Brazilian Nationality

Under normal circumstances one can apply for Ordinary Naturalization FOUR YEARS after having received permanent resident status in Brazil.

For those who were granted permanency based on marriage to a Brazilian citizen or who have a Brazilian born child, this waiting period is reduced to ONE YEAR.

Applicants must meet ALL of the requirements for naturalization, including passing a test in fluency in Portuguese. This depends on the location where one applies, in remote cities the Federal Police may apply a test themselves. In larger cities that may be understaffed and not have the time, they may require applicants to pass the CELPE-Bras test which is administered twice a year. (Check your local DPF delegacy for their requirements for the language test)

The application process is made through the Federal Police much in the same way that you applied for permanency. The process itself takes about one year. Just remember that unlike permanency (based on marriage or child) which is your Constitutional Right, citizenship is completely at the discretion of the Ministry of Justice and Conselho Nacional de Imigrações it is NOT a right.

For more information about naturalization visit the Ministério da Justiça webpage:  http://www.justica.gov.br/seus-direitos … acao-comum

Naturalization IS NOT something that should be entered into lightly or without a great deal of thought. It carries with it a number of very serious obligations as well as its privileges. You must also know the effect it will have on your existing citizenship. Many countries do not recognize multiple/dual citizenship and in some countries you will actually lose your existing citizenship automatically upon voluntarily acquiring citizenship in another country. So, you need to check your homeland's Nationality Law before you do anything. You may also lose some of the government benefits from your homeland as a result of naturalization. There are many things to check out first. Tax implications are also a great concern. If your country of origin does not have a bilateral Tax Treaty with Brazil you may not have protection against double taxation. This is a serious concern when you begin receiving any government benefit payments such as a retirement pension from your country of origin.

Naturalization also means that while in Brazil you are considered to be ONLY a Brazilian citizen, your other citizenship has no effect here and you lose all the protection that your original citizenship may provide. For example, if you are arrested and/ or convicted of a crime in Brazil your country of origin can't do much, if anything, to help you. You would NOT be eligible for a prisoner exchange or repatriation to serve your sentence in your homeland.

In my opinion there are really only THREE benefits to be had from naturalization that you don't already have the moment you set foot on Brazilian soil. The first being that you have the right (and obligation) to vote. Not much of a privilege if you ask me, given the state of politics and government corruption in this country.

The second and really most valuable (if you're young) is the ability to enter the public concursos for public service jobs. That said for every job vacancy concurso you're still going to be competing against thousands of other applicants. Getting selected is like winning the lottery.

The third is the right to apply for a Brazilian passport. This really is only beneficial if your country of origin's passport has a lower ranking on the Henley & Partners Visa Restriction Index. Brazil's passport is ranked in 21st. place so it's way down the list. There are many countries whose passports are ranked much higher than Brazil's.

Henley & Partners Index:  https://www.mycbs.biz/data/ranking-de-pasaportes.pdf

I could have applied for citizenship but to me it has absolutely no benefits whatsoever.

Cheers,
James     Expat-blog Experts Team

Hi! I applied for permanent visa on 28th January, 2015. The date of expediation on my card is written as 10/04/2015. It means that it was issued on 10th April, 2015. After one year, I may apply for cityzenship on 29th January, 2016? Or its exact date would be 11th April, 2016? Thanks!

That all depends on the grounds on which you applied for permanency. If it was based on marriage to a Brazilian citizen, or birth of a Brazilian child then the waiting period (normally 4 years) is reduced to one year from the date permanency is granted.

Having said that, you still need to meet ALL of the requirements for Brazilian citizenship, which includes passing a test of fluency in the Portuguese language. You must report (and justify) all absences from the country during the year prior to application as well.

Cheers,
James    Expat-blog Experts Team

It means I was granted the permanency on 10th April, 2015 as that date of expedition is written on my card?

Yes, one year from that date (if based on marriage or child) you MAY qualify to apply for naturalization. I say MAY because while the application is normally accepted it is NOT guaranteed.

Also as I've already pointed out you MUST meet all of the requirements for citizenship.

Cheers,
James    Expat-blog Experts Team

Can you point out the important requirements of naturalization? The link given by you is so long. thanks!!!

The following is a quick translation of the Ministry of Justice webpage regarding Ordinary Naturalization



Ordinary naturalization

If the foreigner is interested in becoming a Brazilian citizen must meet the requirements outlined in Article 112 of Law No. 6.815 / 80, and require this mode with the Department of Federal Police nearest the place of residence, which, in addition to other measures , certify that the person concerned can read and write Portuguese, considered their condition.

