Brazil visas and residency for Americans and Brits: every route

US citizens need a US$80.90 e-visa for every trip to Brazil, required since 10 April 2025. British passport holders can visit visa-free for up to 90 days of tourism. Longer stays need an extension or one of six residence routes, from a 1-year digital nomad permit to citizenship after 4 years.

This page compares every route side by side, with the main requirement, length of stay and where to apply for each. Each section links to a detail page with documents, fees and step-by-step instructions.

Every route at a glance

The table covers the nine routes most Americans and Brits ask about. Money is in reais first, with dollars at the reference rate of 16 Oct 2026.

Tourist entry for US citizens

US citizens need a visa or e-visa for all travel to Brazil, whatever the purpose. The e-visa is the quickest way to get one.

• Who it fits: tourism and visits to family or friends. Business trips use the portal’s separate business e-visa.
• Main requirement: an e-visa from the official portal, brazil.vfsevisa.com. The fee is US$80.90 (about R$ 411, checked Oct 2026).
• Length of stay: up to 90 days per year. The e-visa comes with a 5-year or 10-year multiple-entry term, and US citizens normally receive 10 years. Check the dates on your approved e-visa.
• Where you apply: online only, at brazil.vfsevisa.com. Processing takes up to 10 business days.
• Detail page: Brazil e-Visa for US Citizens.

This rule comes from Decree 11.515 of 2023. It ended the 2019 visa waiver for Americans, Canadians and Australians. Brazil postponed the start date three times before it took effect on 10 April 2025.

Tourist entry for UK citizens

British passport holders can visit Brazil without a visa for up to 90 days for tourism. Brazil’s Foreign Ministry visa chart of 8 Apr 2025 lists the UK as visa-exempt for 90 days.

• Who it fits: holidays, family visits and short stays.
• Main requirement: a passport valid at least 6 months after the date you arrive.
• Length of stay: up to 90 days. Paid work is not allowed on a visit (Migration Law, art. 13).
• Where you apply: nowhere in advance. You show your passport at the border.
• Detail page: Do UK Citizens Need a Visa for Brazil?.

Stay extension

The Polícia Federal can extend a visitor’s stay by up to 90 days. The total cannot pass 180 days per migratory year, which runs 12 months from your first entry (Decree 9.199, arts. 1 and 20).

• Who it fits: visitors who need a few more weeks or months.
• Main requirement: pay the R$ 110.44 fee (about US$22, checked Oct 2026) and attend an interview. You may be asked for proof of lodging, funds or a return ticket.
• Length of stay: up to 90 extra days.
• Where you apply: online form, then in person at the Polícia Federal. You must apply before your current stay ends.

Extensions are only for nationals of countries that give Brazilians reciprocal treatment (Decree 9.199, art. 20, para. 2). Eligibility follows the Foreign Ministry’s visa chart (QGRV).

Check before you go: ask the Polícia Federal unit where you would file whether your nationality qualifies before you plan a stay longer than 90 days. If it does not, plan to leave by day 90 or apply for residence.

Overstaying brings a daily fine under the Migration Law (art. 109). Individual fines run from R$ 100 to R$ 10,000 per infraction (art. 108), about US$20 to US$1,970 (checked Oct 2026). The Polícia Federal then gives you 60 days to regularize or leave. See overstaying in Brazil.

Digital nomad residence

The digital nomad route needs US$1,500 a month in foreign income or US$18,000 in bank funds. It comes from CNIg Resolution 45 of 2021, published in the Diário Oficial on 24 Jan 2022, the day it took effect. Plan to hold the funds in a Brazilian bank account if you use the savings option.

• Who it fits: people who work remotely for a foreign employer or foreign clients.
• Main requirement: the income or savings above, health insurance valid in Brazil, and a criminal record certificate.
• Length of stay: up to 1 year, renewable for an equal period.
• Where you apply: a Brazilian consulate for the visa. If you are already in Brazil, apply to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.
• Detail page: Brazil Digital Nomad Visa.

