The hardest part of moving money in Brazil isn't sending it; it's documenting it. Funds that arrive informally become funds that are hard to send out legally later. We set up the right account and run the exchange operation so every real that comes in is identified and traceable.
Two things surprise foreigners about money in Brazil. First, opening an account is genuinely harder than the brochures suggest: a non-resident generally needs a CPF and opens a specific category of account — the conta de não residente (CNR) — the unified non-resident account introduced under the modernized exchange framework of the Nova Lei Cambial (Lei 14.286/2021), which replaced the older non-resident accounts (the conta de domiciliado no exterior / CDE and the 4373 account) — while a foreigner who has become resident opens an ordinary account but still has to satisfy the bank's compliance file. A polite tourist with a passport and no local footing gets turned away. Second, and far more costly, every cross-border transfer has to ride a documented foreign-exchange operation. The Brazilian real is not freely convertible; money crossing the border passes through an institution authorized by the Banco Central to operate in the exchange market, and the operation is recorded and identified to a CPF or CNPJ and a stated purpose. That record — who, how much, what for — is what proves, years later, that the money was yours and where it came from.
This is where the trap closes. A buyer wires euros to a friend's account, or carries cash, or uses an informal "doleiro" to get a better rate, and the reais appear. Nothing breaks that day. The problem arrives when they want to take money out — sell the apartment, repatriate dividends, send savings home — because the authorized channel only documents an outflow against money it can see arrived. Money that entered outside the channel has no recorded origin in the exchange system, so sending it back out cleanly is difficult and sometimes impossible. In practical terms, it can be stuck inside the country. The fix is never as clean as doing it right the first time, which is why we get involved before the first transfer, not after the account is frozen.
Our core work is making the legitimate path actually run: the right account category for your residency status, the exchange operation recorded against the correct purpose (property purchase, direct investment, living costs, loan), and the reporting that keeps you clean on both sides of the border. That includes the central bank's annual CBE (Declaração de Capitais Brasileiros no Exterior) once a Brazilian resident's foreign assets cross the published threshold, the SCE-IED registration — the system that succeeded the old RDE-IED — that records foreign direct investment so company dividends and capital can later leave the country, and coordination with your home-country bank so a large Brazilian transfer doesn't trip its own compliance flags. None of this is exotic. It's the documentation layer that turns money you have into money you can actually use and move.
Every price is itemized like an honest receipt — our flat fee, plus each government, registry and translation charge, estimated high so the number only ever moves down. Add a package to your cart and pay online, or request a quote for anything bespoke. Only value-based taxes are billed at cost; the final fee is confirmed in your engagement letter.
We map what you need to move and in which direction, and lay out the documented path before any transfer happens.
The right account category for your status, the document file Brazilian banks accept, and support through compliance review. Bank charges billed separately.
Inbound or outbound transfers run against the correct purpose through a BCB-authorized institution, with the source-of-funds file ready. IOF, spreads, and bank fees billed separately at cost.
Undocumented inflows, dormant accounts, missed CBE filings — assessed and, where a path exists, brought onto the record. Scope and fee quoted after we see the situation.
All-in estimates for English-speaking service to foreigners, with every fee we can foresee rounded up. Two cases with the same label can differ in scope — your engagement letter sets the final, written fee, and lines marked “at cost” (value-based taxes like ITBI and ITCMD) are passed through with receipts. Contested or litigated matters are quoted individually, never sold off a price list.
We map what you need to move, in which direction, and for what purpose — and tell you the documented path before any transfer happens.
Account opened in the right category; the exchange operation and purpose chosen so the inflow is recorded usably.
Funds moved through a BCB-authorized institution, the operation documented, and the source-of-funds file ready for compliance.
CBE and SCE-IED filings kept current, so that when you sell or send money home the channel is open and the paper trail holds.
Add a package above to start online, or describe your situation and a lawyer replies within one business day — no obligation, no hourly meter.