Your Plan B / Countries / South America
Brazil: a prepared base for your family
Plan a usable base in Brazil: the right residence route, a home, family care and accessible money. EXOBASIS arranges the practical work around your chosen location. EXOBASIS organises the agreed work, from documents and housing search to a prepared arrival.
Your starting point
A second base needs to answer a specific question. Would your family stay for a limited period while conditions settle, build a new life, or divide time between countries? The answer affects the residence route, the home you commit to and the support that must remain available while you are away.
- A second baseA home for regular stays, with suitable rights, reliable access and care while you are away.
- A new place to liveBring housing, school, healthcare and income together into a workable family routine.
- A prepared alternativeArrange travel, accommodation and the necessary steps early enough to turn an idea into a usable plan.
What matters for your decision
Your current address is not your nationality. A British passport holder living in the UAE and a UAE resident with another passport can face different entry requirements for Brazil. We begin with the actual passports and household, then connect the suitable legal route to a location. In Santa Catarina, Blumenau and Pomerode provide two concrete places to examine. Portuguese-language daily life, the children's education and regular healthcare need to work from the home you choose.
You may want a place to take your family if war or a worsening situation forces a decision. You may already be ready to leave the UK, or want a second base beyond your current life in the UAE. Moving to Brazil starts with two connected choices: a lawful route for each person and a location where your household can function. EXOBASIS turns that decision into agreed practical work, from documents and housing to money access and arrival.
Contingency base and return
If war or the fear of war is driving the decision, the useful outcome is somewhere your family can reach and stay. Brazil puts distance between you and Europe or the Gulf. That distance also creates a long journey with dependencies: an operating route, any transit requirements, admission to Brazil and onward travel to your home. Owning a property does not keep those connections open.
We prepare the whole arrival sequence, rather than ending the plan at an international airport. It includes the documents each traveller needs, accommodation that is actually available, a handover arrangement, onward transport and essential care. If you travel first and the family follows, their entry and arrival are planned separately. Keep an accessible reserve for changed travel and early living expenses, beyond money already committed to a deposit or purchase.
Leaving and coming back are separate decisions too. A Brazilian residence permit does not preserve your UAE immigration status or settle your UK obligations. If you intend to return to your present home, its residence, banking, family and business arrangements need their own plan. To return to Brazil as a resident, keep a valid travel document and evidence of your continuing residence permission. The property and the immigration status each need maintenance.
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A lasting future for your family
A family move works only when each person's position is clear. If you receive a retirement or survivor pension, RN40 can provide the principal residence route around which your family's separate applications are organised. Brazil's family-reunification rules cover spouses or partners, children and other relatives within the specified categories. The application needs evidence of the relationship and, where relevant, dependency. Children's travel consent and care arrangements must also be resolved under the rules that apply to the family; a Brazilian application does not decide a custody or departure issue elsewhere.
Residence and family life in detail
Family applications can be made alongside the principal application, but the dependent permission requires the sponsoring person's residence to be granted. Where that permission is temporary, the family member's permission ends on the same date. A family-reunification residence status permits paid activity within the applicable legal framework. That is materially different from simply accompanying someone as a visitor.
We bring the residence files together with the move itself. Before you commit to a long tenancy or purchase, establish which school year the children will enter, what language support is needed and where regular treatment can continue. When comparing homes, include the language support you will need for Portuguese-language contact with the landlord, school and local health services. An expatriate community can be useful socially; the decision still rests on the institutions and services that can take your particular family.
Citizenship is a later, separate process. The ordinary naturalisation route generally requires four years of residence under an indefinite residence status and other conditions. Certain family connections can reduce the required period, but actual residence and absence limits still matter. A family connection or an initial temporary permit is not a promise of a Brazilian passport.
Brazil · AI illustration
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Mobile living
For someone keeping an overseas job or foreign service relationship, Brazil's RN 45 provides a distinct remote-work framework. It covers the specified work through information and communication technology for a foreign employment or service relationship. Work for an employer in Brazil falls outside this category.
The rule also allows the covered activity during a lawful visitor stay, within that visitor's immigration limits. For the dedicated residence route, the evidence includes the foreign work relationship and at least USD 1,500 a month from a foreign source or USD 18,000 in bank funds. The initial permission can run for up to one year and be renewed for the same period. These are remote-work requirements, not substitutes for a pension or family-residence application.
If you divide your time between countries, we arrange the document and appointment sequence around the intended stays. Property oversight, correspondence, recurring bills and the next arrival also need an agreed owner. Your preferred travel pattern must be considered separately for tax residence; a remote-work permission does not itself settle the tax outcome.
