Moving from France to Brazil
What your passport gets you at the border — and what it takes to actually stay.
FranceBrazilShort stayVisa-free · 90 days
France passport holders can enter Brazil without a visa and stay up to 90 days.
This is short-stay visitor policy only. It does not let you work, study or settle in Brazil — that needs a residence permit.
Passport Index · updated 17 February 2026Brazil's official immigration service
Long stay
How you actually move to Brazil
Digital nomadHigh confidenceVerified July 2026Digital Nomad Visa (VITEM XIV)
Remote workers employed by or contracted to companies outside Brazil.
Digital nomadHigh confidenceVerified July 2026
Digital Nomad Visa (VITEM XIV)
Remote workers employed by or contracted to companies outside Brazil.
- Proof of income of at least USD 1,500 per month, or at least USD 18,000 in available savings
- An employment contract or client contracts with non-Brazilian entities
- Police clearance certificate
- Health insurance valid in Brazil
- Proof of the remote working arrangement
- How long it lasts
- 1 year, renewable once for an equal period — up to 2 years in total.
- Path to permanent residence
- None. Resolução CNIg nº 45/2021 creates a standalone two-year residence that does not convert to an indefinite-term one and builds nothing toward it. At the end of the second year you either leave or qualify separately under a work, investment or family route. Guides that fold nomad time into a four-year clock are describing the naturalisation residence requirement, which is a different thing and needs an underlying qualifying residence.
- Cost
- Consular visa fee plus the CRNM residence-card fee after arrival.
- Processing time
- Most consulates issue the visa in 2–6 weeks once documents are complete; the CRNM card then takes a further 4–8 weeks with the Federal Police.
Worth knowing
- The visa is only half the process. You must register with the Federal Police within 90 days of arrival to get the CRNM card, and until you have it, opening a bank account or signing a long lease is difficult.
- The income bar is among the lowest of any digital nomad programme worldwide, and Brazil's cost of living makes USD 1,500 go a long way — the combination is the real draw.
- Crossing 183 days of presence within any twelve-month period on a temporary visa makes you a Brazilian tax resident — and Brazil then taxes worldwide income, with no special expatriate regime. This is the trap most nomad guides omit, and on a two-year visa you will cross it.
- The residence authorisation can also be requested from inside Brazil through the Ministry of Justice if you are already here, which is not true of most Brazilian routes.
- Getting a CPF (Brazilian tax number) early makes everything else easier; it can be obtained before the CRNM.
Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified July 2026Work visa (VITEM V)
People employed by a Brazilian company, which must obtain a prior work authorisation.
Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified July 2026
Work visa (VITEM V)
People employed by a Brazilian company, which must obtain a prior work authorisation.
- A Brazilian employer that applies for work authorisation from the Ministry of Labour and Employment before the visa is issued
- A degree plus relevant experience, or substantial experience without one, depending on the category
- Compliance with the two-thirds rule: Brazilian companies must generally maintain two Brazilian employees for every foreign one, in headcount and payroll
- Documents legalised and sworn-translated into Portuguese
- How long it lasts
- Granted for an initial 2 years, renewable for a further 2 or converted to indefinite term.
- Path to permanent residence
- Good, and shorter than most people expect. Under Decreto 9.199/2017 the two-year work residence can be changed to an indefinite-term residence (residência por prazo indeterminado) at the end of it, applied for through the Federal Police — not a four-year wait. Naturalisation is a separate clock, four years of residence in the ordinary case.
- Cost
- Employer-borne authorisation costs plus your consular and CRNM fees.
- Processing time
- Months, dominated by the Ministry of Labour authorisation and by document legalisation.
Worth knowing
- The two-thirds rule constrains small Brazilian companies from hiring foreigners at all.
- Sworn translation (tradução juramentada) must be done by a translator registered in Brazil — translations done abroad are commonly rejected, which is the classic avoidable delay.
InvestmentMedium confidenceVerified July 2026Investor visa (VITEM IX)
Founders and investors putting capital into a Brazilian company.
InvestmentMedium confidenceVerified July 2026
Investor visa (VITEM IX)
Founders and investors putting capital into a Brazilian company.
- Investment commonly set at BRL 500,000 in a Brazilian company, with a reduced threshold around BRL 150,000 for innovation, research or startup activity accompanied by a strong plan
- Registration of the foreign capital with the Central Bank
- A business plan showing job creation or productivity gains
- How long it lasts
- Granted for up to 4 years initially in most cases, and convertible to permanent.
- Path to permanent residence
- One of the faster routes: investor residence converts to permanent on satisfying the investment and job-creation conditions.
- Cost
- The investment plus incorporation, accountancy and legal costs.
- Processing time
- Several months including company formation and Central Bank registration.
Worth knowing
- The reduced innovation threshold is significantly less well known than the BRL 500,000 headline and is the route most tech founders should be looking at.
- The capital must be registered with the Central Bank as foreign direct investment; transferring money without that registration does not count.
RetirementMedium confidenceVerified July 2026Retirement visa (pensioner)
Retirees with a transferable pension.
RetirementMedium confidenceVerified July 2026
Retirement visa (pensioner)
Retirees with a transferable pension.
