Having a Baby in Brazil as a Foreigner: Your Child's Nationality, the Birth Record, the CRBA and Your Residency

The short version

Question	Short answer	Source
Is the baby Brazilian?	Yes, Brazilian-born, even with two foreign parents (unless they serve their own government in Brazil)	Constitution art. 12, I, a
Is the baby also American?	If the US-citizen parent meets the transmission rules	8 U.S.C. 1401
Brazilian birth record	Within 15 days (up to 3 months if far from a registry)	Lei 6.015 art. 50
US record	CRBA, application fee US$100	22 CFR 50.5, 50.7 and 22.1
Parents' residence	Family reunion, as parent of a Brazilian child, on request	Decreto 9.199 art. 153, III
Parents' citizenship	Ordinary naturalization after 1 year instead of 4	Lei 13.445 art. 66, II

This is general information as of November 3, 2026, read in the official texts on that date. Nationality questions turn on facts, such as a parent's US physical presence, that only the deciding authority assesses. For the whole move in order, see the hub: Moving to Brazil from the US.

Your child is Brazilian by birth

The Constitution says Brazilian-born nationals ("brasileiros natos") include "os nascidos na República Federativa do Brasil, ainda que de pais estrangeiros, desde que estes não estejam a serviço de seu país" (art. 12, I, a): those born in Brazil, even to foreign parents, provided the parents are not there in the service of their own country. There is no residency or visa condition for the parents.

Keeping it. Since a 2023 constitutional amendment, a Brazilian loses Brazilian nationality only if a naturalization is cancelled by a court, or by making an express request to the Brazilian authorities, and not where that would leave the person stateless (art. 12, §4). Holding another nationality is not, by itself, a ground for loss.

Registering the birth in Brazil

The Public Records Law sets the rules:

• Every birth in Brazil must be registered, at the registry for the place of birth or the parents' residence, within 15 days, extended up to three months for places more than 30 km from the registry (art. 50).
• Who declares it: the father or the mother, separately or together. If one cannot, the other has a further 45 days (art. 52).
• What the record contains includes the date, time and place of birth, the child's name, the parents' names, place of birth and profession, the grandparents' names, and the number of the Declaração de Nascido Vivo (the live-birth declaration issued where the child was born) (art. 54).

The Brazilian birth certificate is the document every later step uses: the US CRBA, the parents' residence request and the child's own Brazilian documents. A child under 16 can be enrolled in the CPF by a parent with the child's birth certificate and the parent's photo ID (gov.br CPF page).

Your child may also be a US citizen

Whether a child born in Brazil is a US citizen at birth depends on the parents, under 8 U.S.C. 1401. The two cases most families meet:

• Both parents are US citizens: the child is a citizen at birth if one of them had a residence in the United States before the birth (§1401(c)).
• One parent is a US citizen, the other is not: the US-citizen parent must have been physically present in the United States for periods totaling at least five years before the birth, at least two of them after age 14 (§1401(g)). Certain periods abroad in US military service or US government employment, or as their dependent, count.

Gather the evidence of residence or physical presence before the birth, as it is part of the application.

The Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA)

Under 22 CFR 50.5, the parents (or a legal guardian) apply to a US consular officer for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad for a child born in that officer's consular district. The application must include:

• proof of the child's birth, usually an authentic copy of the record filed with local authorities, here the Brazilian birth certificate; and
• proof of the child's citizenship: evidence of the parent's citizenship and, where needed, of the parent's physical presence in the US.

When approved, the consular officer issues the CRBA on payment of the fee (22 CFR 50.7). The State Department's schedule of fees lists US$100 for the CRBA application (item 7). Appointments and current procedures are set by the US embassy and consulates in Brazil; check their pages before you go.

Residence for the parents

The legal basis

The regulation grants family reunion residence to the immigrant "que tenha filho brasileiro", who has a Brazilian child (Decreto 9.199, art. 153, III; the Migration Law, art. 37, II). It is a basis to request residence, not an automatic status.

How to apply from inside Brazil

Portaria Interministerial 12/2018 lets an immigrant or visitor already in Brazil apply at a Federal Police unit (art. 5). The documents (art. 7) include:

• the Federal Police form and two 3x4 photos;
• a valid passport or official ID;
• the birth certificate proving the relationship with the Brazilian child;
• the fee receipts: the Federal Police residence service lists R$168.13 for processing and R$204.77 for the card (checked November 3, 2026);
• criminal record certificates from everywhere you lived in the last five years (US documents need an apostille and a sworn translation to have effect in Brazil), and a declaration of no criminal record in that period.

Any migration fines must be paid before the request is processed (art. 8). If you are in Brazil as a visitor, apply within your permitted stay; the visitor limits are in Brazil Visa for US Citizens.

What it gives you

• Work: any activity, including paid work, on the same terms as a Brazilian (Decreto 9.199, art. 153, §10).
• Registration: with the Federal Police within 30 days of the grant's publication; see Brazil Federal Police Registration.
• Your own indefinite residence later: after at least 4 years on family reunion, a new, indefinite-term residence can be requested with proof of means of support and a clean criminal record (art. 160).

The texts we read do not state the initial term of a residence based on a Brazilian child; the Federal Police decision sets it.

Citizenship for the parents

Ordinary naturalization needs four years of residence; the Migration Law cuts it to one year for someone who has a Brazilian child (art. 66, II). The regulation counts only periods of indefinite-term residence (art. 221), and the year must come immediately before the application (art. 233, §1). The other conditions still apply: civil capacity, communicating in Portuguese, and no criminal conviction (Lei 13.445, art. 65). More in Brazil Permanent Residency.

Myths checked against the text

• "The baby is only Brazilian if a parent is Brazilian." Birth in Brazil is enough, unless the parents serve their own government there.
• "Having a baby in Brazil gives the parents residency automatically." It gives a basis to request family reunion residence, with documents and fees.
• "Your child will have to give up one nationality." On the Brazilian side, nationality is lost only by an express request (or a cancelled naturalization), not by holding another nationality.
• "US citizenship passes automatically to any child of an American." With one US-citizen parent, the parent's physical presence in the US must meet the five-year rule.

Where to go from here

• Residence through a Brazilian spouse or partner: Brazil Spouse Visa.
• Marrying in Brazil: Getting Married in Brazil as a Foreigner.
• Every route to an indefinite stay and to citizenship: Brazil Permanent Residency.
• For apostille and sworn-translation trackers and an arrival timeline to fill in yourself, the Brazil Digital Nomad Visa Kit covers the US document steps families face too.