Your residence visa or authorization is only half the job. The document that actually lets you live, work, bank, rent, and travel in and out of Brazil is the CRNM — and you have a hard 90-day window to claim it at the Federal Police. Miss it and you face daily fines and a far messier process. This guide walks you through every step: SISMIGRA, the GRU fee, biometrics, and what the card actually buys you.
If you have just landed in Brazil on a residence visa, or your in-country residence application was just approved, congratulations — the legal heavy lifting is largely done. But there is one more bureaucratic step that catches a surprising number of foreigners off guard, and the consequences of missing it are real. This is the step where you trade your visa stamp for an actual Brazilian ID card. We do this for clients every week, so we will be specific about what to expect, where people stumble, and how to keep it boring and uneventful.
What is the CRNM?
The CRNM — Carteira de Registro Nacional Migratório, or National Migratory Registry Card — is the physical identity document issued to foreigners who hold legal residence in Brazil. Think of it as your Brazilian ID card. It carries your photo, your RNM number (your unique foreign-resident registration number), your visa category, and the validity period of your residence.
The CRNM was created by Brazil's 2017 Migration Law (Lei 13.445/2017) and replaced the old RNE (Registro Nacional de Estrangeiro). If you read older guides or talk to expats who arrived years ago, you will hear “RNE” constantly — it is the same idea, just the previous name. The terminology changed; the function did not. Many systems, banks, and even some officials still casually say “RNE,” so don't panic if you see the old acronym on a form.
Crucially, the CRNM is not your visa. The visa (or the residence authorization granted inside Brazil) is the legal permission to reside. The CRNM is the proof — the card you show a landlord, a bank teller, an employer's HR department, or an immigration officer at the airport. Without it, you are legally resident on paper but unable to do most of the practical things that residence is supposed to enable.
Your visa is the permission. The CRNM is the proof. In daily Brazilian life, the proof is what people actually ask for.
RNE is the old name for the card (pre-2017). CRNM is the current card. RNM is the number printed on the CRNM — the modern equivalent of the old RNE number. People use these terms loosely and interchangeably. When a form asks for your “RNE/RNM,” it wants the registration number on your card.
Why the CRNM matters: what you can't do without it
It is tempting to treat the CRNM as a formality you will get around to. It isn't. In practice, the card is the gatekeeper for almost every piece of adult life in Brazil:
- Working legally. Employers need your RNM number and a valid CRNM to put you on the payroll and register your CTPS (work card). No CRNM, no legitimate job offer can be completed.
- Opening a resident bank account. Brazilian banks generally require the CRNM plus proof of address to open a full resident account. You can sometimes open a limited non-resident account with just a CPF and passport, but for normal banking the card is expected. See our guide on opening a bank account as a foreigner.
- Signing a long-term lease. Most landlords and rental agencies (imobiliárias) want to see a CRNM before they hand over keys on a formal contract.
- Registering for SUS, the free public health system, and enrolling in a private plano de saúde.
- Exchanging your foreign driver's licence for a Brazilian CNH once your 180-day grace period runs out. Details in our driving in Brazil guide.
- Re-entering Brazil smoothly. When you travel abroad and come back, the CRNM is what proves your right to walk through the residents' channel rather than being treated as a tourist.
None of this works on a visa stamp alone. The card is the key, and the 90-day clock is already running.
The 90-day deadline you cannot ignore
This is the single most important sentence in this guide: you must register with the Federal Police (Polícia Federal, or “PF”) and apply for your CRNM within 90 days. The clock starts either from the date you entered Brazil on a residence visa, or from the date your in-country residence authorization was approved (published in the official gazette), depending on your route.
Ninety days sounds generous. It is not, because the bottleneck is rarely your paperwork — it is the appointment availability. In big cities like São Paulo and Rio, online PF slots can be booked out for weeks. If you wait until day 70 to look for an appointment, you may find the next opening is on day 95, and now you are late through no real fault of your own. Treat the 90 days as a deadline to have completed your in-person appointment, not a deadline to start thinking about it.