No act has amended Resolution 45 since it took effect. The Ministry of Justice still publishes the original text on its labor immigration portal.

Retirement residence

The retirement route asks for about US$2,000 a month in retirement income you can transfer to Brazil. It comes from CNIg Normative Resolution 40 of 2 Oct 2019, which also accepts survivor pensions and other recurring income as a top-up.

• Who it fits: retirees with a steady pension.
• Main requirement: proof of the monthly income at source. Plan to show about US$1,000 more a month for each dependent, and ask your consulate what it requires.
• Length of stay: 2 years at first on the consular visa route, and up to 2 years if granted inside Brazil (Resolution 40, Articles 3 and 4). Renewal is left to a separate resolution (Article 5).
• Where you apply: a Brazilian consulate, or the Ministry of Justice if you are already in Brazil.
• Detail page: Brazil retirement visa.

Real estate investor residence

Buying urban property worth R$ 1,000,000 (about US$197,000, checked Oct 2026) qualifies you. In the North and Northeast regions, the threshold is R$ 700,000 (about US$138,000). CNIg Normative Resolution 36 of 2018 sets these amounts. Its text allows the North and Northeast minimum to be reduced by up to 30%, which gives the R$ 700,000 figure.

• Who it fits: buyers of a built or under-construction urban property.
• Main requirement: the purchase, paid with your own funds transferred from abroad.
• Length of stay: 4 years at first, then conversion to indefinite if you keep the investment. You must spend at least 14 days in Brazil in each 2-year period (Resolution 46 of 2021).
• Where you apply: a Brazilian consulate, or the Ministry of Justice from inside Brazil.
• Detail page: Brazil real estate investor residency.

CNIg Resolution 46 of 2021 (Diário Oficial, 8 Aug 2022) set the 4-year term and the presence rule. Older guides show 2 years and 30 days, from before that change. CNIg Resolution 49 of 2024 then amended Resolution 36 to align it with Brazil’s 2021 foreign-exchange law. The Ministry of Justice lists no later change to the amounts.

Business investor residence

Investing R$ 500,000 (about US$98,000, checked Oct 2026) in a Brazilian company qualifies you. Resolution 49 of 2024 treats investments below R$ 500,000 and not less than R$ 150,000 (about US$30,000) as the innovation and research case.

• Who it fits: people starting or buying into a Brazilian business.
• Main requirement: the investment, made with foreign funds and shown through a foreign-exchange record.
• Length of stay: indefinite, as long as you prove the investment or business plan is carried out.
• Where you apply: a consulate, or the Ministry of Justice through its MigranteWeb system. The Ministry’s processing fee is R$ 168.13 (about US$33, checked Oct 2026).

The current rule is CNIg Normative Resolution 13 of 12 Dec 2017, amended by Resolution 49 of 2024. Older guides cite Resolution 118 of 2015, which Resolution 13 of 2017 replaced.

Family reunification

Spouses and partners of Brazilians or legal residents qualify for family reunification. So do children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents and siblings, plus anyone with a Brazilian under their guardianship (Migration Law, art. 37).

• Who it fits: anyone with a close family tie to a Brazilian or a resident.
• Main requirement: documents proving the relationship. There is no income or investment threshold in the law.
• Length of stay: the same as your sponsor’s. If your resident sponsor has indefinite residence, yours is indefinite too. If theirs has a fixed term, yours ends on the same date (Decree 9.199, art. 153, paras. 4 and 5). When the sponsor is a Brazilian citizen, ask the Polícia Federal what term you will receive when you book.
• Where you apply: a consulate abroad, or the Polícia Federal inside Brazil. Its processing fee is R$ 168.13 (about US$33, checked Oct 2026). The migrant ID card costs R$ 204.77 (about US$40).
• Detail page: residency through family.

Naturalization

Ordinary naturalization needs 4 years of residence in Brazil. That drops to 1 year if you have a Brazilian child, or a Brazilian spouse or partner you are not separated from (Migration Law, arts. 65 and 66).