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Existing rights and suitable routes
Start with the passport, not the country you live in
For a British passport, the documented first visa-exempt visit is up to 90 days. A longer stay needs its own assessment against the applicable visitor or residence rules; do not budget on an assumed 180-day annual allowance. If you live in the UAE with a different passport, your Brazilian entry entitlement follows that nationality. The residence permit issued by the UAE does not create a Brazilian visa exemption.
German and Austrian passports have their own 90-days-in-180 visitor rules. The Brazilian consulate in Zurich separately states 90 days in 180 for Swiss passports, without extension of that visit. In a mixed-nationality household, each passport is matched to its own entry conditions.
Retirement and survivor pensions
RN 40 is for retired people and recipients of a survivor pension. It requires evidence that you can transfer at least USD 2,000 a month to Brazil. Other regular income can make up a shortfall. It supplements the pension qualification; investment or rental income on its own does not turn RN 40 into a general residence route for anyone with wealth.
The first residence period is up to two years. For a consular application, the rule requires health insurance valid in Brazil. An in-country residence application follows a different documentary provision, so that consular insurance requirement should not be treated as an identical rule at every application or renewal stage. Renewal and a change to an indefinite period have their own requirements, including continuing pension status and transfer capacity.
Match your use of Brazil to the right permission and practical work
Open the use that fits your plans. Each option brings together the legal requirements, your documents and the work to commission.
Your intended use: A contingency base
- Relevant permission
- Your passport's visa-free visitor allowance, or a visitor visa you already hold, may cover a limited stay. Existing valid Brazilian residence permission provides a separate basis for entry and return. If you do not hold permission covering the planned stay, prepare the appropriate application and its requirements.
- Evidence and personal steps
- Each traveller's passport conditions, permitted stay and family/travel records, plus accommodation and accessible funds. Any residence application and registration follow their own procedure.
- What EXOBASIS arranges
- Usable records, a home you can reach, payment preparation and the journey through to handover. Where you intend to remain, we also organise the appropriate residence work.
Your intended use: A lasting family home
- Relevant permission
- Start with any valid residence permission each person already holds, including permission granted through family reunification. Where a family member still needs a right to stay, arrange the relevant application: for example, RN40 for a retirement or survivor pension, with separate family applications. Active employment belongs under its relevant category.
- Evidence and personal steps
- Pension and transfer evidence, stage-specific insurance, identity and police records, and family evidence. Required Federal Police registration is a personal step tied to the actual visa or approval route.
- What EXOBASIS arranges
- Coordinate applications and specialist work, assemble the family documents and connect housing, school admission and care to the immigration sequence.
Your intended use: Mobile living and remote work
- Relevant permission
- Existing visitor access can cover the foreign remote work allowed by RN45 within the permitted visit. If you already hold valid Brazilian residence permission, plan travel and activity around that status. If the dedicated RN45 residence route is still needed, establish the qualifying foreign work relationship and prepare its application evidence.
- Evidence and personal steps
- The relevant work and financial evidence, registration and renewal steps. Travel plans must fit the permission's validity and absence rules.
- What EXOBASIS arranges
- Bring documents, appointments, lawful money access, property oversight and future arrivals into one workable arrangement.
We start with how your household actually lives and earns its income, then organise the appropriate procedure and specialist input. Existing advisers and documents remain part of the preparation.
Sources for this section (2)
Brazilian Consulate in London: visitor entry · Brazilian Embassy in Berlin: German passport entry · Austrian Foreign Ministry: travel to Brazil · Brazilian Consulate in Zurich: Swiss passport visits
CNIg: RN 40/2019, pension eligibility and application stages · CNIg: RN 30, Annexes XXVII and XXVIII, renewal and indefinite residence
Regions and housing
Two locations in Santa Catarina, two local decisions
In Blumenau, the Velha area gives you concrete reference points for a housing search: EBM Alberto Stein on Rua General Osório and the Haroldo Bachmann family-health facility on Rua José Reuter. In Passo Manso, the city lists EBM Bilíngue Annemarie Techentin. These let you examine a home against school and primary-care needs rather than judging it solely by photographs or floor space.
Pomerode has a separate local network. The municipal SEFE education department handles the relevant educational responsibilities through its Centro de Atendimento Educacional. The Policlínica Prefeito Alwin Klotz and Hospital e Maternidade Rio do Testo provide specific healthcare points to investigate. A smaller town may suit your preferred daily life, but any required specialist treatment still has to be accessible from the home.
During an exploratory visit, we connect the properties with your actual weekday journeys and care needs. Blumenau's municipal landslide-risk mapping and published flood levels for educational facilities belong in that assessment. Consider the property, its access and the routes you will depend on together. The area's German heritage does not make Portuguese-language administration or local conditions disappear.
