Best place to exchange Brazilian reals to USD when leaving Brazil?

Hi Victoria,

Just like everything else here in Brazil exchanging currency is fraught with bureaucracy because of strict regulation by the Central Bank.

You can't exchange money at just any old bank branch, it must have a "Cambio". Travel agencies here can't do it either unless they're registered as Cambios too.

Your best, quickest and most convenient way is to use one of the several Currency Exchanges (Cambios) at the airport. Since your profile doesn't indicate exactly where in Brazil you are it's impossible for me to tell you if there is a Cambio located anywhere near you.

The rate of exchange you pay is going to be the same at all of them anyway, so it really doesn't matter where you exchange your reais, you will get exactly the same amount.

If you'd rather not do financial transactions at the airport for security reasons and you're in a major city São Paulo, Rio, Belo Horizonte then you may want to check out the webpage for Confidence Cambio and see if they've got a location near you. I've dealt with them a lot and they're quite helpful.

Cheers,
James     Expat-blog Experts Team

Thank you, James! 

If you had an opportunity to exchange some BRL into USD at a rate of 4 BRL to 1 USD, would you? (The exchange rate as of this post is 3.84 BRL to 1 USD.) I will need some of the $ to spend while I'm in the U.S.

Also, what is the maximum amount of "undeclared" cash (in either BRL or USD) that can be carried on a flight from Brazil to the US? I believe that when entering the US, I don't have to declare anything if the amount I'm carrying is less than $10,000 US.  If there are two of us from the same family boarding the same flight, may each person carry $10,000 US? What about when departing from Brazil? Any information would be much appreciated as the information I found online didn't seem very reliable! Thank you!

Hi Victoria,

First of all don't forget that the R$3.84 is today's rate on the US (tourism) dollar. Why in the world would you pay more than that??? Is this an under the table, no hassles, exchange with somebody you know that would make that extra charge attractive??? (despite not completely Kosher)

You are allowed to take cash in an amount LESS THAN R$10 thousand (BRL) out of the country without charges, however any amount must be declared, so don't make the mistake of not doing so. The limit is exactly the same as for bank transfers.

Is there any way you can arrange for your bank here to simply make a number of transfers over a period of time, all for R$9999.00? Wouldn't that be much safer than risking carrying large amounts of cash?

Also, be extremely cautious if not dealing with a bank or currency exchange because there's probably more counterfeit US currency floating around in Brazil than there is counterfeit Brazilian currency.

Cheers,
James   Expat-blog Experts Team

My husband and I went to a local Caixa branch today and exchanged some reals into U.S. dollars at a /!\ I AM A STUPID SPAMMER /!\.96, but once the fees and taxes were thrown in, the rate of exchange was closer to 3.995.    Also, at this particular branch, they only allowed each person to exchange $1000 US at a time, so if we want to exchange more than that, we'll need to go back again tomorrow.

The exchange rate at Caixa was lower than the rates at Itau and Santander.

Hi, James,
How an american can cash his check  from  US treasure here in Brasil.
By the way Iam brasilian trying to help him, that is it.
Please, help.
tks.

Hi Brazuca,

You have to find a currency exchange (Casa de Cambio) that deals with foreign checks, and they are truly rare. I know of one and have used them, they have a branch in Curitiba. The name is Confidence Cambio and they're located at Rua Professor Pedro Viriato Parigot de Souza, 600, Loja 232 - Curitiba - Paraná

www.confidencecambio.com.br

Atendimento: Segunda a Sexta, das 11h00 às 22h30 | Sábado, das 10h00 às 21h30 | Domingo, das 14h00 às 19h30. Nos feriados entrar em contato com a nossa central de atendimento para saber a disponibilidade de horário.

Telefones Capitais e Regiões Metropolitanas: 4004 5700

Demais localidades: 0800 400 0800

Don't you still have a bank account in the USA? You should be able to arrange direct deposit of your US government checks to that account, then you can just withdraw funds at most ATMs here. (Bradesco is usually cheapest for the ATM fees). I've got an account with TD Bank (Jacksonville FLA) and my Canada Pension Plan payments are deposited to that account, now I no longer need to deal with Confidence, but had been going to Rio every month until I finally got the account opened. Confidence staff are great and very courteous. Send me a private message if you decide to use them and I'll explain how to go about the check cashing process with them.

If you have a Brazilian bank account, ask your branch manager if the bank has a cambio, you may even be able to deposit your check since it's a government check. Usually with a bank the funds are going to be frozen until the check actually is cleared, however.

Cheers,
James    Expat-blog Experts Team