Sworn translation for a Brazilian visa or residence permit: documents and order of steps

Updated on 3 November 2026. This guide is informational and is not legal advice or immigration advice. Requirements depend on the type of visa or residence permit, on your nationality and on the Federal Police unit or consulate that handles your case, and they change. Always confirm on the official page and with the competent body. We have no affiliation with the bodies cited, and there are no affiliate links.

Quick answer

For a residence permit processed by Brazil’s Federal Police (PF), the general rule on the PF’s official page is that documents issued abroad must be legalized or apostilled and translated by a sworn translator in Brazil. In practice:

Find the document list for your permit type on the PF website, and check whether any of the exceptions below applies to you.
Get the foreign documents (for example, criminal-record certificates and civil-status certificates) from their issuers.
Get the apostille in the country that issued each document, or consular legalization if that country is not party to the Convention. See our guides on what a Hague apostille is and where to get one.
Bring the documents to Brazil and have each one translated by a sworn translator in Brazil. The PF says the translation can only be done in Brazil, so a translation made abroad is not enough.
Submit everything to the PF following the instructions for your permit type.

Which documents the PF usually asks for

It depends on the permit. As an example, the PF page for residence for study purposes (updated 24 February 2026) lists, among others:

a travel document or official ID;
a birth or marriage certificate (or a consular certificate) when the ID or travel document does not show parentage, subject to the applicable legalization and translation rules;
criminal-record certificates, or an equivalent document from the competent judicial authority, for the places where you lived in the last five years, also subject to the legalization and translation rules;
a sworn declaration that you have no criminal record in any country in the last five years.

That page also says foreign-issued documents must follow the legalization and translation rules, that the competent authority may accept criminal-record certificates older than 90 days, and that it may ask for an updated birth or marriage certificate if it has doubts about the civil registration. Other permit types (work, family reunion and so on) have their own lists, so open the page for yours.

What each foreign document needs, step by step

Step	What happens	Where
1	Get the original document or a certified copy, as the issuing authority requires	The registry, court or agency that issued it
2	Apostille, or consular legalization if the issuing country is not party to the Convention	The competent authority of the issuing country, or a Brazilian embassy or consulate with jurisdiction over the place of issue
3	Sworn translation into Portuguese	A sworn translator (“tradutor público juramentado”) in Brazil
4	Submission with the application	Federal Police, as instructed for your permit

Sworn translators in Brazil are registered with the state Commercial Boards (“juntas comerciais”), and the national registry body, DREI, publishes information on them on its page for translators and auctioneers. For how a sworn translation works, see the Portuguese guide to sworn translation step by step.

Exceptions listed by the Federal Police

The PF page on legalization, apostille and translation lists situations where specific rules replace the general one. The PF also warns that you cannot combine rules from different instruments: if your case is based on one of them, the rule of that instrument applies, and anything it does not cover follows the general rule. According to that page, they include:

Instrument	What it waives or changes
Decree 6.975/2009: residence agreement for nationals of Mercosur States Parties, Bolivia and Chile	When the request goes through the migration service, documents only need to be certified by the consular agent of the applicant’s country of origin accredited in Brazil (Article 4, item 2)
Decrees 5.851/2006 and 5.852/2006: agreements waiving translation of administrative documents for immigration purposes (Mercosur, Bolivia and Chile)	Waive translation for visas, extension of stay and permanence applications
Decree 9.089/2017: Brazil–Uruguay agreement	Waives legalization and translation
Decree 6.736/2009: Brazil–Argentina agreement	Waives translation, except where there are well-founded doubts about the content
Decree 3.598/2000: Brazil–France civil cooperation agreement	Waives legalization
Some Interministerial Ordinances for border-country nationals and humanitarian cases (for example Haiti and Ukraine)	Birth and marriage certificates may be accepted without legalization or translation, under conditions that vary by ordinance, including a sworn statement of authenticity in some of them

Do not rely on this table alone. These rules apply to specific applications, and the PF page is the reference.

Visa applications at a Brazilian consulate

If you are applying for a visa at a Brazilian consulate abroad, the consulate may have its own rules for documents. For example, the Brazilian consulate-general in Montréal explains on its temporary visa page that a full birth certificate may be requested later at the PF registration, in which case it must be apostilled and then translated by a sworn translator in Brazil. Other consulates publish different translation rules, so read the page of the consulate that serves your area.

Common mistakes

Translating abroad. The PF states that translation can only be done in Brazil.
Assuming one rule fits all. The PF stresses that exceptions cannot be combined with the general rule. Check which instrument applies to your nationality and case.
Ordering documents too early. The PF refers to a 90-day period for criminal-record certificates, although the authority may accept older ones at its discretion. Time your requests.
Skipping the apostille on a document that needs it. The apostille is done in the country that issued the document, and Brazilian authorities cannot do it for you.
Name spelling mismatches. Check that names and parentage match across your documents before you order the apostille. A document corrected afterwards may need a new apostille.

Frequently asked questions

Do my foreign documents need a sworn translation for the Federal Police?

In general, yes. The PF says foreign documents, even apostilled, must be translated by a sworn translator, and that this can only be done in Brazil. Exceptions exist for specific agreements and cases, listed on the PF page.

Do I need an apostille on a criminal-record certificate?

In general, yes, if the issuing country is party to the Convention. Otherwise you need consular legalization. Check the PF list for your permit, and the exceptions page, because some agreements waive the formalities.

Where do I get the apostille?

In the country that issued the document, from its competent authority. Brazilian authorities only apostille documents issued in Brazil. See where to get an apostille for Brazil.

Can I translate my documents before I travel to Brazil?

A translation made outside Brazil does not meet the PF requirement. The translation must be made by a sworn translator in Brazil, so plan to do it after you arrive, or arrange it with someone in Brazil.

How old can a criminal-record certificate be?

The PF page for study residence says the competent authority may accept certificates older than 90 days at its discretion. The PF refers to a 90-day period, so check the rule for your case before ordering.

How far back must I show criminal records?

For the study residence permit, the PF page lists certificates from the places where you lived in the last five years. Other permit types may differ, so check the list for yours.

Are there nationalities that do not need a legalization or translation?

Some. The PF page lists agreements with Mercosur countries, Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina and France, and some ordinances for specific groups. Each applies only to the cases it covers, and rules cannot be combined.

Does a consulate abroad handle my translation?

Not necessarily. Some consulates publish their own rules for what to submit at the visa stage, and the PF applies its own at registration. Read the page of the consulate that serves you and the PF page for your permit.