Expanding into Brazil often means sending people there: an engineer overseeing an installation, a sales manager building a new market, an executive leading a newly established subsidiary. Most companies plan the operations, contracts and timelines first and treat immigration as a last administrative step.
That’s a mistake, and the word “visa” is part of the problem. What an employee needs to work in Brazil is a residence authorisation. The visa only lets them enter the country on the basis of that authorisation. This guide follows the process in the order it happens, from the legal framework to the risks of using the wrong route.
The Legal Framework
Brazilian immigration is governed by the Lei de Migração (Lei nº 13.445/2017) and its regulation, Decreto nº 9.199/2017. The detailed rules per route were set out in 2017 in normative resolutions (resoluções normativas, or RNs) of the Conselho Nacional de Imigração (CNIg). Ministerial ordinances (portarias) add more detail and change from time to time.
Several authorities are involved. The Ministério do Trabalho e Emprego (MTE) handles work-based residence authorisations, and the Ministério da Justiça e Segurança Pública (MJSP) is responsible for migration policy. The Ministério das Relações Exteriores (MRE) issues visas through its consulates abroad, the Polícia Federal (PF) registers foreigners once they are in the country, and the Receita Federal issues the CPF tax number.
The recently concluded EU–Mercosur trade agreement is expected to facilitate trade, but it doesn’t change any of this. Employees still need the applicable authorisation, visa and residence registration.
Residence Authorisation First
Everything starts with the residence authorisation (autorização de residência). For work-related routes it is granted for a specific assignment, and it is temporary. It doesn’t depend on the employee’s job title, but on what they will actually do in Brazil and for whom.
The visa comes second. Once the authorisation is approved, it opens the possibility to apply for the matching entry visa. Without the right authorisation there is no visa, and a visa can never do more than the authorisation behind it allows.
Residence Authorisation Routes
Each route has its own RN, and the RN sets out who can apply, for which activities and with which documents. RN 01 contains the general requirements that apply to all of them. Choosing the right route is the most important decision in the process, because everything after it builds on that choice.
RN 02: employment with a Brazilian company. This is the standard route for a foreign employee hired under a Brazilian employment contract. The authorisation is specific to the position and the sponsoring company, and it is usually granted for up to two years at first, with the option to renew. Changing employer or role means a new application.
RN 11: administrators, managers, directors and executives. This route is for people with management powers to represent a company, for example the executive who will lead your Brazilian subsidiary on behalf of the foreign shareholder.
RN 03: technical assistance. Engineers and technicians who come to Brazil to install, commission, maintain or repair equipment, or to troubleshoot, use this route. They stay employed by the foreign company, without an employment relationship with the Brazilian entity, and the assignment rests on a contract between the foreign and the Brazilian company. It is usually granted for about a year.
RN 04: technology transfer. This works on the same principle as RN 03, but the purpose is different. The specialist comes to pass on skills, knowledge or manufacturing methods to the staff of the Brazilian entity, again without local employment.
RN 13: business investor. This route gives residence to foreign nationals who make a qualifying investment in a Brazilian company. It is aimed at entrepreneurs who want to set up or expand a business while living in Brazil.
Family reunion (reunião familiar). Family members of an employee can’t be added to the employee’s own application. Spouses, partners and children need a separate authorisation based on Portaria Interministerial MJSP/MRE nº 12/2018. It is filed with the Polícia Federal or through a consulate, and it generally follows the validity of the family member’s own authorisation.
Getting the Residence Authorisation Approved
For the employment and technical routes (RN 02, 03, 04 and 11), the process starts in Brazil, not at a consulate. The sponsoring Brazilian company submits the application online to the Brazilian authorities. The documents required depend on the route and on the relationship between the employee and the Brazilian entity. For RN 03 and 04 that means a contract or cooperation agreement between the foreign and Brazilian companies.
Only after approval can the employee move on to the visa. Incomplete documentation or a late start are the most common reasons for delay, and they push back project timelines and start dates. From application to arrival, the process typically takes several weeks to a few months, depending on the route and the complexity of the case.
The Entry Visa
Once the authorisation is approved, the employee applies for the entry visa at the Brazilian consulate in their country of residence. The visa allows entry into Brazil under the approved authorisation. It grants no rights of its own, and its validity is separate from the term of the residence authorisation.
VITEM V: work visa. This is the entry visa for the work-based authorisations: RN 02, RN 11, RN 03 and RN 04. It covers work both with and without a Brazilian employment relationship.
VITEM IX: investor visa. The entry visa that follows an RN 13 authorisation.
VITEM XI: family reunion visa. The entry visa for family members with an approved reunion authorisation. It is valid for one year, and the holder has to register with the Polícia Federal within 90 days of arrival.
VIVIS: business visitor visa. This one stands apart, because it isn’t based on a residence authorisation at all. The VIVIS is for short trips: meetings, contract negotiations, conferences, trade fairs, market research and visits to clients or partners. It doesn’t allow employment or remunerated work in Brazil. Since October 2025, it also covers short technical services and technology transfer of up to 90 days under a contract between a foreign and a Brazilian entity, provided the person stays employed and paid abroad. For a short technical assignment, that can replace the RN 03 or RN 04 process. For longer stays, you still need the residence authorisation.
After Arrival: Registration in Brazil
Arriving in Brazil isn’t the end of the process. The employee has to register with the Polícia Federal within the applicable deadline, generally 90 days after entry, and receives the CRNM (Carteira de Registro Nacional Migratório) with their RNM number. They also need a CPF from the Receita Federal, which is required for employment registration, payroll and opening a bank account.
Missing these deadlines can put the employee’s legal status at risk from the start, so plan the first weeks after arrival as carefully as the application itself.
Maintaining the Residence Authorisation
The authorisation is granted for a limited period, and it stays valid only as long as the situation it was granted for stays the same. Track the expiry date and start the renewal well before it runs out. Keep the registration details up to date, and check whether changes in the assignment, such as a new role, a different Brazilian entity, a longer project or a move from a temporary assignment to local employment, require a new or amended authorisation.
Don’t wait for the authorisation to expire before you look at it again. The real question is whether what the employee does in Brazil still matches what was authorised.
The Risk: Falling Under Brazilian Labour Law
If it doesn’t match, the consequences go beyond immigration.
Brazilian labour authorities and courts look at how a relationship works in practice, not at what the documents say. An employee who works in Brazil under an authorisation or visa that doesn’t fit their actual activities can end up under Brazilian labour law, without anyone having decided that. Think of a technical assistance specialist under RN 03 who starts managing a local team, a technology transfer assignment that turns into a permanent role in the Brazilian organisation, or a business visitor who performs productive work. If the employee works regularly for a Brazilian entity, under its direction and in return for payment, the relationship can be treated as CLT employment, with everything that comes with it: FGTS, INSS, the 13th salary, vacation, termination rights and possible back payments. Immigration consequences such as fines, cancelled authorisations or removal from the country come on top of that.
The safeguard is simple to describe and easy to forget in practice. Choose the route based on the real assignment, keep the actual work in line with the authorisation, and review the situation whenever the role, entity or duration changes. If you’re unsure whether a change requires a new route, ask before it happens.
How We Help
Ipanema International provides end-to-end immigration support for international companies relocating employees to Brazil. From choosing the right route and obtaining the residence authorisation to the visa process, post-arrival registrations and ongoing compliance, we make sure your employees start their assignment in line with Brazilian rules and stay there.
