Moving to Brazil from the US: Every Step, in Order

The order matters more than the details

Most guides list Brazil's requirements in no particular order. In practice, the order is what trips people up: an FBI check that expires before you file, a birth certificate that needs a translation you can only get in Brazil, a Federal Police deadline that starts the day you land. This page puts the steps in sequence and links to a full guide for each.

Everything here is general information as of November 2026, checked against official sources on November 3, 2026. Rules, fees and consulate practice change, so re-open each source before you act.

Step 1: Visit first, on the e-Visa

Since April 10, 2025, US citizens need a visa even for a short trip to Brazil. It is an e-Visa requested online through the VFS Global portal (brazil.vfsevisa.com). It covers stays of up to 90 days, and the fee listed by the San Francisco consulate is US$80.90 (read November 2, 2026). The listed requirements include a passport valid for the whole trip, an online form, a photo, a flight reservation in and out of Brazil, and a bank statement for the last 30 days showing at least US$2,000.

Remote work is possible on a visit: the digital nomad resolution says its activities may also be carried out by someone in visitor status, within the stay limits for their nationality (CNIg Resolution 45/2021, art. 2). The New York consulate frames the line simply: temporary visas are for people who intend to stay more than 90 days.

Step 2: Pick your legal basis to stay

Brazil does not have one "move here" visa. You stay on a specific legal basis, and each has its own rule. These are the official routes for someone whose income comes from abroad and who has no Brazilian employer.

Route	Rule	Core test	Term
Digital nomad	CNIg Resolution 45/2021	Remote work for a foreign employer; US$1,500 a month or US$18,000 in funds	Up to 1 year, renewable for an equal period
Retirement	CNIg Resolution 40/2019	Retirement or survivor's pension, with at least US$2,000 a month transferable to Brazil	Up to 2 years
Family reunion	Migration Law art. 37; Decreto 9.199 art. 153	A family link to a Brazilian or to an immigrant with residence	Follows the sponsor's
Real estate	CNIg Resolution 36/2018	Your own foreign-origin funds in urban property worth R$1,000,000, or R$700,000 in the North and Northeast	4 years, then indefinite
Company investment	CNIg Resolution 13/2017	R$500,000 with a business plan, or from R$150,000 for qualifying innovation projects	Indefinite, while the plan is carried out

Remote workers: the digital nomad visa

For remote work for a foreign employer. The New York consulate says the route is not available to business owners, while the resolution itself accepts a service contract with a foreign party. The full requirements, the consulate differences and the fees are in Brazil Digital Nomad Visa for Americans.

Retirees: Resolution 40/2019

The income test is a retirement or survivor's pension, plus the ability to transfer at least US$2,000 a month to Brazil in foreign currency; other regular income may top it up. The initial term is up to two years, whether you apply at a consulate or inside Brazil. The resolution says renewal "will be governed by a specific resolution" (art. 5), and no such resolution appears in the Ministry's list, so the renewal rule is not confirmed.

Family reunion

The Migration Law grants family reunion to a spouse or partner, children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren and (with conditions) siblings of a Brazilian or of an immigrant who holds residence. The holder may work in Brazil like a Brazilian (Decreto 9.199, art. 153, §10). After four years on this basis, a person can request a new, indefinite-term residence if they prove means of support and present a clean criminal record (art. 160).

Investors: real estate or a company

Resolution 36 is often called Brazil's "golden visa." It is narrower than most pages suggest: urban property only, your own money sent from abroad, and at least 14 days in Brazil in every two-year period. The full rule is in Brazil's Real Estate Residency.

Step 3: Prepare your US documents before you leave

US paperwork is the slowest part, because it has to be issued, apostilled and sometimes translated, in that order.

1. FBI background check. Chicago asks for one issued within 90 days; New York, within the last 3 months. Time it so it is still fresh when you file.
2. Apostilles. Brazil has applied the Hague Apostille Convention since August 14, 2016. A US public document is apostilled by the US authority that issued it, for state documents usually the Secretary of State. Brazilian consulates no longer legalize US documents.
3. Birth certificate. Chicago requires it apostilled, and then translated by a sworn translator in Brazil to register with the Federal Police.
4. Contract and employer letter (nomads). Chicago asks for both notarized and apostilled.
5. Health insurance valid in Brazil. The rules say only "valid in Brazil" and set no minimum cover; consulate practice could not be confirmed from an official page.
6. Passport. No minimum validity period appears in the rules, but an electronic visa cannot be carried over to a new passport, and its validity may be tied to your passport's expiry (Decreto 9.199, arts. 9 and 17, original text). So with an electronic visa, your passport's expiry date becomes part of the plan.
7. CPF. You can get Brazil's taxpayer number before you go, in person at a Brazilian consulate, booked through its e-consular system. The consulate charges no fee for it. Details in CPF and RNM.

