Before you start

An approved visa from a Brazilian consulate, or an eligible basis for applying from inside Brazil
Birth certificate and criminal record certificate, apostilled in the issuing country
Sworn Portuguese translations by a tradutor público juramentado
CPF
Proof of a Belo Horizonte address

Step-by-step

1
Obtain the CPF before departure
Receita Federal issues CPFs online and through consulates to applicants with no visa and no Brazilian address. It gates the bank, the phone chip and the lease, and the lease is what proves your address to the Federal Police. Doing this first is the difference between a smooth fortnight and a stalled one.
OnlineWho: YouBefore departureFree through a consulate
2
Apostille at source and translate before you need to
Birth and criminal record certificates need an apostille from the issuing country and then a sworn Brazilian translation. Apostille turnaround abroad is the slowest step and often eats a third of the 90 days on its own.
In personWho: You2–3 months ahead
3
Note the date on your arrival stamp
The registration deadline attaches to your entry under that visa. Do not plan around the idea that leaving Brazil and coming back restarts it — nothing in the migration decree says so, whatever anyone tells you.
In personWho: You
4
Book the Minas Gerais superintendency appointment early
Schedule through the Polícia Federal system and pay the GRU fees in advance — the appointment cannot proceed without the receipts. The Belo Horizonte unit serves the whole state, and applicants travel in from the interior, so slots move quickly when released.
OnlineWho: YouWeek 1
5
Attend for biometrics and submission
In person for fingerprints, photograph and the document file. Bring originals and copies of everything including the apostilled and translated certificates and proof of your address.
In personWho: YouWithin 90 days of entry
6
Collect the CRNM and diarise the renewal
The card follows some weeks later and is what allows you to sign a lease, take a salaried job and hold a full bank account. Renewals are applied for from inside Brazil before expiry, and nobody reminds you.
In personWho: YouBRL 204.77 for the CRNM card

Documents you’ll need

Passport with the Brazilian visa
CPF
Apostilled and sworn-translated birth certificate
Apostilled and sworn-translated criminal record certificate
Proof of a Belo Horizonte address
Employment contract or income evidence for the relevant route
Paid GRU fee receipts

Things most newcomers don’t know

A sworn translation from any Brazilian state is valid nationwide — you do not need a Minas translator.

Art. 20 of Decreto 13.609/1943 is explicit: a tradutor público's jurisdiction is the state that appointed them, but the translations they produce carry fé pública throughout the country. People assume the appointment being state-level means the document must be too, and arrivals who already hold a São Paulo or Rio translation frequently pay to have it redone in Belo Horizonte for no reason at all. Lei 14.195/2021 modernised the profession without changing that.

Source: Decreto 13.609/1943, art. 20, and Lei 14.195/2021

The 90 days attach to your entry on that visa, and a border hop is not a reset button.

The obligation belongs to your admission on that visa rather than to your latest stamp, and nothing in Decreto 9.199/2017 promises a fresh 90 days for a fresh entry. Missing it leaves you legally resident but unregistered — no CRNM, which means no lease, no salaried job, and nothing to renew when your first period of residence runs out.

Source: Lei 13.445/2017 and Decreto 9.199/2017

Belo Horizonte's foreign-support ecosystem is thin, which makes preparation worth much more here.

Rio and São Paulo have whole industries of English-speaking relocation agents, notaries and accountants. Belo Horizonte does not, and the Federal Police counter, the cartório and the letting agency will all be conducted in Portuguese. Arriving with the CPF, the apostilles and the translations already done removes most of the situations where that matters.

Source: community-reported, consistent across Minas arrivals

Mercosur nationality is a completely different and far lighter route.

Argentine, Uruguayan, Paraguayan, Bolivian, Chilean, Peruvian, Colombian and Ecuadorian nationals qualify for two-year temporary residence convertible to permanent under the Mercosur agreement, with no income test and a far shorter document list. It is regularly overlooked in favour of the general work route by employers' lawyers who default to what they process most often.

Source: Acordo de Residência do Mercosul

Common mistakes to avoid

Believing the 90-day clock restarts when you re-enter Brazil.
Paying to redo a valid sworn translation because it was issued in another state.
Leaving apostilles until after arrival and losing a third of the window.
Booking the Federal Police appointment after the flat hunt rather than before.
Assuming an English-speaking intermediary will be available when you need one.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.

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