Free guides, written by lawyers

The rules of Brazil, written down properly.

Lawyer-written guides to the legal side of moving to, investing in, marrying in, working in, and inheriting from Brazil. Requirements, documents, timelines, real costs, and the traps people actually fall into. No email wall.

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Digital nomad visa

Income thresholds, documents, the two ways to apply, taxes after 183 days, and the traps — from an OAB-licensed firm that files these for foreigners.

Retirement residence

Income requirements, the step-by-step application path, the tax and healthcare realities, and how this residence converts to permanent status and citizenship — the unvarnished version.

Investment residence

Two main paths to Brazilian residence by investment — R$700k-1M in real estate or R$150k-500k in a company. Thresholds, the evidence you actually need, taxes, and which route fits which investor.

Buying property

What you can own, the real process step by step, the closing costs and taxes, and the mistakes that cost foreign buyers real money.

What the CPF is, why you need one before you think you do, and the three ways foreigners get one — in person, at a consulate, or by power of attorney.

When Brazil starts taxing you, what it taxes, the filings nobody warns you about, the 2026 IRPF reform, and how double taxation actually gets avoided.

Citizenship by marriage

The one-year residence rule, união estável, the real document list, and the honest path from 'married to a Brazilian' to a Brazilian passport.

Marrying in Brazil

The habilitação process, what foreign fiancés must bring, the property-regime decision you shouldn't make by default, and how marriage opens the door to residency and citizenship.

Inheritance for foreign heirs

Why Brazilian probate is unavoidable, the notary fast lane, forced heirship, ITCMD tax, and running the whole inventário without ever flying down.

Citizenship by descent

Born to a Brazilian parent abroad? Brazilian grandparents? What the Constitution gives you, the registration path to your passport, and where families get stuck.

Buy R$1M of urban property (R$700k in the Northeast), register the matrícula deed, and earn a renewable Brazilian residence that leads to citizenship.

Residency by marriage

Marry or partner with a Brazilian and you can live, work, and stay indefinitely — here is exactly how the family-reunion residence works, step by step.

US tourist e-visa

Since April 2025, Americans need an e-visa to visit Brazil. Here's the cost, the 90/180-day math, and how the stay can bridge to residency.

Work visa & permit

Employment-based residence in Brazil, explained plainly — who sponsors you, how the VITEM I and II permits work, and the faster routes if you have other options.

Becoming a citizen

The honest path from residence card to Brazilian passport: the four-year rule, the one-year shortcuts, the Portuguese test, and what the application really involves.

Neighborhood prices, the real conveyancing process, the coastal-land traps, and the taxes — an honest guide to buying an apartment in Rio de Janeiro as a foreigner.

Divorce in Brazil

Jurisdiction, asset division, custody and recognizing a foreign divorce — a plain-English guide for foreigners and binational couples.

CRNM Card Guide

Your visa is only half the job. Here is how to register with the Federal Police, pay the GRU, and get the CRNM card within the 90-day deadline.

Open a company (LTDA)

A plain-English, step-by-step walkthrough of forming a Brazilian limitada — CPF, resident attorney-in-fact, CNPJ, and Central Bank FDI registration.

If you hold an Argentine, Chilean, Colombian or other South-American passport, you skip the visa queue entirely — two years' residence, then permanent, with full work rights.

Bank Account in Brazil

Two real paths into Brazilian banking: a non-resident CDE account on passport and CPF, or a full resident account with the digital banks everyone here actually uses.

US-Brazil taxes

There is no US-Brazil income tax treaty. Here is exactly how Americans use the Foreign Tax Credit and FEIE to avoid being taxed twice.

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