ORDINARY NATURALIZATION

1.Application signed by the applicant;

2.Declaration of interest in translating or adapting the name to the Portuguese language;

3.Certificate or consular registration, issued by the Embassy or Consulate in Brazil, proving the correct spelling of the name of the person concerned and their parents.

4.Copy the identity card for permanent foreign updated;

5.Copy of CPF or copy of the deposit slip of the last income tax return (individuals);

6.Receipt for fee payment (GRU guide) for the application for naturalization;

7. Certificate of criminal records issued by the Civil Police of the States where he lived the last five years;

8. Negative certificate of criminal actions of the Federal Court of the State where he resided for the last five years;

9.Certificate of criminal actions distribution registries of counties where he lived the last five years;

10. Certified criminal records check issued by the country of origin, legalized by the Brazilian consulate and translated in Brazil by an official translator sworn and duly registered with the Commercial Registry;

11. Proof of residence, such as water bills or power or telephone as well as rental contract or deed of sale of property where you reside or resided in the period immediately preceding the application for naturalization, or parent or spouse or partner, accompanied respectively of the birth certificate, or marriage, or proof of marriage;

12.Copy of full passport (including blank pages), observing the rules governing Mercosur;

13.Copy of the marriage certificate;

14.Copy the birth certificate of the Brazilian child; (if applicable)



15.DOCUMENT PROVING INCOME

15.A: When employed in CLT system: certified copy in full of the labor card - CTPS or certified copy of the employment contract; certified copy of the last three pay stubs;

15.B: When entrepreneurs: certified copy of the consolidated Articles of Association, if applicable, company of which he is a partner or shareholder and Public Scripture Income Declaratory drawn up in notary public notes;

15.C: When autonomous: certified copy of the Tax on Services Card - ISS, as well as proof of your gathering or RPA (a standalone payment receipt) and Public Statement of Declaratory Income drawn up by notary public;

ok..
Thanks!!

With reference to

3.Certificate or consular registration, issued by the Embassy or Consulate in Brazil, proving the correct spelling of the name of the person concerned and their parents

do I have to obtain this document from the embassy of my home country in Brazil? Wouldn't my birth certificate be sufficient as it contains exactly the same information? Is there a time limit when this document is considered expired/must this document be recent when submitted?

Regarding criminal record checks during naturalization process they ask for

7. Certificate of criminal records issued by the Civil Police of the States where he lived the last five years;

8. Negative certificate of criminal actions of the Federal Court of the State where he resided for the last five years;

9.Certificate of criminal actions distribution registries of counties where he lived the last five years;

10. Certified criminal records check issued by the country of origin, legalized by the Brazilian consulate and translated in Brazil by an official translator sworn and duly registered with the Commercial Registry;

The first two items obviously apply to residence in Brazil.

The second two are from abroad and naturally referring to the past. Not that I have one myself but out of curiosity, I was wondering what purpose this would actually serve as the applicant would have the right to remain in Brazil anyway based on his/her Brazilian child. Another resource states that 'since it would be a violation of human rights to expel a Brazilian child's parents due to their nationality, they are allowed to stay irrespective of their criminal background, visa status or nationality'.

This is a whole lot of documentation and depending on home country may take a long time to be organized. Are there time limits attached to those documents? For example, if someone lived say in Germany from 1990 - 2005 and had a criminal record check issued in 2006, would this document (dated 2006) be accepted in the naturalization process in 2016? In my opinion it should, because obviously the applicant has not lived in Germany again afterwards, therefore there would be no change in criminal records.

Hello sandboxred,

Well, you're partially correct in the sense that if you apply for Permanência Definitiva (based either on marriage to a Brazilian citizen / or having a Brazilian child) the Certified Criminal Record Check is rather redundant given the protection granted to the "family unit" under Art. 226 of the Federal Constitution of 1988. This certainly seems to imply a Constitutional right to permanency even when one does have a criminal record. Clearly in the absence of a record one does have that Constitutional right and this is why the Certified Criminal Record Check requirement was dropped from the permanency process for applications based on marriage, child, stable relationship, and was replaced with a Declaração Sob Pena da Lei de Não Condenação.

The same IS NOT the case with permanency applicants who do have previous criminal records or charges pending. These individuals cannot legally make the declaration, and thus are still required to produce a Certified Criminal Record Check; their applications for permanency are also NOT handled in the same way as all others under the new procedures. Their applications, in fact, are treated exactly the same as all were treated under the old procedures before Sept. 1, 2014. Theirs becomes the old 3 step process where one applies for permanency, that information is collected by the Federal Police and forwarded to the Ministry of Justice who ultimately decide whether or not permanency will be granted, only once that has taken place can they then register in the RNE and apply for their Cédula de Identidade Estrangeiro. Like under the old procedures this can take a year or even more.

