How to get married in Brazil
A practical sequence for foreign documents, civil-registry eligibility, the property regime and the consequences that require a separate application.
A foreign national can marry in Brazil when the applicable civil requirements are met. The process should begin with the competent Registro Civil das Pessoas Naturais and a document assessment tailored to both parties. A ceremony booking does not resolve an earlier marriage, an unsuitable foreign record or an unresolved choice of property regime.
The sequence below separates civil eligibility, preparation of documents, celebration and later use of the certificate. Immigration, nationality and recognition abroad remain distinct questions. Planning them together helps avoid the mistaken assumption that marriage itself completes every subsequent legal step.
1. Establish capacity and current civil status
Civil Code Article 1,517 permits marriage from sixteen with the prescribed consent; adults ordinarily do not require that parental authorisation. Article 1,520, as amended by Law 13,811/2019, prohibits marriage below sixteen. Absence, refusal or a disputed need for judicial supplementation should be analysed under the relevant rules rather than treated as a routine exception to the minimum age.
A subsisting marriage is an impediment under Article 1,521, VI. Anyone previously married must supply reliable proof that the former bond ended. A pending divorce is different from an effective dissolution, and the Brazilian recognition or registration consequences of a foreign decree must be checked. A declaration of being single cannot cure an earlier marriage that remains legally effective.
Same-sex couples are protected by Brazil’s constitutional family-law framework and CNJ Resolution 175/2013, which prohibits refusal of civil marriage or conversion because the partners are of the same sex. Documentary eligibility and the particular registry procedure still apply. Neither nationality nor the sex of the couple should be used as a substitute for the proper legal assessment.
2. Confirm the receiving registry and its requirements
Obtain the competent civil registry’s written list before ordering foreign certificates or finalising travel. The habilitação procedure verifies legal eligibility. The authority for that procedure, the place of celebration and any later use of the certificate are related but distinct matters under the Public Records Law and Civil Code.
Identify both parties’ domiciles, identity documents, civil status, language needs and any intended representation. A foreign passport may be central to identification, but a universal assertion that no additional identifier or document can be requested is unsafe. Ask expressly about CPF documentation, address evidence, the accepted form and age of certificates, and any required registrations.
A person’s visitor status does not alone make a qualifying marriage impossible. That should not be converted into a promise that every foreign national may enter or remain in Brazil without complying with immigration rules. Entry permission, civil eligibility and a later residence application serve different purposes.
3. Prepare proof of identity, birth and the end of an earlier marriage
The core file ordinarily concerns identity, birth and freedom from matrimonial impediments, together with the declarations and evidence required for the parties’ circumstances. The registry should specify how a foreign civil-status record or an alternative permitted form of proof must be presented. Countries do not all issue an identically named certificate of no impediment.
For a divorced party, obtain the complete effective decree or appropriate civil-status evidence and determine the necessary Brazilian treatment. A widowed party needs the relevant death documentation. Name changes, different spellings, transliteration and inconsistent parentage information should be resolved before the file reaches its final stage.
Keep originals, certified copies and translations in a consistent record. A passport copy or an informal summary of a decree may be insufficient for the requested act. The document’s authenticity, its substantive effect and its acceptance by the registry require separate attention.
4. Determine authentication, translation and registration
Where the Apostille Convention operates for the document and States concerned, an apostille replaces the relevant legalisation formalities. Otherwise, consular legalisation or an applicable exemption must be assessed. Do not assume that every foreign certificate needs both an apostille and consular legalisation, or that every country follows the same route.
Portuguese translation by an appropriately qualified sworn translator may be required for the Brazilian procedure. Confirm the receiving authority’s current rules, including the treatment of translations or public instruments made abroad and any registration in the Registro de Títulos e Documentos. A general statement that every document and translation must pass through an identical sequence can obscure applicable exceptions.
An apostille certifies the prescribed origin-related formalities; it does not establish the substantive truth of the record or the validity of every clause. Likewise, translation does not complete a foreign divorce’s recognition or resolve the applicable matrimonial property law. Order each service for a defined purpose.
