Brazilian Birth Certificate for US Immigration Purposes

Brazilian Birth Certificates vary in form depending on the state where it was issued and can be found at the Civil Registry (Cartório de Registro Civil das Pessoas Naturais) of the Brazilian State of Birth. However, there are two (2) versions that are acceptable for US Immigration: standard version and unabridged version. The extended versions (Certidão de Inteiro Teor and Certidão de Pública Forma) contain the same basic information required in the simplified version as well as more detailed information about the birth and a history of any amendments.

Procedure for Obtaining:

Available from Civil Registry (Cartório de Registro Civil das Pessoas Naturais). Until recently it was necessary to visit a civil registry office in person or by sending a personal representative in the state where the record is maintained in order to obtain a copy of the document. Now some cartórios may be able to obtain records from other states, although this is not consistent for all documents and for all states in Brazil.

In cases where people have married, divorced, and etc.: to obtain an annotated birth certificate, a person needs to go to a notary (cartório) and request an updated copy of his/her birth certificate. However, the lack of an annotation on the birth certificate does not necessarily mean that the person’s personal status has not changed. Usually, a recently issued birth certificate includes all the amendments and/or annotations of that person’s life events (marriage, divorce, and etc.). That said, in cases where birth certificates lack annotations and/or amendments and have not been updated do not necessarily mean that a particular life event has not occurred.