Brazilian citizenship by descent

Who qualifies, generation by generation

The dates that matter

1. 2023
   October 2023

   Since October 2023 acquiring another nationality no longer ends Brazilian nationality, which is lost only on the person’s express request; before then the loss had to be formally declared, so a parent’s naturalization abroad rarely stopped citizenship passing down on its own. Constitutional Amendment 131 of 3 October 2023, amending Art. 12 §4, Art. 12 §4(II) ↗

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Brazil’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father.

Dual citizenship with your home country

You keep your citizenship.

On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.

• Holding this citizenship alongside another is addressed by the law cited; check the current position before relying on it. Constitution of Brazil, Art. 12(I)(c): children of a Brazilian parent born abroad and registered at a consulate, or who reside in Brazil and opt ↗

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

The documents, as the rule lists them

Most countries also want proof that your ancestor didn’t become a citizen somewhere else before their child was born: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter saying there isn’t one.

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Fees are each office’s published fee, converted to U.S. dollars.

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

• birth1889–2026

  The cartório de Registro Civil das Pessoas Naturais (RCPN) where the birth was registered; every cartório is connected to the national Central de Informações do Registro Civil (CRC), run by the Operador Nacional do Registro Civil (ON-RCPN)

  The birth is registered at the cartório of the place of birth (or of the parents’ residence). If the town is known but not the cartório, the registrocivil.org.br portal routes the request to the right office; old rural registrations sometimes sit in a cartório of a neighbouring district that has since been split or merged.

  Ask

  Online, in Portuguese · request page ↗

  Takes

  1–6 weeks

  Good to know (5)›

  • Civil registration began nationally on 1 January 1889 (Decreto 9.886 of 7 March 1888). Earlier births are only in Catholic parish registers.
  • The portal issues second copies (2ª via) of the ordinary certidão (breve relato) in electronic form within about 5 business days, or on paper by post within about 10 business days inside Brazil. Fees are set by each state’s emolument table and shown before payment; in São Paulo state in 2026 a breve relato costs R$47.98 and an inteiro teor R$96.24.
  • The certidão de inteiro teor (full transcript of the entry with all annotations) is ordered on the portal as an electronic certificate only; for paper, ask the cartório itself (in person, by a representative, or by email or letter). Use the template for that.
  • The portal posts paper certificates only inside Brazil. From abroad, order the electronic certificate (a signed PDF, downloadable for 90 days), or have paper sent to a relative or a despachante in Brazil.
  • Look at the margin annotations (averbações) on the inteiro teor: a marriage, a name change or a loss of nationality would be noted there.

  source ↗

• birth1500–1888

  The Catholic diocese (cúria diocesana or arquidiocesana) that holds the parish’s baptism books

  Identify the parish of the baptism, then the diocese that holds its books today (dioceses have been split many times since the 19th century). Many parish books have been filmed and are browsable free on FamilySearch.

  Ask

  By email, in Portuguese

  Takes

  1–6 months

  Good to know (2)›

  • Only needed when the Brazilian ancestor was born before 1889. A consulate registering a descendant wants proof of the ancestor’s Brazilian birth; for a pre-1889 ancestor that is the baptism entry, or a later civil record (marriage, death, or a Brazilian ID) that states the Brazilian birth. Upload it with the e-consular request: the consulate’s pre-check accepts or rejects it before any appointment.
  • Each diocese sets its own charges and the requester pays postage; the Rio de Janeiro archdiocese’s archive charges R$25 per search (up to three books). There is no national index; FamilySearch’s filmed books are the nearest thing.

  source ↗

• birth

  The Brazilian consulate that registered a birth abroad (registro consular de nascimento), and the Cartório do 1º Ofício do Registro Civil do Distrito Federal, where consular registrations of people with no domicile in Brazil are transcribed

  A parent or grandparent born abroad and already registered at a consulate has a consular certificate. A second copy comes from the consulate that registered it (through e-consular) or, once transcribed, from the 1º Ofício in Brasília.

  Ask

  Online, in Portuguese · request page ↗

  Takes

  1–9 weeks

  Good to know (2)›

  • Registration and the first copy are free; a second copy costs USD 5 at U.S. posts (Boston’s fee table).
  • This is the record the next generation’s registration rests on: register the parent first, then the child.

  source ↗

• marriage1890–2026

  The cartório de Registro Civil das Pessoas Naturais where the marriage was celebrated (civil marriage from 1890)

  As for births: the cartório of the place of marriage, found through registrocivil.org.br.