5. Choose the property arrangements before the wedding
For an international couple, first assess the applicable law. LINDB Article 7, paragraph 4, addresses the law governing the matrimonial property regime through the spouses’ common domicile or first matrimonial domicile where their domiciles differed. A Brazilian ceremony does not alone settle every financial consequence.
Where Brazilian law governs, the statutory regimes include partial community, universal community, contractual separation and participation in final acquisitions. Partial community is the default under Article 1,640 where no effective alternative or mandatory provision applies. Acquisitions, gifts, inheritances, substituted property, improvements, income and liabilities require the relevant qualifications; none of these regimes should be reduced to an absolute rule that all or no property is shared.
A domestic pacto antenupcial selecting another lawful regime ordinarily requires a public deed before marriage. Articles 1,653 and 1,657 distinguish its required form and subsequent-marriage condition from registration relevant to third-party effects. If an agreement was executed abroad, obtain a proper conflicts and enforceability assessment rather than assuming that an apostille makes it universally binding.
6. Complete habilitação and observe its validity
Public Records Law Article 67, paragraph 1, as amended by Law 14,382/2022, provides for electronic publicity and issuance of the eligibility certificate within up to five days when the documentation is in order. The former general fifteen-day posted-notice account is outdated. Objections or documentary problems follow the applicable procedure and can affect the practical timetable.
Civil Code Article 1,532 gives the eligibility certificate ninety days of effectiveness from its issuance. That period should be distinguished from document procurement and the time needed to arrange the ceremony. Confirm the actual certificate date and available appointments rather than counting ninety days from an assumed notice period.
Public Records Law Article 67 also addresses celebration before a civil registry different from the one that completed eligibility and the relevant communication between registries. Obtain confirmation for the intended arrangement. A statement that both parties must attend every stage together at one registry does not describe all legally available forms of the procedure.
7. Arrange witnesses, interpretation and celebration
Civil Code Article 1,525, III, requires the specified declaration by two adult witnesses for habilitação and expressly permits relatives or non-relatives. Article 1,534 addresses ceremony witnesses and also permits either relationship, with different numbers in specified circumstances. A blanket requirement that witnesses must be unrelated is therefore incorrect.
A participant who does not understand Portuguese must be able to understand the act and give informed consent. Confirm the interpretation arrangements required by the registry, the qualifications accepted and the stages for which assistance is needed. The interpreter should not be left to explain the property regime for the first time at a ceremony already booked on incompatible assumptions.
The celebration is scheduled according to the legal procedure and the arrangements accepted by the authority. A private venue may involve additional requirements and costs. The marriage entry and certificate should accurately reflect the parties’ identities, names and property regime; check the resulting record promptly.
8. Assess marriage by public power of attorney
Civil Code Article 1,542 permits representation through a public instrument with special powers, whose effectiveness cannot exceed ninety days. Identify the intended marriage and necessary authority precisely. A generic litigation mandate or informal letter should not be treated as the required instrument.
An instrument made abroad requires assessment of the competent issuing authority, consular eligibility where relevant, authentication or exemption, translation and receiving-registry acceptance. Confirm these matters before assuming that a foreign notary’s document is sufficient or that every foreign applicant can execute the same consular deed.
Representation does not dispense with civil capacity or the absence of impediments. The mandate’s wording, expiry and any revocation must be considered under Article 1,542. The ninety-day marriage rule should not be confused with the thirty-day mandate prescribed for a qualifying consensual notarial divorce.
9. Use the marriage certificate abroad
Obtain the certificate in the form required for its intended foreign use. Authentication, translation, civil registration, immigration and name-change procedures depend on the receiving country and authority. A Brazilian sworn translation is not automatically the translation accepted by every foreign administration.
The Apostille Convention can simplify the specified documentary formalities where applicable; it does not create a universal international marriage registry. A valid Brazilian marriage and acceptance of its certificate for a particular overseas purpose remain distinguishable questions. Confirm the destination’s requirements before paying for multiple copies or translations.
If either spouse changes their name, coordinate identity, tax, passport and foreign records as required. Preserve consistent spellings and the documentary chain connecting the previous and current names. Those administrative updates do not occur automatically merely because the Brazilian marriage entry is correct.