The 90-day deadline is enforced, but PF appointment slots are the real constraint. Book your SISMIGRA appointment in your first week or two in Brazil — not your final week. An appointment date that falls a little after day 90 may still be accepted if you booked it in good time and within the window, but do not rely on grace. The clean play is: appointment booked early, attended before day 90.
What happens if you miss it?
Missing the 90-day window does not cancel your residence, but it does trigger an administrative penalty. Under the Migration Law, late registration carries a daily fine — a relatively small per-day amount that accumulates, with a statutory ceiling. The exact per-day figure and the cap are set by regulation and adjusted periodically, so confirm the current amount with the Polícia Federal or a lawyer rather than relying on a number you read online. The fine is generally modest in absolute terms, but the bigger costs are practical: a more complicated registration, extra explanations to officials, and the risk of friction the next time you renew or travel.
Our honest advice: do not treat the fine as a casual “cost of being late.” It is avoidable. If you have already blown the deadline, register immediately — the fine stops accruing once you complete the process, so every day of delay only adds to it.
Who needs a CRNM?
Almost every foreigner who is granted residence in Brazil — temporary or permanent — needs to register and obtain a CRNM. That includes, among others:
- Digital nomads on the VITEM XIV visa (see our digital nomad visa guide).
- Retirees and rentistas living on passive income — the retirement visa route.
- Investors via real estate or company investment — the golden visa and investment visa paths.
- Spouses and partners of Brazilians and family-reunion applicants — see residency by marriage.
- Workers on an employment-based residence — the work visa & permit guide covers this.
- Mercosur nationals using the simplified residence route — the Mercosur residence visa (VITEM XIII).
- Students on long-term study residence, and researchers.
Tourists do not get a CRNM — they have no residence to register. If you are a US, Canadian, or Australian citizen entering as a visitor, you are now on the e-visa system reintroduced in April 2025; that is a separate world, covered in our tourist visa for US citizens guide. The CRNM is strictly for residents.
Before you book: get your CPF and documents in order
The CRNM registration goes smoothly only if your supporting documents are ready and consistent. The most important prerequisite is the CPF (Cadastro de Pessoas Físicas), Brazil's individual taxpayer number. You need it for the registration system and for essentially everything else in Brazilian life, and you can — and should — obtain it before you arrive, at a Brazilian consulate or online. Our CPF for foreigners guide explains how. Note that a CPF is not the same as tax residency; it is just an identifier.
For the CRNM appointment itself, the standard document set is:
- Your passport (the original, plus copies of the identity page and the page with your Brazilian visa or entry stamp).
- Your visa or residence-authorization document — the consular visa label, or the official-gazette publication / approval notice if your residence was granted inside Brazil.
- Your CPF number.
- Proof of address in Brazil (a recent utility bill, a lease, or a signed declaration of residence — declaração de residência — if the utilities are not in your name).
- A recent passport-style photo in some offices, though biometrics are usually captured on site.
- Your birth and/or marriage certificate if your residence category is family-based — typically translated by a sworn translator (tradutor juramentado) and legalized/apostilled.
- The paid GRU receipts (the fee slips — more on these below).
Bring originals and photocopies of everything. Brazilian offices love a clean photocopy, and the nearest copy shop may be a queue and a sweaty walk away.
Get your CPF done before you fly, ideally at the consulate that issued your visa. Arriving in Brazil already holding your CPF removes the single most common cause of CRNM delays and lets you book your PF appointment the moment you land.
SISMIGRA: where the registration actually happens
SISMIGRA (Sistema de Registro Nacional Migratório) is the Federal Police's national migration registration system — the digital backbone behind your CRNM. You will not log into it as “SISMIGRA” by that name; in practice you interact with it through the Polícia Federal services portal at servicos.pf.gov.br. That portal is where you fill in your registration form, choose your service, and book your in-person appointment.
