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In Brazil any child born in national territory (except on who is born to foreign nationals in Brazil in the service of their government) are automatically Brazilian citizens.

All children born in Brazil must be registered as soon as possible following birth in the Cartório de Registro das Pessoas Naturais nearest to the residence of the child's parents.

If a hospital birth, the hospital will issue a DNV (Declaração de Nacido Vivo) which should be taken to the Cartório. The child's father can register the child alone provided that he takes with him the Identity Document (Registro Geral or other foreign ID) of the natural mother. The child's mother however cannot register the child alone if she is registering the child in the name of the father. He must either be present or she must have a notarized Power of Attorney (Procuração) to do so. A Birth Certificate is the right of all children and there is no charge for issuing this document.

If the birth takes place in any other place than in a hospital then there obviously will not be any DNV issued. If the birth should take place at home, for example, the procedure to register the birth is exactly the same, however the parents must take two witnesses with them who can attest to all the information given surrounding the child's birth.

If a child, is already registered in the name of the mother solely, the law now permits that the father can officially recognize paternity (Reconhecimento de Paternidade) in the Cartório the child will then be issued with a new Birth Certificate with the father's information and if so chosen the child's name can be changed to the father's surname.

There is no distinction made whether both parents are Brazilian nationals or if one or both of them are foreign nationals (except noted above). The registration and citizendhip are exactly the same for everyone. If a foreign couple give birth to a child while in Brazil, they immediately have the right to apply for Permanência Definitiva com base em prole brasileiro(a).

  Cheers, 
  William James Woodward, Brazil & Canada Expert - Expat-blog Team

Just to add:

1) a childs mother can register the child, after 15 days of birth, in case the father did not do so. (is going to change soon).

2) a mother can register the child without a POA in case she is married and her husband will be considered the father (again, only after 15 days). In all other cases a POA is needed.

Of all stupid laws, this one of the 15 days as about the stupidest.

Thanks for the additional information I had forgotten that you had mentioned previously about a case where the parents were married.

I agree, what difference does 15 days make? The law is really stupid, but we all know that many laws here really are.

  Cheers, 
  William James Woodward, Brazil & Canada Expert - Expat-blog Team

I have to say William, you seem to truly be an expert on Brazil matters. If you ever leave this forum please warn all of us. I definitely will need to contact you when I finally return to Brazil permanently. Thanks for all the advice you give!

Hi dofire,

Thanks for your remarkable vote of confidence!

Unfortunately, if I ever do leave this forum I certainly won't be able to warn anybody, because I'll be going out in a pine box!!! So don't worry, I plan on being around for a good long time yet to help everybody here who needs it.

  Cheers, 
  William James Woodward, Brazil & Canada Expert - Expat-blog Team

David

Last week Monday I received our child's birth certificate. It was a very simple process for me (maybe I was lucky). We had a home birth, but our nurse is the only registered nurse to be able to provide a declaration of life birth.

She filled it out in our house, with all the appropriate information. I took it to the Catorio on the Friday morning and picked it up the following Monday.

I had to provide our marriage certificate, names of my parents and my wifes parents, and what we both did for a living. The process took 10 minutes and to pick it up was instant. And it is free:)

Yeah, getting a Birth Certificate issued is the ONLY thing in Brazil that isn't fraught with absurd bureaucracy.

  Cheers, 
  William James Woodward, Brazil & Canada Expert - Expat-blog Team

I need  help urgently. I delivered a week ago. I went to the Cartorio to register my son, I was told I cannot add the father's surname, because we are not married. The problem is, I am in Brazil, but he is not in Brazil. How do I sort this issue out? I need your urgent response please.

Hello elsina2003,

I am surprised that the Cartório did not tell you how to register the child in the absence of the father. Did you ask them to explain how, or just accept that it could not be done?

It may be slightly more complicated because the father is not in Brazil, but he can make a Declaration of Paternity, with his signature notarized. If written in any other language than Portuguese, it will need to be translated into Portuguese (here in Brazil) by a sworn translator (tradutor juramentado). The Declaration will need to contain not only his full name, nationality, birthplace, identification numbers; but it should also include the full names and birthplaces of his parents as well. It should specify you as the mother of the child, acknowledge that he is the father and the Declaration should be accompanied by certified copies of his identifying documents.

You should go back to the Cartório and ask if they require any other documents given that he is not in the country.

Cheer,
James      Expat-blog Experts Team

Thanks so much, I went there today, I was informed I can let him send me a declaration, verified by their Embassy in Ghana. Thanks for the information you gave me here. they did not mention the fact that it has to contain his parents name. I will make sure he includes his parents' names and all the others you mentioned!!! I'm very grateful.

Yes, for legal reasons (mostly inheritance and support) family line is very important here in Brazil. All public documents here in Brazil record not only the individual named in the document, but also their parentage. Birth Certificates here must contain information regarding both the maternal and paternal grandparents of the newborn, the names of the parents, their nationality/citizenship along with all the details of the birth.

Cheers,
James

I need further information. I will return to Ghana with my son. Now, I want to know exactly what I need to apply for the passport, apart from the obvious birth certificate.

Obtaining a passport and permission to travel outside of Brazil requires the consent of both parents. Since the child's father is in Ghana this is really going to complicate and delay the process considerably since there are ABSOLUTELY NO EXCEPTIONS to the very strict rules for travel with minor children here.