• Who it fits: residents with indefinite-term status who plan to stay for good.
• Main requirement: the residence period, the ability to communicate in Portuguese, and no criminal conviction.
• Length of stay: permanent, as a citizen.
• Where you apply: online with the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, then in person at the Polícia Federal for biometrics. The service is free and takes up to 180 days.
• Detail page: Brazilian naturalization.

The gov.br naturalization service is for immigrants resident for an indefinite term. Plan as if the 4 years count only from the start of indefinite residence, so temporary years do not count. If your case depends on temporary years, email naturalizarse@mj.gov.br before you plan around them.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

Three changes shape the rules today: the US e-visa, a decree that reorganized the immigration council, and a new electronic visa process in London.

The e-visa rule for US citizens took effect on 10 April 2025, under Decree 11.982 of 2024. The fee was still US$80.90 on 18 Oct 2026.

A bill to cancel the requirement, PDL 206/2023, passed Brazil’s Senate in March 2025. In the Chamber of Deputies, its last recorded step was on 3 Mar 2026. It sits “ready for the agenda” at the Constitution and Justice Committee, so the visa rule still applies.

Decreto 12.657 of 7 October 2025, published in the Diário Oficial on 8 October 2025, revoked Decreto 9.873 of 2019. That decree organized the National Immigration Council (CNIg). The 2025 decree created a National Migration Council (Conselho Nacional de Migração). It also rewrote Decreto 9.199, art. 151, para. 4. Investment residence now follows requirements in a joint act of the Justice and Foreign Affairs ministers.

The Ministry of Justice still lists the CNIg resolutions behind the nomad, retirement and investor routes (45/2021, 40/2019, 36/2018 and 13/2017) on its labor immigration portal, with no revocation note and no joint act in their place (checked 18 Oct 2026). Resolution 49 of 2024 and Resolution 46 of 2021 appear as amendments to the investor resolutions. For now, these resolutions are the working rules.

Check before you go: before you build a file on the nomad, retirement or investor routes, email the Ministry of Justice immigration office (imigrante.cgil@mj.gov.br) to confirm the resolution still governs your route.

Since 1 Sep 2026, the Brazilian Consulate General in London issues temporary visas electronically for nationals who do not need a visitor visa, such as British citizens. You apply in the Integrated Consular System (SCI), and the visa arrives by email. The process covers temporary visas such as digital nomad, investment and family cases. US citizens need a visitor visa, so this process does not cover them. Consulates are adopting it one by one, so check your own consulate’s page before you rely on the electronic route.

Which route fits you

Start from your purpose and your passport. If you are American and visiting for under 90 days, get the e-visa and nothing else. If you are British, you need no visa for the same trip. Either way, if your nationality qualifies, a Polícia Federal extension can take one migratory year up to 180 days.

Remote workers with foreign income should look first at the digital nomad route. Its bar is US$1,500 a month, for up to 1 year, renewable for the same period. Retirees with a pension of about US$2,000 a month have a dedicated route. Plan on extra income for each dependent.

Investment routes suit people who already plan to buy property or run a business in Brazil. The real estate route ties your status to keeping the property. The business route ties it to carrying out the plan you filed.

If your spouse, partner, child, parent or sibling is Brazilian or a resident, look at family reunification first. The law sets no money threshold for it. A Brazilian spouse or child also cuts the wait for citizenship from 4 years to 1.

Steps every resident takes

Whichever residence route you choose, the same few steps follow.

1. Get a CPF. You need Brazil’s taxpayer number for banking, leases and phone contracts. See how to get a CPF.
2. Register with the Polícia Federal. Within 90 days of entry on a visa, or 30 days after approval inside Brazil. See registering with the Polícia Federal.
3. Count your days for tax. Temporary visa holders become tax residents on day 184 in 12 months. See Brazil tax residency for foreigners.
4. Diary your renewal. Note your card’s expiry date and start the renewal early.

Who should not use this page alone

This page summarizes the routes for planning. Talk to a Brazilian immigration lawyer if your case has a criminal record, a past overstay, a pending divorce, a child custody question or a large investment. Those cases turn on details that a summary cannot cover.