10. Separate residence and naturalisation from marriage
Marriage to a Brazilian can support a family-reunification residence application under the relevant immigration framework, including Law 13,445/2017, Article 30. It does not itself grant indefinite residence or authorise every activity without further compliance. Obtain the Polícia Federal’s current document requirements for the applicant’s nationality and selected service.
A general requirement to wait one year after the wedding before seeking family-reunification residence should not be invented. Residence and naturalisation are different procedures. Article 65 establishes the ordinary naturalisation conditions, including a four-year residence period, language capacity and the specified criminal-record condition.
Article 66 permits reduction of residence to a minimum of one year in specified situations, including a Brazilian child or a Brazilian spouse or partner from whom the applicant is not legally or factually separated at grant. It is not a rule that only parents of Brazilian children can benefit, nor a promise of nationality one year after a ceremony regardless of residence and other conditions.
11. Children born abroad and stable-union alternatives
Brazilian nationality for a child born abroad to a Brazilian parent must be examined under Constitution Article 12, I. Consular registration and the constitutional residence-and-option pathway are distinct, and service-related circumstances can also be relevant. Do not replace those conditions with a universal statement that every child abroad automatically holds every Brazilian document.
A stable union, união estável, is a recognised family relationship under Civil Code Article 1,723 when its statutory elements are met. There is no universal minimum duration or indispensable registration for its existence. A deed can assist documentation, while a written property agreement and subsequent conversion into marriage raise their own requirements.
Civil recognition, property consequences, immigration evidence and succession must be assessed for their particular purposes. The couple should choose and document the arrangement that reflects their actual circumstances, rather than treat a stable-union declaration as an automatic substitute for every marriage or immigration step.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there still a general fifteen-day waiting period for marriage notices?
The old account is outdated. Public Records Law Article 67, paragraph 1, now provides for electronic publicity and an eligibility certificate within up to five days when the documents are in order. That provision does not guarantee that document preparation and the ceremony will all finish within five days.
Can relatives serve as marriage witnesses?
Yes. Civil Code Articles 1,525, III, and 1,534 expressly contemplate relatives or non-relatives in their respective stages. Confirm identity, number and attendance requirements for the selected form of celebration and any exceptional circumstances.
Does a tourist need no immigration permission because they intend to marry?
Intending to marry does not waive entry or stay requirements. Visitor status does not alone prevent a qualifying marriage, but civil eligibility and lawful immigration status are separate questions. A later residence application must follow the competent procedure.
Must the marriage be one year old before a residence application?
A universal one-year marriage waiting rule should not be assumed. Check the family-reunification residence requirements for the actual applicant. The one-year residence reduction associated with certain naturalisation situations is a different statutory question and does not itself grant residence or nationality.
How long can a marriage power of attorney remain effective?
Civil Code Article 1,542 requires a public instrument with special powers and limits effectiveness to ninety days. Foreign execution, authentication, translation, wording and acceptance must be addressed before relying on it. A generic private mandate is not an equivalent substitute.
Does an apostille guarantee recognition of the marriage everywhere?
No. It addresses specified documentary formalities where the Convention applies. Capacity, substantive recognition, immigration use, local registration and translation requirements follow the relevant receiving system. Identify the intended use and obtain that authority’s requirements.
Is a Brazilian CPF always unnecessary for marriage?
Do not rely on a universal exemption. Obtain the receiving registry’s current written requirements, including the treatment of a foreign applicant without that identifier. Separate the document list for a specific registry act from the conditions for immigration or judicial proceedings.
Do we need a prenuptial agreement if our assets are abroad?
Begin with applicable law and the intended property arrangements. Where Brazilian law governs, selecting a lawful alternative to the default ordinarily requires the appropriate public deed. Overseas ownership also requires coordinated advice on recognition, asset-specific formalities and the operation of any foreign agreement.
Dr. Mauricio Ejchel practises International Family Law at MF Ejchel International Family Law, with a focus on Hague Convention proceedings, cross-border custody, international relocation and divorce. OAB/SP 135.158. Avenida Marquês de São Vicente, 446, unit 706. Barra Funda, ZIP 01139-000, São Paulo, Brazil. www.internationallawyerbrazil.com
Reviewed on 17 October 2026.