Eligibility quiz
Were you adopted by a Brazilian citizen?
Benefits
Benefits for your childBenefits for your child
Brazilian passport and ID
Brazilian citizens can get an identity document and a passport.
An adult passport normally lasts 10 years and can be replaced before it expires.
Brazilian consulates abroad can issue passports.
Live in Brazil for life
Brazilian citizens can live in Brazil indefinitely and enter and leave as citizens.
Live and work in 9 countries
Study in Brazil
Brazilian citizens can study in Brazil without immigration permission and have a right to education on equal terms.
Work in Brazil
Brazilian citizens can work in Brazil without immigration permission and have a right to work on equal terms.
Get consular help
Brazilian citizens abroad can receive consular help, within the limits of what consulates can legally do.
Vote in elections
Brazilian citizens can vote from age 16.
Citizens registered abroad vote only in presidential elections.
Use public healthcare
Brazilian citizens have a right to health and access to public healthcare on equal terms.
Access social support
Brazilian citizens have rights to housing, social security, transport, leisure and security on equal terms.
Social assistance and income payments depend on meeting each programme's rules.
How to apply
Applying at a local officeApplying at a local office
Find the registry office
Find the civil registry office responsible for the place where you were born in Brazil. Your adoptive parent can follow the judge’s order if it names the office.
Searches DuckDuckGo for “Which Brazil civil registry office handles registro de nascimento brasileiro for a birth in your city?”
Gather your documents
Your adoptive parent should prepare the documents the registry office asks for.
See required documentsGo to the registry
Your adoptive parent should bring the required documents to the registry office and declare your birth and sign the register, or follow the judge’s order for your adoption.
Searches DuckDuckGo for “How does a parent register a birth or follow an adoption order for registro de nascimento brasileiro at a Brazil civil registry office in your city?”
Receive your certificate
Your adoptive parent should receive your Brazilian birth certificate from the registry office. You can then use it to apply for Brazilian documents, such as a passport.
Searches DuckDuckGo for “How does a parent receive a certificate after registro de nascimento brasileiro at a Brazil civil registry office in your city?”
Documents needed
Family certificates and recordsFamily certificates and records
Adoption records
If you were adopted abroad, your lawyer will need the adoption decision to ask Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice to recognise it. Bring the court’s recognition document, called the carta de sentença, to the consulate. If you were adopted in Brazil, the civil registry carries out the court order for your adoption.
Birth certificates *
For a consular application, bring your birth certificate showing your adoptive parents as your parents. For a birth registration in Brazil, bring the live birth declaration if the registration is being made with one. To record a consular birth certificate in Brazil, bring the original consular certificate and your birth certificate from abroad.
* Only if you apply at a consulate, register a birth in Brazil with a live birth declaration, or record a consular birth certificate in Brazil.
May need translationMay need apostille/legalisationParent's citizenship records *
Bring your Brazilian parent’s Brazilian identity document to show their citizenship. When recording your consular birth certificate in Brazil, the registry may also ask for your Brazilian parent’s Brazilian certificate.
* Only if you apply at a consulate or the registry in Brazil asks for them when recording your consular birth certificate.
Considerations
Things to think aboutThings to think about
Military service for men
Brazilian men must enlist for military service in the first half of the year they turn 18, even if they live abroad or have another citizenship.
Military duties generally run from 18 to 45.
Women are exempt in peacetime, as are some clergy.
Political rights restrictions
Political rights can be suspended or lost after a final criminal conviction, certain findings of wrongdoing in public office, or a finding of legal incapacity.
They can also be affected by refusing a duty imposed on everyone and its legal alternative, or by a final court decision cancelling naturalization.
Voting and registration
Brazilian citizens over 18 and under 70 must register and vote.
Voting is optional for 16–17-year-olds, people over 70 and people who cannot read or write.
Failing to keep registration in order can make it harder to get a passport.
Citizenship can be lost
A final court decision can cancel naturalization for fraud in obtaining it or an attack on the constitutional order and democracy.
Citizens can also ask to give up citizenship unless this would leave them with no citizenship.
A citizen by origin who gives it up may be able to get it back.
Discuss
Online communitiesOnline communities
Foreigners in Brazil
English Facebook group for people living in Brazil interested in Brazilian visas
Join on FacebookExpats in Brazil Q&A
English Facebook group for people living in Brazil interested in Brazilian local life
Join on FacebookGringoes SP Club
English Facebook group for people living in Brazil interested in Brazilian local life
Join on FacebookConsultation
Talk to a professionalTalk to a professional
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