What you need for Brazil
Why people send Canadian documents to Brazil
Each situation has its own requirements. Here are the ones we see most often, with the detail that avoids a refusal.
Registering a birth or marriage at a Brazilian consulate
A child born in Canada to a Brazilian parent becomes Brazilian through consular birth registration (registro de nascimento), and a Brazilian who marries in Canada must also register the marriage at the consulate. Good news: for these steps the Canadian certificate does not need an apostille, and the Montréal consulate takes it in English, French or Spanish. The consular record is then transcribed at a civil registry cartório in Brazil.
Getting married at a Brazilian cartório
To marry under Brazilian civil law, the Canadian partner files a marriage application (habilitação) at the Cartório de Registro Civil. The Canadian birth certificate, and proof that any earlier marriage ended, need an apostille and a translation by a tradutor público. Many cartórios also want those foreign documents registered at the Registro de Títulos e Documentos, as Brazil's public registries law provides.
Moving to Brazil on a residence permit
For an autorização de residência, Brazil's migration regulation (Decree 9.199 of 2017) asks for criminal record certificates from every country you lived in over the past five years. It also requires a document proving your parentage, legalized and translated by a sworn public translator, when your passport does not show your parents' names. A Canadian passport does not, so the birth certificate is often needed.
Power of attorney for property or an estate
Selling property, settling an estate (inventário) or managing a bank account in Brazil from Canada usually takes a power of attorney. A Brazilian citizen can sign one at the consulate (procuração pública), with no apostille. For a Canadian without Brazilian residence, the Toronto consulate sets out the route: sign before a Canadian notary, apostille, translation in Brazil by a tradutor público, then registration at the Registro de Títulos e Documentos.
Which Canadian authority apostilles your document
The authority depends on where in Canada the document was issued or notarized, never on where you live now or where the document is going. We confirm it at the free pre-check, before you send anything.
| Document | Canadian authority | Notary first? |
|---|---|---|
| Birth, marriage or death certificate | The province that issued it (Québec, Ontario, BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan), or Global Affairs Canada for all others | No |
| RCMP criminal record check | Global Affairs Canada | No |
| Degree, diploma, transcript | The province of the institution | Often, depending on the province |
| Power of attorney, statutory declaration, affidavit | The province of the notary or lawyer | Yes, the notarial act is what gets apostilled |
| Corporate documents | The province of the registry, or Global Affairs Canada for Corporations Canada | Sometimes, depending on the document |
Do you need a translation for Brazil?
In Brazil, a translation only has official standing if it is done by a tradutor e intérprete público, usually called a tradutor juramentado. Under Law 14.195 of 2021, these translators live in Brazil, pass a public exam and are registered with their state's Junta Comercial. The Federal Police add that translation of a foreign document can only be done in Brazil. The translator covers the whole document, apostille included, so the translation always comes after the apostille. Sworn translators can sign electronically, which often saves a courier trip, but the apostilled original must travel with the translation when you file it.
To be straight with you: a Canadian certified translation, however good, does not replace a tradução juramentada at a cartório, a court or the Federal Police. There are useful exceptions. The Montréal consulate accepts Canadian records in English, French or Spanish to register a birth or marriage, and some universities waive translation for degrees in English, French or Spanish. At the pre-check, we tell you whether your process needs a translation and when to start it.
Three mistakes that delay a file for Brazil
Avoid this
Translating in Canada, or before the apostille
A translation done in Canada has no official standing in Brazil, and one done before the apostille does not cover it. Either way, you pay for a second translation. The order that works: apostille in Canada, then a tradutor público in Brazil.
Avoid this
Skipping the cartório registration
Brazil's public registries law says foreign documents, with their translation, are registered at the Registro de Títulos e Documentos to take effect before government offices and courts. Many cartórios check this before accepting a power of attorney or a certificate, so ask before you file.
Avoid this
A Canadian divorce that also settles custody or property
A simple, consensual foreign divorce can be recorded directly in Brazil's civil registry without court approval, under the Code of Civil Procedure. If it also deals with custody, support or division of property, or was not consensual, recognition by Brazil's Superior Tribunal de Justiça is generally needed. Plan for it before remarrying in Brazil.
Useful guides: RCMP fingerprints from abroad · Powers of attorney · Marrying abroad · Immigrating abroad · Apostille for a Canadian degree
Does Brazil accept Canadian apostilles?
Can the Brazilian consulate still legalize my document?
Do I need an apostille to register my child at the Brazilian consulate?
Is my Canadian certified translation accepted in Brazil?
Does my Canadian degree need an apostille for revalidação?
Does a marriage contract signed in Canada need an apostille?
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