Brazil Digital Nomad Visa for Americans: Requirements, Documents and Official Fees (2026)

The short version

Brazil's digital nomad visa is the temporary visa called VITEM XIV. It rests on one short rule, CNIg Resolution 45/2021, published in January 2022. The Ministry of Justice's list of normative resolutions, checked on November 3, 2026, shows no amendment to it.

Point	What the rule says	Where
Who	Remote work for a foreign employer, using information technology	RN 45 art. 1
Not covered	Anyone working for an employer in Brazil	RN 45 art. 1, §2
Money	US$1,500 a month from a foreign source, or US$18,000 in bank funds	RN 45 art. 5, III
Term	Up to 1 year	RN 45 art. 3 and 4
Renewal	For an equal period	RN 45 art. 6
Apply	At a Brazilian consulate, or from inside Brazil	RN 45 art. 3 and 4

Everything below is general information, current as of November 2026. Consulates differ and fees change, so re-open each source before you act. If you are still deciding between routes, start with the hub: Moving to Brazil from the US: Every Step, in Order.

Who the visa is for

The resolution defines a digital nomad as an immigrant who can do their work in Brazil remotely, using information and communication technology, for a foreign employer (art. 1, §1). It expressly excludes anyone who works for an employer in Brazil, with or without an employment contract (art. 1, §2).

To prove nomad status you need two things (art. 5, I and II):

• your own statement that you can do your work remotely using information technology, and
• an employment or service contract, or other documents proving your link with the foreign employer.

Freelancers, contractors and LLC owners

This is the most-asked question about the route, and the honest answer has two parts.

• Freelancers and independent contractors with clients abroad. The text accepts "contrato de trabalho ou de prestação de serviços" (an employment or service contract). Most defensible reading: a freelancer fits the text if every paying client is outside Brazil and the income test is met.
• Owners of their own US company, such as a single-member LLC, paying themselves. Resolution 45 is silent. A contract with your own LLC is literally a contract with a foreign party, but the New York consulate states that the route "is not available to business owners." Most defensible reading: not settled. A consulate may refuse it, and New York says it will. No Ministry of Justice guidance on business owners was found for the in-Brazil route either.
• Clients or an employer in Brazil: excluded by art. 1, §2.

The income test

Article 5, III asks for means of support from a foreign paying source of at least US$1,500 per month, or available bank funds of at least US$18,000. It is one or the other. The Chicago consulate repeats the same figures in its document list.

Documents: what the rule asks for, and what US consulates add

What Resolution 45 itself requires

For a visa at a consulate, article 3 lists:

• a valid passport
• health insurance valid in Brazil
• the consular fee receipt
• the visa application form
• proof of transport into Brazil
• a criminal record certificate from your country of origin (or an equivalent, at the consul's discretion)
• proof of nomad status (the statement and contract above)

Chicago's list

The Chicago consulate's VITEM XIV page (page updated September 29, 2026) is the most detailed US list we found. It asks for:

1. the online application form and a photo
2. a valid passport
3. your employment or service contract, notarized and apostilled
4. a letter from your employer confirming you are hired and authorized to work from Brazil, notarized and apostilled
5. your signed statement explaining how you will work remotely
6. proof of income: US$1,500 a month from a foreign source, or US$18,000 in bank funds
7. a health insurance policy valid in Brazil for the whole stay
8. an FBI background check issued within 90 days
9. proof of residence for the last 12 months
10. your birth certificate

Chicago also says the FBI check and the birth certificate must be apostilled to register with the Federal Police in Brazil, and that the birth certificate must then be translated by a sworn translator in Brazil ("tradutor juramentado").

That matches the general rule. Brazil has applied the Hague Apostille Convention since August 14, 2016, so US public documents are apostilled by the US authority that issued them, and a foreign-language document needs a translation by a sworn public translator registered with a Junta Comercial in Brazil to have effect there.

New York's list

The New York consulate (page updated December 13, 2024) describes the route as one for professionals whose work is done entirely remotely for a foreign employer, and adds the business-owner exclusion quoted above. Its list includes an FBI background check issued within the last 3 months, a birth certificate copy, health insurance valid in Brazil, an employment contract signed by the foreign employer, an employer statement that the work can be done remotely, and your own statement.

The two lists overlap but are not identical. Each consulate serves its own jurisdiction, so the list that applies is the one published by the consulate for the state where you live.

Health insurance "valid in Brazil"

Unresolved from a primary source. Resolution 45 requires "seguro de saúde válido no território nacional" and defines nothing more: no minimum cover, no list of insurers, no requirement that the insurer be Brazilian. Secondary sources, mostly insurers, say consulates expect a policy or certificate that names Brazil, or worldwide cover that clearly includes Brazil, for the whole stay. That is secondary-source practice, not an official rule.

Passport validity and electronic visas

No minimum validity period appears in the federal rules: the application needs a "documento de viagem válido" (Decreto 9.199/2017, art. 10, I; RN 45 art. 3, I). Two articles of the Migration Law regulation matter more now that visas are electronic:

• Art. 9: a valid visa in an expired passport can normally be used together with a new passport, but its sole paragraph says this does not apply to visas issued electronically.
• Art. 17: the validity of an electronic visa may be tied to the passport's expiry date.

So with an electronic visa, a passport that expires during your plans is a problem the old sticker visa did not have. We read the decree's original published text; it has been amended since 2017, so check the current consolidated text before relying on a specific article.