- Proof of a pension or retirement income, commonly cited around USD 2,000 per month, transferable to Brazil
- Police clearance and health documentation
- Registration with the Federal Police on arrival
- How long it lasts
- Granted as residence, renewable, with a route to permanence.
- Path to permanent residence
- Yes — retiree residence is renewable and convertible to an indefinite-term residence. Naturalisation is a separate four-year clock in the ordinary case.
- Cost
- Consular and CRNM fees.
- Processing time
- Weeks to a few months at the consulate.
Worth knowing
- The income must be a pension, not general investment income — Brazil distinguishes the two, unlike some Latin American neighbours.
- Brazil taxes residents on worldwide income, and there is no special expatriate regime. Model this before relocating a pension.
FamilyMedium confidenceVerified July 2026Family reunion (spouse, partner or parent of a Brazilian)
Spouses and stable partners of Brazilian citizens or residents, and parents of Brazilian children. The fastest route Brazil offers.
FamilyMedium confidenceVerified July 2026
Family reunion (spouse, partner or parent of a Brazilian)
Spouses and stable partners of Brazilian citizens or residents, and parents of Brazilian children. The fastest route Brazil offers.
- Proof of marriage or a stable union (união estável), which Brazil recognises broadly
- Or proof of a Brazilian child
- Documents legalised and sworn-translated
- How long it lasts
- Granted as residence, often directly permanent for spouses and parents of Brazilian children.
- Path to permanent residence
- Often immediate permanent residence. Naturalisation is possible after just 1 year of residence for those with a Brazilian spouse or child, against 4 years otherwise — one of the shortest such clocks anywhere.
- Cost
- Modest fees; no financial threshold.
- Processing time
- Weeks to a few months, and it can be filed from inside Brazil with the Federal Police.
Worth knowing
- The stable-union route does not require marriage and is recognised for same-sex couples, which makes Brazil unusually accessible on family grounds.
- Being able to file from within Brazil, rather than at a consulate abroad, is a significant practical advantage over most other routes here.
On the ground
Where you'd land in Brazil
São Paulo
Latin America's financial and startup capital — 22 million people, the continent's best food, and a payment system the rest of the world envies.
- Residence, CRNM and the 90-day rule
- Converting your licence to a Brazilian CNH
- Opening a Brazilian bank account and using Pix
Rio de Janeiro
Beach city wrapped around granite massifs, where the condomínio fee is a second rent.
- CRNM registration, the 90-day clock, and the Rio appointment bottleneck
- Converting to a CNH at DETRAN-RJ, and Rio's zero-tolerance Lei Seca
- Opening an account, mastering Pix, and the IOF nobody mentions
Florianópolis
An island of half a million that triples in summer, and Brazil's densest software and nomad cluster.
- CRNM registration, the nomad visa, and the two-year ceiling
- Converting at DETRAN-SC, and an island where you probably do need a car
- Banking on a nomad island — Pix, IOF, and getting paid in dollars
Curitiba
Brazil's coldest capital, planned around five bus corridors the rest of the world copied.
- CRNM registration, the 90-day clock, and applying from inside Brazil
- Converting at DETRAN-PR, the trinary road system, and the mountain fog
- Accounts, Pix, and the boleto you will meet every month
Brasília
A planned capital with no street names, one tax authority, and a job market closed to foreigners.
- CRNM registration, and the job market that is legally closed to you
- Converting at DETRAN-DF, and driving a city with almost no traffic lights
- Accounts, Pix, and paying the government in its own home town
Belo Horizonte
Brazil's first planned city and its cheapest big capital, with mining money and a real startup scene.
- CRNM registration, the 90-day rule, and where your translation has to come from
- Converting at DETRAN-MG, the diagonal grid, and the Anel Rodoviário
- Accounts, Pix, and the credit unions Minas runs on
Salvador
Brazil's first capital and its African heart — the largest street carnival on earth, and the hardest safety numbers of any Brazilian capital.
- CRNM registration, the 90-day clock, and one superintendency for all of Bahia
- Converting at DETRAN-BA, and a city built on a cliff with two levels
- Accounts, Pix, and the boleto you will meet every month
Recife
A mangrove city that taxed its way into a tech capital — 500-plus software companies in colonial warehouses, on beaches where bathing is restricted by decree.
- CRNM registration, the 90-day clock, and applying from inside Brazil
- Converting at DETRAN-PE, and driving a city that floods
- Accounts, Pix, and the boleto you will meet every month
Manaus
A free-trade industrial metropolis in the middle of the rainforest — reachable only by air and river, and an hour behind the rest of Brazil.
- CRNM registration, the 90-day clock, and one superintendency for an area the size of Western Europe
- Converting at DETRAN-AM, and the two roads out of a city with no road out
- Accounts, Pix, and the boleto you will meet every month
Porto Alegre
The gaúcho capital on the Guaíba — chimarrão, a real winter, and a city rebuilding its flood defences after the water beat the 1941 record in 2024.
- CRNM registration, the 90-day clock, and the Mercosur route on a Mercosur border
- Converting at DETRAN-RS, driving to Uruguay, and roads that were under water
- Accounts, Pix, and the boleto you will meet every month
Brazil at a glance
- Capital
- Brasilia
- Population
- 212.8M
- Languages
- Portuguese
- Currency
- BRL