Step 4: Apply at a consulate, or from inside Brazil

• At a consulate. The Chicago consulate says temporary visas for US nationals are issued electronically from September 30, 2026: documents uploaded, no passport mailed, visa sent by email. Whether every US consulate has switched is not confirmed.
• From inside Brazil. Residence for work and investment purposes is requested online from the Ministry of Justice through MigranteWeb. Its processing fee is R$168.13, and its official estimate is up to 30 days for a correct file and up to 60 days if corrections are requested, both extendable. Consulates publish no processing time.

Step 5: Your first 90 days in Brazil

The clock that matters most starts on arrival. On a temporary visa, you register with the Federal Police within 90 days of entering Brazil; for a residence granted inside Brazil, within 30 days after publication in the Diário Oficial. It is in person, by appointment, at the unit where you live. You get an RNM number and a CRNM card (fee R$204.77). The official estimate for the whole service is up to 180 calendar days, but the registration deadline does not move.

This is also when foreign documents get their sworn translation, by a translator registered with a Junta Comercial in Brazil. The full walk-through is in CPF and RNM: Your First Two Brazilian Numbers, Explained.

Step 6: Money and banking

• CPF first. The Receita Federal requires a CPF for anyone holding a bank account, investments or real estate in Brazil.
• Residency is not a legal requirement for a bank account. Central Bank rules let authorized institutions open accounts for non-residents on the same terms as for residents (Resolução BCB 277/2022, art. 67). What the rules require is identity checks (Resolução CMN 4.753/2019), and each bank sets its own documents. Many banks in practice ask for an RNM and a Brazilian address; that is bank policy, reported by secondary sources, not law.
• Pix. A Pix key can be registered only after the account opening is complete and only for a user whose CPF is in "regular" status (Resolução BCB 1/2020, art. 57, §4). No rule ties Pix to residency. The regulations are searchable on the Central Bank's normative search.

Step 7: Tax, on both sides

• Brazil. On a temporary basis you generally become a Brazilian tax resident on your 184th day in Brazil within a period of up to 12 months. From then on, income from abroad goes through the monthly carnê-leão.
• United States. US citizens are taxed on worldwide income and keep filing from abroad. Foreign accounts above US$10,000 in aggregate at any time in the year need an FBAR.
• No income tax treaty. Brazil is absent from the IRS list of US income tax treaties. Brazil does credit US federal income tax by reciprocity, and a Social Security agreement has been in force since October 1, 2018.

The full picture, with worked examples, is in Brazil Tax Residency for Americans.

Step 8: Plan the long term early

• Digital nomad residence: one year, renewable for an equal period. Most defensible reading: two years in total, with no path to an indefinite term inside Resolution 45.
• Switching basis from inside Brazil is allowed by the general rules if you meet the new category's requirements (Decreto 9.199, art. 123, §1). Asking for a different basis means giving up the previous status, and asking after it expired brings an overstay fine (art. 130).
• Naturalization counts only residence for an indefinite term (art. 221). Ordinary naturalization needs four years of it (art. 233), or one year with a Brazilian child or spouse (art. 235).

We read Decreto 9.199 in its original published text. It has been amended since 2017, so check the consolidated text before relying on a specific article.

Family members

Neither the nomad rule nor the real estate rule mentions dependents. A spouse or child applies for family reunion. Every application is individual (Decreto 9.199, art. 128); the family member can file at the same time as the main holder, but is granted only after the main holder (art. 153, §§8 and 9); and if the main residence has an end date, the family member's ends on the same date (§5). Unlike the nomad, the family member may work in Brazil, including paid work, on the same terms as a Brazilian (§10).

Myths checked against the text

• "You need R$6,000 a month to retire in Brazil." That figure belongs to the old retiree rule (a different Resolution 45, of 2000) that Resolution 40/2019 revoked. The current figure is US$2,000 a month. Some consulate pages may still quote the old one; the resolution prevails.
• "You need Brazilian residency to open a bank account or use Pix." The Central Bank rules do not say so. The requirements are identity checks and a CPF in regular status; individual banks may ask for more.
• "There is a US-Brazil tax treaty." There is no income tax treaty. There is a Social Security agreement, which is a different thing.
• "Tax residency starts after 183 days." The Receita's text says the 184th day.

Where to go from here

Pick the guide for your next step:

• Brazil Digital Nomad Visa for Americans: requirements, consulate lists and official fees.
• CPF and RNM: your first two Brazilian numbers.
• Brazil's Real Estate Residency: what Resolution 36 actually requires.
• Brazil Tax Residency for Americans: the 184-day rule, carnê-leão and the missing treaty.

If you are going the remote-work route and want the document lists, the apostille and translation steps and the 90-day arrival timeline as trackers you fill in yourself, see the Brazil Digital Nomad Visa Kit.