Brazil · AI illustration
Renting a home you can move into
The tenancy needs to match the actual use: property, landlord's authority, term, charges, security and condition at handover. The landlord or manager decides which identity, address and financial documents it accepts. Brazilian tenancy law prohibits multiple types of security in the same agreement. A cash deposit is limited to three months' rent and must follow the statutory savings-account arrangement.
We coordinate the agreed property work with the payment and arrival dates. Keys, access and the initial household services are part of the handover, so you know what will be ready when you arrive.
Buying: payment, possession and registered ownership
For an ordinary urban home, prepare your identity documents and CPF, then have the specific property examined. The CPF is Brazil's individual tax identifier and is also available to non-residents. It is not a residence permission. The current matrícula, the property register entry, establishes the starting point for checking the seller's authority and recorded burdens. The review also covers permitted use, outstanding municipal taxes and condominium liabilities where applicable.
Property rules and preparation in detail
With that information, the contract sets out price, payment stages and possession. Budget separately for the purchase, ITBI transfer tax, the required deed and registration. Santa Catarina's notarial rules call for a full registry certificate valid for 30 days for the relevant deed procedure. The required public deed, or escritura, and its entry at the competent Registro de Imóveis are separate steps. Under the Civil Code, ownership transfers through registration, not simply when the seller is paid or hands over the keys.
Rural purchases and leases follow special INCRA controls. Border and security areas can require additional consent, and relevant coastal rights need their own review. A property marketed as a country home therefore needs its legal classification checked before it is treated as an ordinary urban purchase.
Sources for this section (2)
Blumenau: municipal school directory · Blumenau: healthcare facilities · Pomerode: municipal education department · Blumenau: official landslide-risk mapping
Brazil: Law 8.245/1991, tenancy security · Receita Federal: CPF for foreign individuals · Brazilian Civil Code: deed and ownership registration · Santa Catarina courts: Article 1.198, property documentation
Schooling, healthcare and care
Children and education
School admission is a decision about the individual child: year group, previous records, teaching language and any additional support. Blumenau lists municipal schools described as bilingual. The school must confirm which languages it teaches in and whether the relevant place is available. Neither that label nor the area's heritage establishes English-language schooling.
In Pomerode, the Centro de Atendimento Educacional at Rua Hildor E. Emmel 67 provides a concrete route into the municipal education responsibilities, including early childhood, school education and particular support needs. We organise the appropriate enquiries and usable admission documents around the move. Our guide Prepare to move abroad with children and family connects school preparation with the separate family, care and travel-consent questions.
Health cover and treatment
Start with the treatment you actually need, not a general judgement about Brazilian healthcare. Regular appointments, prescriptions, hospital admission and specialist therapies each need a practical access and payment arrangement. Pomerode's Hospital e Maternidade Rio do Testo describes clinical, surgical and geriatric inpatient services, with SUS, insurance and self-pay routes. For your case, the relevant provider must confirm treatment access and the accepted payment or cover. Before committing to a location, establish how you or your relative will explain symptoms and care needs in Portuguese and understand medication and treatment instructions. Where language support is needed, agree how it will be arranged for the actual appointments or daily care.
Insurance submitted with a visa application does not by itself answer all the questions about continuing care. Our guide Health cover and care abroad helps connect the medical need, coverage and actual provider access. We organise the necessary coordination as part of the agreed move.
Daily care for a relative
A relative who needs help every day requires more than a nearby hospital. Appropriate accommodation, confirmed carers, equipment, medication continuity and cover for interruptions all affect the choice of home. Geriatric inpatient treatment is different from an available long-term care place. We arrange the specific service assessment before the family relies on that location.
Income, money and work
Qualification is not a household budget
The USD 2,000 pension-route threshold concerns monthly transfer capacity. It does not tell you what your family will spend or whether the money is already accessible in Brazil. RN45 financial evidence serves a different immigration category. Build the household budget around the actual rent, school and care arrangements, alongside moving expenses and an available reserve. Money committed to a deposit or property purchase cannot also cover an unexpected journey.
Prepare the bank's decision and the payment route
Opening a Brazilian account starts with your real identity, address and residence position. Santander's published foreign-applicant document list refers to an RNE, or a passport with an RNE application protocol, CPF and address evidence. That older document uses the former RNE terminology. For a current application, we establish which CRNM or protocol evidence and which personal-banking channel the institution will accept. The general online process using Brazilian RG/CNH identification and a selfie is not an approval path established for every foreign document.
Work, income and payments in detail
Nubank's account contract illustrates a different point: the available functions, including Pix, transfers, Boletos and prefunded payments. Credit is subject to a separate assessment. Useful payment features do not settle whether a particular applicant will be accepted.