See the following Policia Federal website for information. It is written in Portuguese so you'll need someone to translate it for you or run it through Google Translator:



Cheers,
James     Expat-blog Experts Team

James, thanks for the information. I have requested for the necessary documents from the Child's father, he will go to the Brazillian Embassy in Ghana to have everything translated and confirmed as genuine, before 'DHLing' everything back to me.
I'm distraught. I'm thinking hard. Can I just register the child in my name, for now, and go to Ghana with him, thereby bypassing all these headaches, then once I'm in Ghana, go to the Brazilian Embassy in Ghana to amend his birth certificate and have the father's name appear on it, and also request a new passport?

I hope if I register the child in my name alone, there will be no need for parental consent to travel with him to Ghana?
I was pregnant before coming to Brazil, so I hope they will take a look at my visa,do the maths and realise the father is in Ghana, not Brazil.
I really need to be in Ghana, a month from today, at most. anything beyond and things are gonna go extremely to the left for me 

I truly think that registering the child in your name only is going to cause more headaches than it will be worth. It's going to make it extremely complicated to add the father's name from Ghana and you'll also have the problem of changing the child's name, which will require a Court Order from a Brazilian Court in order to correct the name on the Birth Certificate at a future date. There's also the issue of the Brazilian passport and it's going to really be a hassle to change the name on that in the future.

You're just going to have to hope that your husband can get the documents he needs ready and to you in time for you to register the child in his name and obtain the passport. There really is no other practical choice and if that means you're not going to be able to get back to Ghana when you're hoping to, that's just the way it goes unfortunately.

You can't change the bureaucracy in this country... people have been trying that for over 500 years and so far nobody has succeeded.

Cheers,
James

Just something that came to my mind :
Regarding the childs passport, there are options  when applying for the passport , that the child can travel without the written permission  a parent / guardian....independently . Its a new option. If you get that optioned passport you wont need the fathers persmission if the child is to travel outside from brazil again. ( this is for any future travel ) . You can confirm this from PF

For the child's birth registration, should I provide the unmarried family name of my mother or the married name? In my country, depending on document, either is being used, and both is correct. But I want to keep it all in line here in Brazil and according to Law.

What name are you using for her on your other Brazilian identification? It really doesn't matter whether you use the maiden name or married name as much as keeping it the same on ALL of your documents does.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

For the CPF I provided the maiden name. But on my own new birth certificate her married name is indicated whereas on my original birth certificate her maiden name was indicated. If I am asked for proof of her name then I only have my new birth certificate. That is why I was thinking of changing her name on the CPF so the name would be the same.

Yes, I'd recommend you go with the married name and stick with it on everything since it's already on the Birth Certificate.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

Do both forigner MARRIED parents have to be in Brazil to get baby’s birth registered and obtain passport? Or only mother can do it?

Do I have to translate our marriage certificate to Portuguese? Should it be authenticated?

I appreciate your efforts

Is it easy to obtain a notarized power of attorney in order to register the baby in the abscence of the father ? Can you please explain the procedure?

Yes if father is going to apply for RNE he needs to be present. The passport of the baby can be applied by the mother if the father gives her the authority.

Yes your marriage certificate has to be transalted to portugese by a govt certified translator

You should contact the Cartorio where you will do it to see what they requre. They are all not the same even though they should be.

Jim

Registering the birth only requires the mother be present and for this purpose you don't need the marriage certificate at all, simply indicate who the father is. However, father and mother will both need a document stating their full name and full names of their parents, e. g. a Cedula Consular issued by their embassy in Brazil.

Hi,
Thank you for your help,

But this going to be somewhat difficult for us, as most of the forigen embassies are located in Brasillia, and we are planning to stay in Floriano.

So, I need another feasible way of registering our new baby as well as issuing the Brazillian passport.

My regards,

You should ask your Cartório in Florianópolis what they require in terms of consular name confirmation. My experience is limited to São Paulo. In my wife's case, her embassy in Brasilia sent her the confirmation by mail so she never had to actually go there. Perhaps your consulate can handle it the same way.

In addition, in your specific case (not being in the country), in order to register the baby you may be asked to provide proof that you are actually the father.

I am now confused, marriage certificate would not help?

hello guys,

now as I am confused, I need to know exactly what documents should I bring with me before coming to Brazil,

1- Documents for birth registration /Brazilian Passport .
2- Documents for Permanent residency for the parents.

Please help me

It depends on the particular authority who decides in your case. The marriage certificate as such does not prove absolute fathership. A DNA test or report of your wife's Obstetrician/Gynecologist (OB/GYN)  would.

What about if would present at the time of registration?

This will help but they can still ask you for proof. I know of one case where an obstetrician's report was requested plus full passport details of both parents to see whether they were at the same place during conception.

If you are going to apply for permanency for one or both parents after the birth then you will need all the required documents for that too.

Jim

Thank you so much for your help

Hi James

I am new to this site and would appreciate your support

i was born in Brazil and at the age of 6, I was then adopted and moved to Austria.  I have been trying to locate my family and had no success.  I am not sure on how to go about this.  Can you please advise as to how I can get my original birth certificate.  I am trying to find my brother who is younger than me,  I would also like to find my parents. 

Can you please provide me some advice on how to do this?  I lived in Sao paulo from being a baby.  Your support will be very much appreciated.

Regards
Felipe

Which hospital were you born at?