The portal is in Portuguese. It is functional but not friendly, and the form vocabulary is bureaucratic. If your Portuguese is shaky, have someone bilingual sit with you, or have us handle the booking. (Brushing up the language is worth it anyway — see learning Portuguese as an expat.) The steps, in plain terms:
Create your login
Register on the gov.br / Polícia Federal services portal. Most users authenticate through Brazil's unified gov.br account, which itself is keyed to your CPF.
Select the registration service
Choose the “Registro” (registration) service for your residence category. The system asks for your visa type and personal data and pre-fills what it can from your CPF record.
Generate and pay the GRU fees
The portal produces your GRU payment slips (the federal fee guides). Pay them at a bank, post office, lottery agent, or online, and keep the receipts — you cannot finish without proof of payment.
Book the in-person appointment
Pick a date and a PF unit. This is the step that fills up fastest, so book early. You will get a confirmation with date, time, and location.
Attend, give biometrics, submit documents
Show up with your originals and copies. The officer verifies everything, takes your photo and fingerprints, and accepts your file.
Receive the protocol, then the card
You leave with a protocolo (interim receipt) that functions as temporary proof of registration. The physical CRNM card is produced and delivered later.
The GRU fee: what the CRNM costs in 2026
The federal fee for registering and issuing your CRNM is paid through a GRU — Guia de Recolhimento da União, the standard federal payment slip. There are typically two GRU codes involved: one for the registration/processing and one for issuing the card itself. Added together, the 2026 total is about R$372.90 (roughly US$72 or €63, approx, at ~R$5.2/US$ and ~R$5.9/€).
To put that in context, the CRNM is one of the cheaper steps in your whole relocation. The expensive parts are the visa process, translations, and (if you use one) professional help — not the government card fee.
People sometimes pay only one of the two GRU slips, or use the wrong service code, and the registration stalls. Generate the GRU directly from the PF portal for your specific service so the codes match, pay both, and bring printed receipts to the appointment. Fees are adjusted by the Ministry of Justice fee table from time to time — if the portal shows a slightly different total, trust the portal, not this page.
At the appointment: biometrics and verification
The in-person appointment is short and procedural if your file is in order. A PF officer will:
- Check your passport, visa/authorization, CPF, and proof of address against the data you entered online.
- Capture your biometrics — a digital photograph and a full set of fingerprints. This is why you generally don't need to bring photos; the system takes its own.
- Verify your paid GRU receipts.
- Accept any category-specific documents (marriage/birth certificates, employment papers, investment proof).
- Issue your protocolo de registro — a stamped interim document confirming you have registered.
That protocolo matters. From the moment you have it, you are a registered resident even though the plastic card hasn't arrived. Keep it safe (and photograph it). Most banks, employers, and landlords will accept the protocolo while you wait for the physical CRNM, and it is your proof of legal status if anyone asks.
A few things make the appointment itself go faster. Arrive early — PF units run on numbered tickets (senhas) and the morning queue moves slowly. Dress for a passport-style photo: no hats, no sunglasses, neutral expression, and remember the system will keep whatever image it captures for years. Bring a pen, your phone charged (you may wait), and your documents already sorted in the order listed online so the officer can move through them without hunting. If anything on your file is inconsistent — a name spelled differently on your passport versus your CPF, a visa category that doesn't match what you entered — flag it yourself rather than hoping it slides through, because a mismatch caught at the counter is far easier to fix than one discovered after your file is in the system.
How long until the physical card arrives?
Production and delivery times vary by PF unit and by season — commonly a number of weeks, sometimes longer in busy offices. You will usually be told to check the portal or return to the unit to collect the card, or it may be mailed. Because timelines genuinely fluctuate, we won't pin a hard number here; ask your specific PF unit what to expect and rely on the protocolo in the meantime.