Before a transfer, agree the lawful foreign-exchange route and the evidence of source, purpose and recipient. The Banco Central explains that incoming foreign currency becomes available as reais only after the foreign-exchange transaction. Allow for the rate, applicable taxes and fees before committing to a rent or purchase payment.
Your UK or UAE banking relationship remains a separate dependency. A new address, visa cancellation, an account restriction or lost access to a phone can affect the route you expected to use. Keep a further lawful means of payment and a workable recovery arrangement. Where someone else must act for the family or business, establish their actual authority rather than leaving them with a contact name they cannot use.
Where you work and where you are taxed
Retirement income, asset income and payment for your own work are different facts. If you run a business from Brazil, the permitted activity, management and tax position need to be addressed alongside who can invoice, authorise payments and make decisions when you are unavailable.
Brazilian tax residence follows its own rules. In the covered temporary-stay cases, reaching day 184 within a period of up to twelve months can make a person resident; other residence or work circumstances can trigger it earlier. Taxable foreign income received by a tax resident may fall under monthly Carnê-leão collection, taking applicable treaties or reciprocity into account. Moving existing capital is not automatically the same event as receiving new income. Your UK or UAE position is considered separately from the Brazilian permit and bank transfer.
Documents and preparation time
The document sequence follows your category and the place where you apply. We first establish nationality, present residence, intended activity and the people joining you. Identity and police records, family certificates and the appropriate pension, work, financial and insurance evidence then form the actual application file.
Documents and timing in detail
Foreign public documents may need an apostille or consular legalisation and the required Portuguese translation, including a sworn translation where the procedure calls for it. The issuing country and receiving procedure determine the usable form. A UK record, a UAE-issued document and a certificate from another country are not interchangeable simply because the applicant currently lives in the UAE.
For the London pension-visa route, the consulate's current notice describes electronic temporary-visa issuance through SCI from September 2026 for visa-exempt nationals. Some accompanying document instructions still describe older paper steps. We therefore establish the current submission requirements for the responsible consular post before arranging attendance; the London process is not imposed on every English-speaking applicant.
- Before travel: obtain the missing records, confirm the responsible application route and prepare the required personal steps. Coordinate the journey with the actual visa or approval position.
- After entry with a temporary visa: register with the Federal Police within 90 days. The online form, required records and fees lead to the appointment and personal identity/biometric registration.
- After published in-country residence approval: register within 30 days of publication in the Diário Oficial. This is a different starting point and deadline from visa-based entry.
- After registration: follow the CRNM residence-registration card and any further requests through to completion. An application, an approval and an issued card are separate stages.
Ongoing obligations
The base needs attention after the initial paperwork. For the pension route, the relevant annexes provide for renewal and a change to an indefinite period. Continuing retirement or survivor-pension status and the required transfer capacity remain part of the evidence. A family-based permission depends on the continuing relationship and, where relevant, the underlying permission's duration.
An absence of more than two years can be a ground for loss of Brazilian residence permission unless an accepted justification applies. The Federal Police describes a procedure with an opportunity to respond. It is not an unconditional automatic loss on a calculated date, and a shorter absence does not excuse an expired permit or unusable document. Before booking a return, confirm the current travel and registration documents for your actual case.
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Practical preparation
Commission the part you need, or a connected preparation for the whole family. EXOBASIS compares suitable locations, organises documents and necessary specialist services, coordinates viewings and the rental or purchase sequence, and brings housing together with money access, care and arrival. Your existing work and advisers are included rather than replaced.
Before execution, we agree the intended result, our tasks and the outside services required. A property assignment includes the appropriate specialist title work; a family move includes the actual education and care enquiries. Our fee, additional work and third-party costs such as translations, statutory charges and local services are identified separately.
How Uruguay and Argentina change the decision
Uruguay as a personal alternative is worth comparing when you intend to establish a lasting home. Its regular permanent-residence procedure examines support according to the source of income. The Brazilian comparison begins with the personally appropriate category, such as pension, family or foreign remote work, and then the specific regional base. Compare those legal sequences alongside the language, home and care arrangements that your family will actually use.
Argentina as a personal alternative raises a particularly useful distinction for someone living on asset income. Its Rentista route distinguishes returns from owned assets from payment for personal work. Brazil's RN40 route requires retirement or survivor-pension status, even where other regular income tops up the amount. If you receive a pension, compare the respective evidence and continuing residence steps; if you actively work, compare a route suited to that activity.
Why is a general recommendation for Brazil not enough?
Because your family will live in a particular place, under particular permissions. A suitable route for each person has to connect with housing, school admission, treatment and money you can use. Blumenau and Pomerode give you concrete locations to assess; the decision comes from your household needs and the arrangements that can actually be confirmed.