Does this mean that a person with a criminal record cannot be granted permanency? Well since the law itself has not been changed (just the process) in the most technical terms the very best we can say is YES and NO. Actually what they will consider as being very negative are FELONY convictions for crimes that would result in a sentence of 4 years or more if the sentence had been given here in a Brazilian court. The reason being that here 4 years is the threshold for which one would go to prison as opposed to receive some form of alternative sentence (probation, fine, community service). In most cases of misdemeanors or lesser felonies, the Constitutional right would most likely outweigh the conviction and permanency would be granted, but still there is no absolute guarantee.

Citizenship through naturalization, however, is a completely different story. THERE IS NO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT FOR CITIZENSHIP unless you're born in Brazil or have Brazilian parents. The granting of citizenship, anywhere in the world is always at the discretion of the nation (i.e. government). This is why the requirement for the Certified Crimiinal Record Check still stands for the naturalization process. In order to obtain Brazilian citizenship one must be free from criminal convictions and pending charges in Brazil and abroad.

So the long and short of it is....

While you can most likely remain legally in Brazil permanently, obtain your CIE, RNE, CPF, CNH (Driver's License) and live out the rest of your days here in a completely normal fashion even if you did have a past conviction. You could not and would not be granted citizenship under those circumstances. You would simply remain forever as a foreign national with permanent resident status in Brazil.

Crazy, convoluted, and ambiguous I know. Don't try to figure it out or make sense of it... it's Brazil where you can't figure anything out and nothing makes sense.

Regarding the length of time the Certified Criminal Record Check would be deemed valid, I would presume that they apply exactly the same standard as they did under the permanency process, being:

The document must have been issued within the 90 days immediately prior to being legalized by the Consulado-Geral do Brasil in the country of issue, if a shorter validity is not stated on the document itself. In some countries they state the document is valid for 60 or 90 days from the date of issue right on the face of the document.

Cheers,
James      Expat-blog Experts Team

Hi James, this is all very interesting. Thanks for your explanation.

'The document must have been issued within the 90 days immediately prior to being legalized by the Consulado-Geral do Brasil in the country of issue, if a shorter validity is not stated on the document itself. In some countries they state the document is valid for 60 or 90 days from the date of issue right on the face of the document.'

What is important, the issue date of the document or the legalization date? Does that mean the document could be issued by the home country say 11/15 then legalized by the Consulado-Geral do Brasil in the country of issue within 90 days, and then used for the naturalization process more than one year later?

With reference to

3.Certificate or consular registration, issued by the Embassy or Consulate in Brazil, proving the correct spelling of the name of the person concerned and their parents

do I have to obtain this document from the embassy of my home country in Brazil? Wouldn't my birth certificate be sufficient as it contains exactly the same information? Is there a time limit when this document is considered expired/must this document be recent when submitted?

Is it true you don't need income/a job of income if you have a Brazilian spouse
I think I read that on a federal police site somewhere

Hi sandboxred,

Given that you must reside in Brazil for a minimum of ONE YEAR (based on marriage/child) before applying for naturalization, and FOUR YEARS in all other circumstances what is important is the LEGALIZATION date of the Certified Criminal Record Check, which must be legalized within 90 days (or 60 if shorter validity) from its issue date.

The waiting period here in Brazil is what necessitates the Atestado de Antecedentes Criminais here.

Cheers,
James      Expat-blog Experts Team

stevefunk wrote:

Is it true you don't need income/a job of income if you have a Brazilian spouse
I think I read that on a federal police site somewhere

Absolutely incorrect. You most certainly need to prove that you have an income sufficient to support yourself (and your family). It may be in the form of a salary, pension or other assets.

Cheers,
James     Expat-blog Experts Team

For, income/job, can a person present the salary (or carteira de trabalho) of his wife?

James wrote:

The waiting period here in Brazil is what necessitates the Atestado de Antecedentes Criminais here.

I didn't understand this, can you explain?

I really don't know the answer to that, since I have never applied for citizenship. At my age it would be foolish, since it would offer me absolutely no benefits and at the same time would actually be a tax disadvantage to me to become a citizen.

You really would need to ask the Federal Police if your wife's income would be considered, but I really don't think it would be.

Cheers,
James     Expat-blog Experts Team

Ordinary naturalisation requires a 'Certificate or consular registration, issued by the Embassy or Consulate in Brazil, proving the correct spelling of the name of the person concerned and their parents'. I have an original 'Extract from record of birth' issued from my home country, which provides my name and my parents' names, is that an accepted substitute? Does it have to be further legalised, if yes, how?

I obtained a certified criminal record check issued by my home country and legalised by the Brazilian consulate within 90 days of its issue. Can I use this document for my application for naturalisation IN ONE YEAR (will it still be considered valid)?