How long is the CRNM valid?
The card's validity tracks your residence:
| Residence type | Typical CRNM validity | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| Temporary residence (digital nomad, work, study, investor first term, etc.) | Matches the residence term — e.g. 1, 2, or 4 years depending on category | Renew the residence, then update/renew the CRNM before it expires |
| Permanent residence (after qualifying period or by category) | The card itself is issued for a fixed cycle (commonly 9 years) even though residence is indefinite | Renew the card when it expires — your residence status does not lapse, but the plastic must be kept current |
| Family-based / marriage | Initial term per the grant (often up to the residence period), then converts/renews | See residency by marriage for the conversion path |
Two points trip people up. First, even permanent residents must renew the card — permanence applies to your status, not to the piece of plastic, which expires on its own cycle. Second, when you change category (say, you marry a Brazilian, or you naturalize), you update your registration accordingly. If you go all the way to citizenship — see our naturalization guide — you eventually stop needing a CRNM at all, because you'll hold a Brazilian RG and passport.
Renewing, replacing, or updating your CRNM
You will deal with the CRNM again at some point. The common scenarios:
- Renewal: when the card or your underlying residence term approaches expiry. Start early — the same appointment-availability bottleneck applies, and you do not want to be unregistered for a single day.
- Loss or theft: file a police report (boletim de ocorrência) and request a 2nd via (replacement copy) through the PF portal, paying a fresh GRU.
- Data changes: a new address, a name change after marriage, or a change of residence category all require updating your registration so the card and the SISMIGRA record stay accurate.
- Conversion to permanent: when your temporary residence converts to permanent (for example, after maintaining a qualifying investment, or after the marriage-based path matures), you re-register and receive a new card reflecting the permanent status.
In every case the mechanics are the same as the first time: log in, pick the service, pay the GRU, book the appointment, give biometrics if required, collect the new card.
One quietly important habit: keep your RNM number somewhere you can retrieve it instantly. It follows you across renewals and category changes — the number is stable even when the card is reissued — and you will be asked for it constantly, by banks, employers, the tax authority, and the PF portal itself. Treat it like a second CPF. If you lose track of it, it is printed on every CRNM you have ever held and recorded in your gov.br profile, but saving yourself the lookup is worth thirty seconds now.
If you are travelling abroad while a renewal is pending, carry both your expiring (or expired) card and your renewal protocolo. Brazilian border officers can read the situation correctly when the paperwork tells a consistent story; gaps and missing receipts are what create awkward secondary-inspection conversations on re-entry. When in doubt about timing around international travel, ask before you book the flight, not after.
CRNM, taxes, and the rest of your Brazilian admin
Holding a CRNM does not, by itself, decide your tax situation — but it usually coincides with it. You generally become a Brazilian tax resident once you spend more than 183 days in the country within a rolling 12-month period, or from entry if you hold a permanent visa, or from the start of employment on a work visa. Tax residents are taxed on their worldwide income under the progressive IRPF, which tops out at 27.5%.
The big 2026 change is the IRPF reform (Lei 15.270/2025): monthly income up to R$5,000 is now fully exempt, with partial relief up to R$7,350/month, and a new minimum tax on high earners. Foreign-source or non-withheld income is reported and prepaid monthly through the Carnê-Leão system on Receita Federal's e-CAC. Americans face an extra wrinkle: there is no US–Brazil income tax treaty, so you lean on the Foreign Tax Credit and/or FEIE and still file US returns plus FBAR/FATCA. We unpack all of this in the expat taxes in Brazil and US–Brazil double taxation guides. The point here: getting your CRNM is the moment to start thinking seriously about tax, because residence and tax residence usually arrive together.
The card also unlocks the everyday infrastructure of living here — banking, a formal lease (renting as a foreigner), healthcare, and schooling for kids (international schools). If you're still planning the move, our country-specific relocation guides (from the USA, from the UK, from Europe) put the CRNM step in its proper sequence.
