RNE renewal outside Brazil - Carteira de Identidade de Estrangeiro

Every source you read is correct:  you have to renew at a Federal Police office in Brazil, or your permission to live in the country will lapse.

Thanks for your reply. Do you know approx how long is the process to renew an RNE, or is it like a lottery!

If all of your documents are in order, making the application can be a same day or next day affair, depending on how busy the office is.  Your new card will be sent from Brasília to the Federal Police office where you apply in from one to three months.  It cannot be sent to you abroad, but it can be picked up by someone in Brazil who has a Power of Attorney ("Procuração") from you to do so.
If you've been out of Brazil for 24 continuous months or longer without clearing the absence in advance with the Federal Police, don't bother:  your card has lapsed already, whatever the printed expiration date is.  The won't renew it, you'll need to start the whole process over again.

Thanks again for the info, much appreciated. . If I was to travel to Brazil and apply for a replacement RNE and get a power of attorney to collect it for me in Brazil, would I be able to leave Brazil on my current RNE, assuming it had not expired, or do you need to surrender your RNE when applying for a replacement. Would I face any possible issues at immigration when leaving Brazil.

Acoording to the following link, you should apply 3 months before expiry to avoid a penalty, is that still true.

thebrazilbusiness.com/article/rne-renovation-in-brazil

Thanks again

Hi, I read the following. The request to replace the CRNM / RNE must be made 90 days before the expiration. Does this mean I need to complete the online  Federal Police Form 90 days before expiry of my RNE, or schedule a an appointment with the Federal police 90 days before the expiry date of my RNE. Thanks

I read it as that you're expected to be at the Federal Police office with the request 90 days (or as close to 90 days as possible) before your card expires.  The 90 day period is probably because this is the average time they expect to need to generate the new one, so in principle, you should have the new one shortly before the old one expires.
We're probably looking at the same web page, but just in case, I'm looking at this one:
http://www.pf.gov.br/servicos-pf/imigra … e-carteira

*ETA* I'm not sure whether they keep your old CIE when you apply for the new one on a renewal.  If they do, they'll give you a Protocolo with six months' validity to serve as a temporary CRNM.

Thanks again for your answer, really appreciate your help on this. It makes perfect sense what you said.

My RNE will expire in October 2020,  we are planning to travel to Brazil this August 2019. I was thinking about trying to renew my RNE then. Is it possible to re-new my RNE this far in advance or is the earliest that I can re-new it is 3 months before the expiry date?