercosur, Brazil offers preferential access to the Argentine, Uruguayan and Paraguayan markets and a network of agreements across Latin America. The Mercosur residence agreement and the trade bloc reinforce one another: people and goods move on comparatively favourable terms.