Common mistakes (and how to avoid them)
- Waiting too long to book. The deadline is 90 days; the appointment queue is the enemy. Book in week one.
- No CPF in hand. Showing up without a CPF stalls everything. Get it before you fly.
- Paying the wrong GRU code. Generate the slips from the PF portal for your exact service; pay both; keep receipts.
- Weak proof of address. If utilities aren't in your name, prepare a proper declaração de residência in advance.
- Missing or un-translated certificates. Family-based applicants need sworn-translated, apostilled/legalized birth or marriage certificates — sort these before the appointment.
- Assuming the protocolo is the end. It's interim proof. Track down the physical card; you'll need it for travel and renewals.
- Treating permanence as permanent plastic. Even permanent residents must renew the card on its own cycle.
Photograph every document you submit and every receipt you pay, and save your protocolo as a PDF the day you get it. Brazilian bureaucracy occasionally loses things, and a clean digital trail turns a potential re-do into a five-minute clarification.
Should you do it yourself or get help?
Plenty of organized, Portuguese-comfortable people complete the CRNM registration on their own — it is a defined, navigable process. Do it yourself if you have your CPF, your documents are clean and consistent, your category is straightforward (digital nomad, retiree, investor), and you can read the PF portal.
Get help if any of these apply: your category is family- or work-based with translated foreign certificates; you've already missed or are about to miss the 90-day deadline; the appointment queue in your city is brutal and timing is tight; or you simply don't want to risk a stalled registration affecting your right to bank, work, or travel. This is exactly the kind of bounded, high-stakes-if-botched task where an immigration lawyer earns their fee quickly — we handle the booking, get the GRU codes right, prepare the file, and make sure your protocolo and card actually land. If you'd like us to take it off your plate, get in touch or see how it works.
The CRNM is not the glamorous part of moving to Brazil — nobody dreams of fingerprint scanners and federal fee slips. But it is the part that makes everything else legal and real. Treat the 90 days with respect, get your CPF first, book early, pay the right GRU, and keep your receipts. Do that, and the card that turns your visa into a life here arrives without drama.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to register for my CRNM in Brazil?
You have 90 days from the date you entered Brazil on a residence visa, or from the date your in-country residence authorization was approved. Because Federal Police appointment slots fill up fast, book your SISMIGRA appointment in your first week or two, not your last.
How much does the CRNM card cost in 2026?
The federal fee is about R$372.90 in 2026 (roughly US$72 or €63, approx), paid through one or two GRU slips generated by the Polícia Federal portal — typically one for registration and one for issuing the card. If the portal shows a slightly different total, trust the portal, as the Ministry of Justice adjusts the fee table periodically.
What's the difference between the CRNM and the old RNE?
The CRNM is the current foreign-resident ID card, created by Brazil's 2017 Migration Law; the RNE was its pre-2017 name. They serve the same purpose. The RNM is the registration number printed on the CRNM — when a form asks for your “RNE/RNM,” it wants that number.
Can I work and open a bank account before my physical CRNM arrives?
Usually yes, using the protocolo (interim receipt) you get at your Federal Police appointment. It confirms you are a registered resident while the plastic card is produced. Many banks and employers accept it, though policies vary — see our guide on opening a bank account as a foreigner.
Do permanent residents need to renew their CRNM?
Yes. Permanence applies to your residence status, not to the card, which is issued for a fixed cycle (commonly 9 years) and must be renewed when it expires. Your right to live in Brazil does not lapse, but you must keep the physical card current.
What happens if I miss the 90-day CRNM deadline?
You face an administrative daily fine that accumulates up to a statutory cap, and a more complicated registration — though your residence itself is not cancelled. The fine stops the moment you complete registration, so register immediately. Confirm the current per-day amount with the Polícia Federal or a lawyer, as it is set by regulation.