Brazil's Real Estate Residency ('Golden Visa'): What the Rule Actually Requires

The rule behind the "golden visa"

"Golden visa" is a marketing label, not a term in Brazilian law. The rule is CNIg Resolução Normativa nº 36/2018, as amended by Resolution 46/2021 and Resolution 49/2024, and the Ministry of Justice publishes a consolidated text. The Ministry's list of resolutions, checked on November 3, 2026, shows those two amendments and no others. Resolution 49/2024 changed only the wording of the bank declaration in Resolution 36.

The rule is short, and most of what is said about it online is looser than the text. This guide walks through it clause by clause. It is general information as of November 2026, not advice on any particular purchase.

Requirement	What the text says	Where
Whose money	Your own funds, of foreign origin	art. 1, sole para.
What property	Urban, built or under construction	art. 2
How much	At least R$1,000,000; up to 30% less in the North and Northeast (R$700,000)	art. 2 and §1
Combining	Several properties may be combined	art. 2, §2
Financing	Only for the part above the minimum	art. 3, §2
Term	4 years	art. 3, §4; art. 4
Then	Indefinite term, if the investment is kept	art. 5
Presence	At least 14 days in Brazil in each two-year period	art. 6

Thresholds: how much, and where

The property must be urban, built or under construction, with a total value of at least R$1,000,000 (art. 2). For property in the North and Northeast regions, the minimum may be up to 30% lower (art. 2, §1), which is R$700,000. That reduction is the only regional one in the text; property in the South or Southeast follows the general R$1,000,000.

Several properties may be combined to reach the minimum (art. 2, §2). Co-ownership is allowed only if each co-owner invested the minimum (art. 3, §1), so two people cannot split one R$1,000,000 property and both qualify.

The money: your own, from abroad

The Ministry may grant residence to an individual who invests their own funds of foreign origin (art. 1, sole paragraph). Three consequences follow from the text:

• Financing counts only above the minimum (art. 3, §2). A mortgage cannot make up any of the R$1,000,000 or R$700,000.
• The path of the money is evidence. The file needs a declaration from an institution authorized by the Banco Central do Brasil confirming the international transfer of capital for the purchase (art. 3, as reworded by Resolution 49/2024).
• You need a CPF. The Receita Federal requires one for anyone holding real estate or a bank account in Brazil, resident or not. See CPF and RNM.

Built or under construction: the documents for each

Built property	Property under construction
The property registration ("Registro Geral do Imóvel") showing your ownership, free of liens	The registered promise-of-sale contract
The bank's declaration of the international transfer of capital	The bank's declaration of the international transfer of capital
	The building permit ("Alvará de Construção")
	The registered development memorial ("Memorial de Incorporação")

Alongside these, the resolution refers to the general documents of CNIg Resolution 1/2017 (art. 3). The Ministry may also inspect on site to verify the investment (art. 3, §3).

Applying: from abroad or from inside Brazil

The residence can be requested from abroad, as a prior authorization followed by a temporary visa at a consulate, or from inside Brazil (art. 3 and art. 4). In Brazil, residence for investment purposes is requested online from the Ministry of Justice through MigranteWeb. The Ministry's official estimate is up to 30 days for a correctly prepared file and up to 60 days when corrections are requested, both extendable.

After the grant, you register with the Federal Police: within 90 days of entry on a temporary visa, or within 30 days of publication in the Diário Oficial for a grant made in Brazil. That registration date matters here more than on any other route, because the presence rule below counts from it.

Four years, then indefinite

• Term: 4 years (art. 3, §4; art. 4, sole paragraph).
• After 4 years: the residence may be changed to an indefinite term if the investment is maintained, with a copy of your CRNM and criminal record certificates from where you lived (art. 5). Under CNIg Resolution 30/2018 (art. 1, §1), the decision is due within 30 days of a complete file, extendable once for an equal period with reasons.

The 14-day rule

You must be in Brazil at least 14 days, consecutive or not, in each two-year period, counted from your Federal Police registration (art. 6). It is a low bar, but it is a hard one: it is written as a condition of the residence.

What happens if something slips

• You miss the 14 days, or the deadline to ask for the indefinite term: a new 4-year residence can be requested if the investment is maintained (art. 6-A).
• The basis ends, for example you sell the property: the residence can be declared lost (art. 6-B).

Citizenship

Decreto 9.199/2017, art. 221, counts only residence for an indefinite term toward the residence periods for naturalization. On the plain text, the first 4 years under Resolution 36 do not count; ordinary naturalization then needs 4 years of indefinite-term residence (art. 233). We read the decree's original published text, which has been amended since 2017, so check the consolidated text before relying on a specific article.

