Rules, Information and Important Notices

1. Legislation and rules:

a) Authorization to leave Brazil (to travel abroad):

According to Articles 83 and 84 of the Statute of the Child and Adolescent (Law 8.069/1990), to leave Brazil unaccompanied, in the company of only one parent or in the company of a third party, a minor under 18 years of Brazilian nationality must be duly authorized by both parents or legal guardian.

There are no restrictions on the entry of Brazilian minors into Brazil, but there are restrictions on the departure of Brazilian minors from Brazil when they are not accompanied by both parents or legal guardians.

Travel authorization to leave Brazil is given through a document called the Minor Travel Authorization.

The Federal Police will require that the document be presented when the minor is boarding, when leaving Brazil.

IMPORTANT:

The rules for leaving Brazil for minors apply to all Brazilian minors, even if they have other nationalities and even if they are using a foreign passport.

Check whether or not the minor has been registered at the Embassy or at a registry office in Brazil ("Cartório") (ie, if he or she has a Brazilian birth certificate).

ATTENTION!

If your child has a Brazilian birth certificate, he/she is a Brazilian citizen. Therefore, even if he/she travels with a foreign passport, the authorization IS MANDATORY, as he/she is still Brazilian.

If your child does not yet have a Brazilian birth certificate, that is, it has not been registered at a Brazilian Embassy abroad, or at a notary office in Brazil ("Cartório"), an authorization IS NOT NECESSARY, as he/she is not Brazilian.

Note that Brazilian citizens should preferably use the Brazilian passport when entering Brazil, to avoid unnecessary delays/questions at the border.

Whenever a child of a Brazilian citizen travels with a passport from another country, the border authorities (Federal Police) may request additional clarification on the reasons for the lack of Brazilian birth registration and the use of a foreign passport.

Remember: By Brazilian law, the birth of children of Brazilians MUST be registered at the Brazilian Embassy or directly at a notary office in Brazil.

If the birth of your child has not yet been registered, you must do so, so that he/she acquires Brazilian nationality, and then can apply for a Brazilian passport.

Attention: The authorization to travel outside the national territory can be included in the Brazilian passport. (RECOMMENDED).

If it is entered in the Brazilian passport, an additional specific authorization is not required.

b) Authorization for travel within Brazilian territory:

Authorization to travel within Brazilian territory is NOT required:

- If your child is over 16 years old; 

- If your child is under 16 years old but traveling with at least one of the parents; and

- If your child is under 16 years old but travelling with one of the grandparents, uncle or brother/sister over 18 years old.

This document is required by airline and viary (bus) companies to allow travel within Brazilian territory.

Important: This authorization is mandatory for both Brazilians (includind those with dual foreign nationality) and foreign citizens.

Adolescents over 16 years old do not need authorization to travel within the national territory, simply carrying an identification document, according to ANTT Resolution, for land travel, and ANAC, for air travel.

Attention: The authorization to travel within the national territory can be included in the Brazilian passport. (RECOMMENDED).

If it is entered in the passport, an additional specific authorization is not required.

c) How to make a travel authorization:

The Minor Travel Authorization for minors of Brazilian nationality to travel within Brazilian territory and from Brazil destined abroad (including those wth dual foreign nationality) can be carried out in different ways:

- Abroad, by the Consulates and Embassies of Brazil; 

- Directly at a local public notary (in Finland, DVV-Maistraatti);

- In Brazil, by notary offices (cartórios);

- Electronically, at "e-notariado".

The authorization for Brazilians can also be included in the minor's new Brazilian passport. (RECOMMENDED)

For minors who do not have Brazilian nationality (never had their birth registered at the Embassy or Brazilian Notary "Cartório" and only have a foreign nationality) the authorization for travel within Brazilian territory can only be performed at the local notary (in Finland, at DVV-Maistraatti).

d) Expiry date:

Pursuant to Resolution No. 131/2011 of the National Council of Justice, the Minor's Travel Authorization must contain an expiration date, to be set by the minor's parents or guardians. In case of omission, it is understood that the authorization is valid for two years.

The authorization given in the Brazilian passport has the same validity as the travel document.

Unless expressly stated, international travel authorizations expressed in Resolution No. 131/11 of the National Council of Justice do not constitute an authorization for the minor to permanently reside abroad.

e) Important notes:

The travel authorization must be prepared in two originals. 

For travels from Brazil destined abroad one original will be retained by the Federal Police inspection agent at the time of boarding, together with a copy of the child's or adolescent's identification document, and the other must remain with the child or teenager, or with the third person who is older and capable of accompanying him on the trip.

It is the responsibility of parents/legal guardians to comply with what Brazilian legislation determines for minors to travel, as per the resolution of the CNJ. The resolution aims to defend the interests of minors.

The Embassy does not provide express or urgent services (for example, due to the minor being denied boarding, flight losses in Brazil, due to lack of authorization, pursuant to the Law).

Attention: At the end of the service, the travel authorization is delivered to the applicant in physical format (original document), as determined by the Itamaraty Consular Regulations.

ATTENTION: Under no circumstances will the Consular Section of the Embassy send the document electronically, by email or in any other format, to third parties (for example, the detained parent traveling with the minor, airlines, airport agents, Police stations Federal, Federal Police at the airport, etc.).

Parents/legal guardians must plan ahead and adequately prepare for traveling with minors, including and especially regarding documentation.

Those who cannot wait for the original document to be sent by the parent who performed the service, in Finland, to the parent traveling with the minor, in Brazil, by post or courier (DHL, Fedex and the like), must obtain an Electronic Travel Authorization - AEV or a Judicial Sentence from the Childhood and Youth Jusitce Court ("Vara da Infância e da Juventude") of the city where they are located.

ATTENTION: Under no circumstances may Brazilian Embassies and Consulates abroad interfere with the work of the Federal Police, nor act with that police authority for the release of minors detained at Brazilian airports. The Federal Police fulfills its duty to protect minors by verifying that parents are observing Brazilian law.

The competence for applying Brazilian law at the border is exclusive to the Police Authority of the Brazilian border: Federal Police.

Only a Judge of the Childhood and Youth Jusitce Court ("Vara da Infância e da Juventude"), in Brazil, may authorize the departure of a minor who is not duly provided with a travel authorization.

Avoid unnecessary inconveniences on your trip: renew the minor's Brazilian passport at the Embassy and request that the authorization be entered in the passport (RECOMENDED).

Minors that only have foreign nationality (do not have the Brazilian nationality) traveling to Brazil with a temporary visa issued by the Embassy (temporary student visa - VITEM IV, visit visa - VIVIS, or visa for family reunion VITEM - XI) will provide, during the visa process at our Embassy, authorization to travel within Brazilian territory (Letter of Consent), which must be presented with the visa application and will be returned by the Embassy to the traveler for use in Brazil. Instructions are available on the on specific visa website. An additional authorization in this case is not necessary.