Buying a cellphone number on a tourist visa.

Yes you can buy a pre-paid sim with a cpf.  I buy mine at the post office, Correios Celular.  You can recharge via the app as well once you purchase the sim.
https://correioscelular.com.br/

09/06/21

Californian.in.SP wrote:

Can tourist (on a temporary visa) buy a cellphone number (aka sim card)?

I'm on a tourist visa and have CPF, I went (with my girlfriend) to local Vivo and Claro branches they couldn't sell me sim card even though I have CPF.

Why on earth foreigners cannot buy prepaid sim card in Brazil?

Yes, you can, but some offices of some companies get weird about it. 

When I first came to Brazil I got one at TIM, without even a CPF, just my passport.  Try them if they're around where you are, or Vivo or Claro stores in a different mall, if you want one of them.  Or the Post Office, as KellyMarie suggests.

When I first started visiting Brazil (2004) I never was able to buy a prepaid sim in Rio de Janeiro. I tried several times. I just had my gf pick one up for me upon arrival. No cpf was their reason for not selling me one. This was one of the reasons I obtained a cpf around 2005. BTW, often in Brazil you need a cpf to make purchases, especially online. My experience with getting a cpf was pretty painless. A trip to the post office with my passport and long form birth certificate and a letter stating my address in Brazil. Filled out the form then paid a few Reais. A month or so later they mailed me my card.

In the last 4-5 years I just use my USA phone while in Brazil. Everyone uses Whatsapp anyway so it's easy. Before I leave the USA I get a 30 day foreign data plan / phone plan (AT&T Passport). So when my plane lands in Brazil i'm all set. If I need more days I just get more via my phone app.

Good Luck

ps.. If you just need a Brazilian phone number for some reason, many VOIP providers sell Brazil numbers which you can forward to a cellphone or fixed line. I use flynumber $4 per month.

I bought a SIM card in May at a tim store using my boyfriend's CPF number

They can with a CPF and passport. I read Some Tim stores will sell with just a passport.
Do not ask me why. We have many tourists here and they ask the question all the time. Rio should be easier

You should not even need a CPF any more, that changed years ago, just a passport is required. It seems some employees, or some offices simply do not want to get you connected.
I used Claro for year's on my trips, just using my unlocked U.S. cell phone.

My girlfriend bought a prepaid Vivo sim card for me under her name.

I use my old unlocked Galaxy phone for mobile tethering (mobile hotspot) to share internet with my other Galaxy S10+.

So I always carry 2 phones, 1 is for tethering, second for receiving internet.

I need internet to order Uber (because I can pay using my US credit card) and Google maps, I downloaded offline maps for Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo but still having internet is better (I can receive phone calls and texts from US over WiFi and use WhatsApp) and it's much cheaper to use local carriers than to buy phone plan from my US carrier.

09/09/21
@Californian.in.SP

How much battery life are you getting on the mobile hotspot phone?

Abthree I use a Xiaomi note 8 pro. On wifi hotspot with 3 devices connected about 7-12 hours give or take. When we have internet outages I need to use my hotspot.

Californian. Just a side note. Most phones come with dual sim capability so eliminates the need for the second phone

So this is what my phone looks like from 8 hour heavy usage while it's been used as a hotspot

09/09/21

Mikeflanagan wrote:

Californian. Just a side note. Most phones come with dual sim capability so eliminates the need for the second phone

True.  But I have a SD Card in my second slot, so I have a second phone that I use when I'm in the US.

Hit up literally any loja that sells cell accessories.  You can pick up a chip for R$10, no questions asked. 

If it's VIVO, you or someone you know will have to actually call to have it activated.

TIM has an automated system, to verify your CPF. 

You can add money at almost any loja de variedades or supermercado, but to be brutally honest, I'd avoid TIM like the plague as the service sucks and is just as likely to take your money and not credit you.

Not sure about Oi!, Claro or any other operator.

ahh fair abthree, i get dual sim + sd slot. though it comes with 128 gb and barely have a need for the sd card

Mikeflanagan wrote:

Californian. Just a side note. Most phones come with dual sim capability so eliminates the need for the second phone

My old Galaxy doesn't have second slot, I bought as locked and was able unlock it after 2 years of contract. It's very old phone (5 years old now).

My new phone doesn't have second slot either (Galaxy S10+ with 1 TB memory). I traded second slot for bigger memory.

So I use my old Galaxy to share Vivo internet for my second Galaxy (with US sim card).

On my old Galaxy I uninstalled all apps (I don't know how to uninstall factory pre-installed apps).

abthree wrote:

09/09/21
@Californian.in.SP

How much battery life are you getting on the mobile hotspot phone?

6 hours in hotspot mode.

Good enough for me.

I will buy a new phone once I will be ready to relocate to SP completely.

Californian.in.SP wrote:

6 hours in hotspot mode.

Good enough for me.

I will buy a new phone once I will be ready to relocate to SP completely.

We took advantage of a trip to Iguaçu Falls - which is well worth seeing in its own right and only a short flight from SP - to get new phones in the electronics superstores in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay,  just across the river.  You can get some very good buys if you stick to the reputable shops, and don't mind the warranty not being good in Brazil.  The Receita Federal does a 100% inspection of passengers on domestic flights out of Foz do Iguaçu, but they're looking mostly for smugglers for resale, not people replacing personal items.