Electronic issuance since September 30, 2026

Chicago's page carries a notice at the top: "As of September 30, 2026, Brazilian Temporary Visas for nationals of Australia, Canada, and the United States ... will be issued electronically." Applications are submitted online with all documents uploaded, no physical documents or passport are sent, and the visa arrives by email.

Two caveats, stated plainly:

• Lower on the same Chicago page, older text still describes mailing originals. The top notice is the newer one.
• Unresolved: whether every US consulate has switched, and how the fee is paid in the electronic flow. We could not confirm either from an official page.

Processing time is not published. Chicago says it "may vary and will be determined by the Consular Authority."

Applying from inside Brazil instead

You do not have to apply from the US. Article 4 of Resolution 45 lets you request the residence from inside Brazil, from the Ministry of Justice, online through MigranteWeb. The in-Brazil list is different from the consular one:

• the application form (Annex I) and your passport
• proof of your parents' names, legalized and sworn-translated, unless your passport shows them
• a power of attorney if someone represents you
• the processing-fee receipt (GRU)
• criminal record certificates from everywhere you lived in the last five years
• a sworn declaration of no criminal record anywhere in the last five years
• proof of nomad status

Resolution 45 says the activities it covers may also be carried out by someone in visitor status, within the stay limits for their nationality (art. 2), and Decreto 9.199 art. 124 says a visit visa may be turned into a residence authorization. Americans have needed an e-Visa to visit Brazil since April 10, 2025; it covers stays of up to 90 days.

The Ministry of Justice's official estimate for a residence decision is up to 30 days for a correctly prepared file and up to 60 days when corrections are requested, both extendable. That is an estimate, not a promise.

Official fees

Fee	Amount	Who charges it	Date read
VITEM XIV consular fee, US citizens	US$290	Brazilian consulates in the US (New York page; Chicago fee table)	November 2, 2026
Residence processing fee, if you apply inside Brazil	R$168.13	Ministry of Justice (MigranteWeb page)	November 3, 2026
CRNM card, after you arrive	R$204.77	Federal Police (registration page)	November 3, 2026
Visitor e-Visa, if you enter as a visitor first	US$80.90	Brazilian consulates via VFS Global (San Francisco page)	November 2, 2026

The US$290 and US$80.90 figures were read on November 2, 2026 and could not be re-read on November 3, 2026, because the consulate pages answered with a verification check. Electronic issuance may also change how the consular fee is paid.

Costs with no official figure

Several costs are real but set by third parties, so there is no official number to quote: the FBI background check, apostilles from each issuing US authority, notarization, sworn translation in Brazil, and health insurance.

After you land: Federal Police registration

Holders of a temporary visa register with the Federal Police within 90 days of entering Brazil. If your residence was granted inside Brazil, the deadline is 30 days after the grant is published in the Diário Oficial. Registration is in person, by appointment, at the unit where you live, collects fingerprints, and gives you an RNM number and a CRNM card. Missing the deadline can bring penalties under Decreto 9.199/2017. The full walk-through, with the CPF, is in CPF and RNM: Your First Two Brazilian Numbers, Explained.

How long it lasts, and what comes next

• Initial term: up to one year, both for the visa and for residence requested in Brazil (art. 3 and art. 4, sole paragraphs).
• Renewal: the residence "may be renewed for an equal period" (art. 6), with a fresh no-criminal-record declaration, proof of nomad status, a copy of your CRNM and criminal record certificates for the period you lived in Brazil. The text provides one renewal and no second one. Most defensible reading: one year plus one year, two years in total. The text does not use the words "only once," and the Ministry has published no guidance either way.
• No path to an indefinite term inside Resolution 45. The text has no conversion clause, and CNIg Resolution 30/2018, which lists the resolutions that can move to an indefinite term, predates it and has no annex for it.
• Switching basis from inside Brazil is allowed by the general rules. Decreto 9.199 art. 123, §1 lets residence be granted whatever your current status, if you meet the new category's requirements. Under art. 130, asking for residence on a different basis means giving up the previous status, and asking after the previous one has expired brings an overstay fine. Bases that do not need a Brazilian employer include real estate investment, investment in a Brazilian company, retirement income and family reunion.
• Nomad years do not count toward naturalization. Decreto 9.199 art. 221 counts only periods of residence for an indefinite term.
• False statements or omitted relevant information lead to cancellation of the residence (RN 45 art. 7).

Long stays also change your tax position: on a temporary basis, Brazilian tax residency generally starts on your 184th day in Brazil within 12 months. See Brazil Tax Residency for Americans.

Myths checked against the text

• "The visa fee is about US$40" (or US$136). The New York and Chicago consulates list US$290 for US citizens.
• "Business owners qualify, no problem." The text is silent on owners of their own company, and the New York consulate says the route is not available to business owners.
• "You can convert in-country within 30 days, under a new consolidated ordinance" (a May 2026 news claim). No new rule exists in the Ministry's list, which ends at Resolution 51 of March 14, 2025. In-country applications have been possible since 2022 under art. 4. "30 days" matches two older figures, the Ministry's processing estimate and the Federal Police registration deadline after a grant is published, and neither is a guaranteed conversion time.
• "It leads to permanent residence." Resolution 45 has no such provision. A longer stay means requesting residence on a different basis.

Where to go from here

• For the whole sequence, from visiting first to your first Brazilian tax year, read the hub: Moving to Brazil from the US.
• For what happens in your first 90 days, read CPF and RNM.
• For when Brazilian tax residency starts and what it triggers, read Brazil Tax Residency for Americans.
• If you want the consulate document lists, the apostille and translation steps and an arrival timeline organized into trackers you fill in yourself, the Brazil Digital Nomad Visa Kit puts them in one place.