Brazil Digital Nomad Visa Cost for Americans: Every Official Fee, and the Costs Around Them (2026)

The short version

The digital nomad visa (VITEM XIV) has one consular fee and two possible Brazilian fees. Everything else you will pay for is a document: a background check, apostilles, notarizations, a sworn translation and health insurance. Those are priced by third parties, so no official page can give you a total.

Fee	Amount	Who charges it	When
VITEM XIV consular fee, US citizens	US$290	Brazilian consulate	When you apply from the US
CRNM card (Federal Police registration)	R$204.77	Federal Police	Within 90 days of arrival
Residence processing fee	R$168.13	Ministry of Justice	Only if you apply from inside Brazil
Visitor e-Visa	US$80.90	Consulates, through VFS Global	Only if you enter as a visitor first

All four amounts were read on official pages on November 3, 2026. Fees change, and electronic visa issuance may change how they are paid, so re-open each source before you pay. For the requirements themselves, see Brazil Digital Nomad Visa for Americans; for the whole move in order, the hub is Moving to Brazil from the US.

The official fees, one by one

The consular fee: US$290

The Chicago consulate's fee table (page updated December 19, 2025) lists "USA - VITEM II, V, IX, X, XI, XII e XIV: US$ 290,00". The New York consulate's VITEM XIV page states "Fee: US$290.00". Both read on November 3, 2026.

How you pay depends on the consulate. Chicago's table says the fee is paid by US Postal Service money order only, made out to the consulate, and that visa fees are not refundable. Chicago's nomad page also says paying the fee does not guarantee the visa. At the top of the same nomad page, Chicago announces that temporary visas for US nationals are issued electronically from September 30, 2026; the page does not say whether the payment method changes with it. Check your own consulate's page on the day you apply.

The CRNM card: R$204.77

Once you are in Brazil on the visa, you register with the Federal Police within 90 days. The registration service page lists the card fee at R$204.77, the same amount as in the fee annex of the Migration Law regulation. The whole process is in Brazil Federal Police Registration.

The processing fee: only on the in-Brazil route

The Ministry of Justice charges R$168.13 to process a residence request filed from inside Brazil through MigranteWeb. If you came on the consular visa, you do not pay it: the regulation says the processing fee is not charged to a temporary-visa holder whose residence has the same purpose as the visa (Decreto 9.199, art. 131, §2).

The visitor e-Visa: only if you visit first

Applying from inside Brazil means entering first, and US citizens need the visitor e-Visa for that: US$80.90, requested online through the VFS Global portal. The full visitor rules are in Brazil Visa for US Citizens.

US documents: the fees the federal rules do set

Some document costs have an official figure, because a federal rule sets them. Others are set by states or by private providers.

Item	Official figure	Source	Notes
FBI Identity History Summary, requested from the FBI	US$18	28 CFR 16.33	Channelers charge their own prices
Apostille on a federal document (the FBI check)	US$20 per document	22 CFR 22.1, item 46	US Department of State, Office of Authentications
Apostille on a state document (birth certificate)	Set by each state	State Secretary of State	No single figure
Notarizations (contract, employer letter, your statement)	Set by each state	State notary rules	Chicago asks for notarization plus an apostille

The FBI check: why the US$18 is rarely the whole cost

The federal fee is US$18 per request. But the Chicago consulate says it needs the original colored-logo, watermarked record and that "the PDF received from the FBI is not accepted"; it names FBI-approved channelers as one way to obtain it. New York accepts a check requested through an approved channeler and wants it issued within the last 3 months; Chicago says within 90 days. A channeler's price is its own, and timing matters more than the fee: a check that expires before you file has to be bought again.

Apostilles: federal versus state

The Los Angeles consulate explains the split: documents issued by US federal agencies are apostilled by the US Department of State, Office of Authentications, while state documents, such as a birth certificate, are apostilled by the state authority that issued them. The State Department's domestic authentication fee is US$20 per document under 22 CFR 22.1. State fees vary by state.

Chicago asks for the FBI check and the birth certificate to be apostilled for the Federal Police registration in Brazil, and for the contract and the employer letter to be notarized and apostilled for the visa itself. Your own statement can be notarized and apostilled, or digitally signed in a way the consulate can authenticate. That can mean up to five apostilles before you file.

Costs with no official figure

These are real costs that no official source prices, so we do not quote a number:

• Sworn translation in Brazil. Chicago says the apostilled birth certificate must be translated by a sworn translator ("tradutor juramentado") in Brazil for the Federal Police registration. The translator sets the price.
• Health insurance. Resolution 45 requires insurance "valid in Brazil" and sets no minimum. Chicago asks for the policy itself, "not only a letter from the insurer", showing the coverage and valid for the whole stay. Premiums depend on the insurer, your age and the cover.
• Channeler and courier fees for the FBI record, and postage if your consulate still asks for originals by mail.
• Getting there. Resolution 45 lists "proof of transport into Brazil" among the visa documents (art. 3, V).

Two routes, two fee lists

These lists show which official fees apply on each route. They are not a budget.

From the US, at a consulate:

1. Consular fee: US$290.
2. FBI check (US$18 if requested from the FBI, plus any channeler fee) and its federal apostille (US$20).
3. State apostilles and notarizations at state prices.
4. In Brazil: sworn translation of the birth certificate, then the CRNM card, R$204.77.

From inside Brazil, after entering as a visitor:

1. Visitor e-Visa: US$80.90.
2. Ministry of Justice processing fee: R$168.13.
3. Criminal record certificates from everywhere you lived in the last five years, plus proof of your parents' names legalized and sworn-translated unless your passport shows them (Resolution 45, art. 4).
4. The CRNM card, R$204.77, once the residence is granted.

We do not convert the reais amounts into dollars here, because the exchange rate on the day you pay is the one that counts.

Renewal: what you pay the second year

Resolution 45 allows the residence to be renewed for an equal period (art. 6). Under the regulation, renewing a residence term does not trigger the processing fee (Decreto 9.199, art. 131, §3). The card is another matter: a temporary card expires with the residence (art. 73, §4), and the Federal Police page for renewing a card classified as temporary lists the R$204.77 card fee. Renewal also needs fresh criminal record certificates for the period you lived in Brazil (art. 6, III), so budget for those documents again.

The costs of getting the timing wrong

The regulation sets fines for missed deadlines, and they are the most avoidable cost on this list:

• Not registering within 90 days of entry is an infraction punished with a fine (Decreto 9.199, art. 307, III).
• Staying after your status ends brings a fine per day of overstay (art. 307, II).
• For an individual, fines run from R$100 to R$10,000 per infraction (art. 301, V).

Myths checked against the sources

• "The visa costs about US$40" (or US$136). The Chicago fee table and the New York page list US$290 for US citizens.
• "The R$168.13 fee applies to everyone." It applies to requests processed by the Ministry of Justice, such as the in-Brazil route; the regulation exempts a temporary-visa holder whose residence has the same purpose as the visa.
• "The FBI PDF is enough." Not at Chicago, which wants the original watermarked record.

Where to go from here

• The requirements behind each fee: Brazil Digital Nomad Visa for Americans.
• If you work for yourself: Brazil's Digital Nomad Visa for the Self-Employed.
• What happens in your first 90 days: Brazil Federal Police Registration.
• If you want a cost worksheet with each official fee and the date you read it, next to document and apostille trackers you fill in yourself, the Brazil Digital Nomad Visa Kit puts them in one place.