Yes, once legalized it will continue to be considered as valid. If you are in Brazil for the required year (or more) before applying for naturalization you'll also require one from the Brazilian police too, but that's quite easy to get. It should be done about a week before you apply for naturalization.

Cheers,
James      Expat-blog Experts Team

Ordinary naturalisation requires a 'Certificate or consular registration, issued by the Embassy or Consulate in Brazil, proving the correct spelling of the name of the person concerned and their parents'. I have an original 'Extract from record of birth' issued from my home country, which provides my name and my parents' names, is that an accepted substitute? Does it have to be further legalised, if yes, how?

No, you need the "Inscrição Consular" too, you get it from your Consulate in Brazil, they make a small charge.... don't know how much your country charges but I think the US Embassy here is charging around USD$50 so figure on something around there.

Cheers,
James     Expat-blog Experts Team

Has anybody gone through the naturalisation process?

Good question......I would also like to know...
How is your Portuguese shaping up?

hey stevefunk, language is improving, I will attend a 3-month intensive course prior to my application. No idea what to expect regarding language test or where/when to take it.

Ok , I'm just asking because I want to get the citizenship too , but I'm worried about the test.

I have been learning Portuguese for over 3 years and I am at a conversational level ....day to day things like dealing with the bank etc are no problem. . however I am still missing words for many things and my spelling is still terrible in Portuguese , I always have to check how to spell things.

I believe the test is a based on a standard international language profieniecy CEP test .... if it is this is bad news as those tests serious and very difficult/strict. Someone posted a link to one on this forum somewhere , might even be on this thread and it was Hardcore.
However I have heard other reports of certain Policia federal departments giving their own test which sounds a lot easier , but as I said these are just rumours I have heard.

Apparently they will also accept an internationaly reconised Portuguese language proficiency certificate if you do one on your own.
As far as I  know you approach Policia Federal with your application and they will tell how how to proceed with regards to the test.

The test will definitely differ from one delegacy to another. For me it will be the city of São Paulo. I'm much better at reading, writing and grammar, it is more difficult for me to understand everything in a conversation because of their often different pronunciation, speed, and slang. You're probably past your 1 year residence requirement already? Do you know from what offices exactly you're going to get the extensive documentation that is required for the application?

Hi , My one year is coming up in about 2 months....I will probably wait for a bit after that to get stronger in the Portuguese and figure out my movements.
The first step will be to get my South African documents together which is going to be a real mission and will take months

I just wish there was more info on the exact nature of the process , the timespan etc

For naturalization process, your passport should be valid with six months or less than six months would work??

I've heard the process can take up to a year , so I would think you definately need longer than 6 months on your passport before it expires...

I'm in a similar situation as you Steve with my one year coming up in around 4 months..  I'd be interested to know if anyone has gone through the process and can give a step by step breakdown from personal experience?

Hi James,

When you are saying that applying for the Brazilian nationality should be considered due to the pension being  taxed in Brazil and in your country of origin, wouldn´t you already qualify for this being a permanent resident with a RNE regardless of becoming a Brazilian citizen?
Just like you the politics in this country dont inspire me much confidence so I don´t care too much about voting, I also hate bureaucracy so being a public servant in this country doesnt appeal to me at all. If I want the citizenship it´s just that I want to come back to Europe and being able to return to Brazil whenever I wish without having to worry about loosing permanent resident rights. I don´t mind paying taxes but it´s not something I would enjoy to the point of doing twice. Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

James is dead bro...

maxime.hudson wrote:

Hi James,

When you are saying that applying for the Brazilian nationality should be considered due to the pension being  taxed in Brazil and in your country of origin, wouldn´t you already qualify for this being a permanent resident with a RNE regardless of becoming a Brazilian citizen?
Just like you the politics in this country dont inspire me much confidence so I don´t care too much about voting, I also hate bureaucracy so being a public servant in this country doesnt appeal to me at all. If I want the citizenship it´s just that I want to come back to Europe and being able to return to Brazil whenever I wish without having to worry about loosing permanent resident rights. I don´t mind paying taxes but it´s not something I would enjoy to the point of doing twice. Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Hello Maxime.hudson

As stated by stevefunk, James is no more amongst us sadly. Hope other members would be able to enlighten your queries.

We all miss James dearly 

Regards
Kenjee
Expat.com

I´m sorry to hear. RIP James.

I became really sad to hear about James... He helped me a lot about my case...

It is stated on the website of ministry of justice that an aplicant have to take a negative  certificate of crimes from cartorio... which cartorio does issue this type of certificate for naturalization process?? Certidão dos cartórios de distribuição de ações criminais das comarcas onde residiu nos últimos cinco anos;
http://www.justica.gov.br/central-de-at … ionalidade