  Ask

  Online, in Portuguese · request page ↗

  Takes

  1–6 weeks

  Good to know (2)›

  • Consulates ask that the parents’ marriage be registered at the consulate before the child’s birth, so the parents’ married names are right on the child’s entry.
  • Fees follow the same state tables as births (São Paulo 2026: R$47.98 breve relato, R$96.24 inteiro teor).

  source ↗

• death

  The cartório de Registro Civil das Pessoas Naturais of the place of death

  Ask

  Online, in Portuguese · request page ↗

  Takes

  1–6 weeks

  Good to know (1)›

  • Only needed to explain a deceased link in the chain; the consulate registers the living applicant on the parent’s birth record.

  source ↗

• citizenship

  Ministério da Justiça e Segurança Pública, Departamento de Migrações: certificate that no loss of Brazilian nationality is recorded (certidão negativa de perda de nacionalidade)

  Needed only when a Brazilian ancestor naturalized abroad before the next generation was born. Loss was never automatic: it was declared by a Ministry of Justice act (portaria) after an administrative process, so a negative certificate proves the ancestor stayed Brazilian.

  Ask

  Online, in Portuguese · request page ↗

  Fee

  0 BRL (about $0)

  Takes

  2–17 weeks

  Good to know (3)›

  • Filed through the SEI electronic system (free registration) or by post. A third party gives all known data about the person searched (full name, parents, date of birth).
  • Since Constitutional Amendment 131 of 3 October 2023, acquiring another nationality no longer causes loss; loss now needs an express request. Before that, loss for voluntary naturalization abroad existed but only took effect when declared by the Ministry.
  • The certificate comes back by email as an SEI-signed document, checkable online with its verification code. The Ministry sets no deadline for it, so request it first, before booking the consulate.

  source ↗

• naturalization1823–1959

  Arquivo Nacional (Rio de Janeiro): naturalization files of foreigners who became Brazilian, 1823–1959; later files at the Ministry of Justice

  Only relevant when the Brazilian ancestor was a naturalized immigrant rather than Brazil-born. Search the SIAN database first; the archive researches naturalization files on request given the full name and parents’ names.

  Ask

  By email, in Portuguese · request page ↗

  Search

  SIAN (Sistema de Informações do Arquivo Nacional)

  Takes

  4–17 weeks

  Good to know (2)›

  • The Arquivo Nacional issues only negative naturalization certificates; a positive certificate, or any file after 1959, comes from the Ministry of Justice (Departamento de Migrações), which also issues ‘certidão positiva e negativa de naturalização’.
  • Also holds ship arrival lists (1875–1964) and foreigner registration files (1939–1988), useful for dating an immigrant ancestor.

  source ↗

Recent and pending changes

We know of no pending bill or recent court ruling for Brazil.

We re-read the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person checks the rule before we update anything here.

If descent doesn’t reach you

3 residence programs lead to Brazil without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.

• RetirementVITEM XIV – Aposentados e Pensionistas

  Brazilian VITEM XIV for retirees or survivor-pension beneficiaries transferring at least USD 2,000 a month to Brazil. The competent consulate’s own checklist applies.

• Remote workVITEM XIV – Nômade Digital

  Brazilian VITEM XIV for foreign employees working entirely remotely, with income of USD 1,500 a month or accessible bank funds of USD 18,000. The New York consulate excludes business-owner applications.

• InvestmentInvestor Residence by Real Estate (RN 36/2018, amended by RN 49/2024)

  R$1,000,000 (R$700,000 in the North/Northeast) of qualifying urban real estate earns a 4-year residence for the investor and family.

Every source on this page

2 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing.

1. LawConstitution of Brazil, Art. 12(I)(c): children of a Brazilian parent born abroad and registered at a consulate, or who reside in Brazil and opt · Art. 12(I)(c)
2. LawConstitutional Amendment 131 of 3 October 2023, amending Art. 12 §4 · Art. 12 §4(II)
3. RecordsThe cartório de registro civil where they were registered, or the Brazilian consulate: Your parent’s Brazilian birth certificate (certidão de nascimento)
4. RecordsHow to file: Citizen by descent
5. RecordsRequerimento de registro de nascimento, filled online in e-consular (the consulate prints the registration entry for signature)
6. RecordsHow to file: Citizen by descent, generation by generation
7. RecordsBirth records, 1889–2026: The cartório de Registro Civil das Pessoas Naturais
8. RecordsBirth records, 1500–1888: The Catholic diocese
9. RecordsBirth records: The Brazilian consulate that registered a birth abroad
10. RecordsCitizenship records: Ministério da Justiça e Segurança Pública, Departamento de Migrações
11. RecordsNaturalization records, 1823–1959: Arquivo Nacional
12. RecordsThe passport: where, the fee and the wait

Not legal advice. Every answer comes from the country’s own laws and is tested against real cases. Where the law isn’t clear, we say “possible” rather than guess.