Banking and transferring money from the U.S.

Hi Rick,

This can be a lot I understand, I also went through this. I had my CPF and was waiting on my migration card but was not able to open my bank account. However, once I got my migration card I was able to open a NU bank account without a problem. Try NU bank, should be fine. The only problem is both NU bank and Inter have Portuguese as the only language in the app, that is something I'm struggling with but was able to open accounts easily.

You can also open a wise account and send money there and from Wise to your Nu/Inter bank account. So first you wire money from US to your wise and from your wise to your NU bank or Inter. Also keep in mind if you are a permanent resident you are subjected to tax even if you send it to your own account. So make sure you check that too.

Hope this answers your question.

03/09/26 @onthebay.  Welcome back, Rick.  It's good to see that you're settling in well.

If you have your CRNM, the bank where your wife already has an account should be willing to open an account for you, too.  Have they given you a reason why they won't?  If they're not cooperative, try one of the government-owned banks, either Banco do Brasil or Caixa Econômica Federal:  they've historically been somewhat easier to deal with than the commercial banks. 

It sounds like your documents are in order.  When you say that you have your retirement package translated, do you mean that you have a Sworn Translation of it?  If not, the bank may require that.

As for the transfer process, others recommended Wise in your original thread.  That is still a good choice.  You can also have your US bank make SWIFT transfers directly to your Brazilian bank account.  For the large amounts you're moving to build your house, that may be the most practical way for you to do it.

If your income is already taxed in the United States, most of it should not be taxed again in Brazil, nor should you wife be taxed on your post-tax funds being transferred through her account to build your house, especially since you have been married for so long.  However, the details of that may be affected by her own tax status and by the "regime de bens" that you two opted for at the time you were married.  Before you move a lot of money, you should talk to a Brazilian accountant together to get a clear understanding of how it will all work in practice.  This is a good time for those conversations, since income tax season for 2025 income is about to start, and runs through May 29.

@onthabay

I agree with @abthree. We have been involved in opening numerous bank accounts for foreigners at Caixa, with just a protocolo (or the actual CRNM), a valid passport and a CPF. No proof of source of income was required.

I was once told that the manager that opens a bank account for a foreigner is entirely responsible for the conduct of that account, if found to be used fraudently - money laundering, financing crime, tax evasion, etc.

This might explain why there is sometimes hesitation to open such an account, especially if the account holder does not have a permanent visa and therefore appears not to be planning on living here...

I’ve been in Brazil for the last 3 months and I’ve been using a wallet to send money from my business in the US and pay for my expenses here with Pix. It’s been working well for me so far. I do have a CPF, but I haven’t tried opening a bank account yet because this setup has been serving me well. I only settled down about two weeks ago, and before that I was traveling around Brazil, so I didn’t really have the time to invest in opening an account or trying to make sense of the Brazilian banking system.

I tested Emigro at first, but later decided to go with WanderWallet because I found their support to be better. It might be worth checking the limits per transaction though, since you mentioned you’ll be transferring larger sums of money.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

@onthabay

seconding the Wise recommendation here. been using it for a while now for sending money to my girlfriend's account in brazil and the fees are way lower than any bank wire I've tried. the exchange rate is basically mid-market too which is nice. only thing I'd add is keep records of everything — receipts, conversion rates, dates — because if you do end up filing taxes there you'll want a clean paper trail. learned that one the hard way with a different country.

First about taxes most Expats are in the 27.5% in Brazil. There no tax treaties with the USA. Your USA taxes are supposed to offset your Brazil tax. But there no agreement to make this automatic. Also you should talk to a lawyer to setup a company to help lower your tax in Brazil. Here a example for less than 1,000 Dollars your in the 27.5% tax in Brazil. To move large amounts of money as little as 10 to 20,000 it goes through the central bank if you don’t us a money service. Check out Remitly they allow up to 100,000 at a time and you can speak to a live person. They are located in the USA vs Wise is in the UK. Hope this helps

Good Afternoon

I had an ITAU account set up last year (I finally had my CRNM card approved back then)   and recently they took my money out and transferred it to a NU bank account (which I had as well)...I had never seen that before...I will be visiting ITAU this week and finally find out what actually happened..... I also use REMITLY as it has worked well in any transfers too....

04/09/26I had an ITAU account set up last year (I finally had my CRNM card approved back then) and recently they took my money out and transferred it to a NU bank account (which I had as well)...I had never seen that before...I will be visiting ITAU this week and finally find out what actually happened..... - @easygoer1050

@easygoer1050.  Has Itaú given you a good explanation for this yet?  That's an action that would bother me if done without my consent even if I kept control of the funds, which apparently you have.  Please give us an update when you have a chance.

It’s a bit late to react, but I just like to add that it is true that it’s quite easy to open a NU bank account, however NU accounts don’t come with an international account number (IBAN or Swift), which means that you can’t transfer money directly from a foreign bank account. It’s still possible to transfer money internationally, but you have to use a service like Wise or Western Union, which will add additional fees. It’s not very expensive if you just transfer money for your monthly expenses, but if you want to buy a car or build a house, you will want an account with an IBAN number.

i Rick,
This can be a lot I understand, I also went through this. I had my CPF and was waiting on my migration card but was not able to open my bank account. However, once I got my migration card I was able to open a NU bank account without a problem. Try NU bank, should be fine. The only problem is both NU bank and Inter have Portuguese as the only language in the app, that is something I'm struggling with but was able to open accounts easily.

You can also open a wise account and send money there and from Wise to your Nu/Inter bank account. So first you wire money from US to your wise and from your wise to your NU bank or Inter. Also keep in mind if you are a permanent resident you are subjected to tax even if you send it to your own account. So make sure you check that too.

Hope this answers your question. - @FahadQ

04/20/26 For expats (like me!) who do their banking and transfers around the first of every month, remember that May 1 is Labor Day in Brazil, so the banks, very much including foreign exchange operations, will be CLOSED next Friday.

ATMs should work, but it's a good idea to use them early in the weekend, because any that run low won't be replenished until after the holiday.

@abthree

Good Afternoon    I just came back from Brazil.....and I did visit a ITAU branch...now..they said that my amount was correct and the account I signed up for  has a 10R amount a month gets deducted since I am not using direct deposit....

Since I had numerous probelms signing in (when in the US)  I did find out that some of the money I send...did not go through (Via remitly and Xoom) that it got divereted to NUbank....  most of the mistakes appear to be on my end on NOT following up more correctly (when having issues with ITAU)  it seems though now all is working correctly...

04/20/26 @easygoer1050.  Thanks for the update.  THAT sounds a lot better -- happy for you!  It also speaks well of Remitly and Xoom that they credited your funds to accounts that they knew were yours, and didn't leave them sitting in their own accounts until you asked about them.