Family members

Resolution 36 does not mention dependents. A spouse or child applies for family reunion under the Migration Law (art. 37). Under Decreto 9.199, art. 153, the family member can file at the same time as you but is granted only after you (§§8 and 9); while your residence has an end date, theirs ends on the same date (§5), and once yours is indefinite, so is theirs (§4). They may work in Brazil like a Brazilian (§10).

Tax: a residence is not a tax rule

The Receita Federal answered this question for this rule. Solução de Consulta COSIT nº 180/2021 says Resolution 36 "is not a tax rule," and that a person who enters with the temporary visa becomes a Brazilian tax resident on the date they complete 184 days in Brazil within up to 12 months, unless they got a permanent visa or a Brazilian employment link first. We read the ruling's official summary as reproduced by IBET, because the Receita's own database search returned no result. What residency then triggers, on both the Brazilian and the US side, is in Brazil Tax Residency for Americans.

The alternative: investing in a company

If the goal is residence through investment rather than property, CNIg Resolution 13/2017 is the other route.

	Real estate (RN 36)	Company (RN 13)
Minimum	R$1,000,000, or R$700,000 in the North and Northeast	R$500,000 with an investment or business plan
Lower tier	None	From R$150,000 for innovation or research projects meeting set conditions (technology park, incubator, accelerator or government innovation program)
Initial term	4 years	Indefinite
Ongoing condition	Keep the investment; 14 days per two years	Prove the investment or business plan is being carried out

Rural, border and coastal property

Resolution 36 covers urban property only, so rural land does not qualify for this residence. Other rules also apply to foreign buyers generally:

• Rural land. INCRA controls the purchase and lease of rural property by foreigners. Apart from a first purchase by a foreign individual of up to 3 MEI (a regional area unit) outside the border area, INCRA authorization is required.
• Border strip and national-security areas. All property there needs prior consent from the National Defense Council.
• Coastal Union land ("terrenos de marinha"). Land within 33 metres inland of the 1831 mean high-tide line, on the coast, around islands and along tidal rivers and lakes, belongs to the Federal Union (Decreto-Lei 9.760/1946, art. 2). Any transfer needs the SPU's CAT (Certidão de Autorização para Transferência) and usually the laudêmio, which the SPU sets at 5% of the updated value of the Union's land, excluding buildings.
• Foreign buyers of Union land also need the SPU's prior authorization, unless an individual buys 1,000 m² or less outside strategic zones. Strategic zones include the 100-metre strip along the coast, the border strip and areas near military installations, where the authorization is issued after the local military command is consulted. The SPU guide states a service time of up to 60 days. The 1946 text of the decree has no 1,000 m² exemption; the SPU's 2025 guide applies one, and we follow the guide as current practice.

For island and beach cities such as Florianópolis, this is a real check, not a technicality.

What the purchase itself involves

The residency rule sits on top of an ordinary Brazilian purchase:

• Deed. A transfer of real estate worth more than 30 times the minimum wage needs a public deed (Código Civil, art. 108), drawn up by a notary, a private professional holding a public delegation (Constitution, art. 236). If you do not speak Portuguese and the notary does not understand your language, a sworn public translator attends as interpreter (Código Civil, art. 215).
• Registration. Ownership passes only when the deed is registered at the Registro de Imóveis; until then the seller remains the owner (art. 1.245). That matters for the "free of liens" registration Resolution 36 asks for.
• ITBI. A municipal transfer tax (Constitution, art. 156, II); each city sets its own rate. In Florianópolis the tax code sets 2%, or 0.5% on the part financed through the Sistema Financeiro da Habitação. We read that text on LegisWeb, a secondary host, and did not check later amendments. ITBI is charged by the city on the property's value, and the rules on which value are in flux, so we state no rule on it.
• Notary and registry fees are set by state law and published in yearly tables, so they differ by state.

Myths checked against the text

• "It is a 2-year residence, renewable, and you must spend 30 days in Brazil after registering." The text says 4 years, then indefinite, and 14 days in each two-year period.
• "R$700,000 is enough in Santa Catarina." The lower amount applies to the North and Northeast only. Santa Catarina, home to Florianópolis, is in the South.
• "The golden visa now grants permanent residency from day one" (2025 news). The consolidated text, checked against the Ministry's list on November 3, 2026, still says 4 years, then an indefinite term. No resolution changing that has been published.
• "You can finance the purchase." Only the part above the minimum.
• "Any property counts." Urban only, and the money must be your own and come from abroad.

Where to go from here

• The whole move, in order: Moving to Brazil from the US.
• Your CPF before you buy, and your RNM after the grant: CPF and RNM.
• When the 184-day tax clock applies to you: Brazil Tax Residency for Americans.
• To work through the rule with a document request list, a 14-day presence tracker and questions for the seller, the notary and the registry, see the Residency Through Real Estate in Brazil: A Buyer's Guide.