I’m also G123456-7, 123.45678.90-1 and 1234567 (obviously
not my actual numbers, but you get the point.)
One of the strangest aspects of living in Brazil is how much of your
life is governed by documents and numbers.
In Britain you occasionally need your national insurance
number to work, to deal with your taxes etc and in the US you need your Social
Security number for that and to buy a phone, set up cable tv etc. The equivalent in Brazil is the CPF,
(Cadastro de Pessoas Físicas – literally Individual Registration) which is your
tax ID. You need this ID to work, pay
taxes, buy electronic goods, stay in a hotel, make a coach journey… you name
it, you probably need your CPF for it.
Some states have also set up a voluntary scheme where you give your CPF
at the till in shops and for each R$50 you send in a month, you get an
electronic ticket for a draw to potentially win a cash prize up to R$50,000
(and on special dates – whatever that means – up to R$200,000.) From what I can tell, this scheme was designed
to encourage spending and stimulate the economy. I first heard of this when I visited São
Paulo last year – I found it strange that even supermarkets were asking for CPF
– and now it has arrived in Paraná and various other states.
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| CPF - this used to be a card, but now, they just send you a black and white pdf to print |
After your initial registration in Brazil, applying for a
CPF is one of the first things an immigrant needs to do. I’m told that you can do this at a bank or
post office, although as my company was assisting with my documents, an
immigration consultancy company handled mine for me. This involved signing a power of attorney
form, having it notarised (Brazilian bureaucrats love notarising) and sending
it by SEDEX (fast, secure mail service) to the lawyers. As this took place over the Christmas and New
Year break, it took over a week. I since
found out that when you apply for a CPF at a bank or post office, you get your
number there and then – having the lawyers take care of it turned out to be a
waste of time and I would only advise anyone to do this if they do not speak
Portuguese and do not know anyone that speaks Portuguese and their own language
(which would make living in Brazil hard enough.)
The CPF is one of the documents used most often when living
in Brazil, the other is the RG (Registro Geral – literally General Registry)
which is the ID card required of every Brazilian which has an identifying
number (of course) a photo and thumb print as well as personal information such
as date and place of birth, parents’ names and signature. Only Brazilian citizens can have an RG,
foreign residents have an RNE (Registro Nacional de Estrangeiros, literally
National Registry of Foreigners), which is a salmon-pink card with the same
details as the RG as well date of entry into Brazil, classification (permanent
or temporary) expiry date of the
card. I should point out that RG and RNE
are not the official names of the card, but rather the identifying number
written on it. As this is the
information usually required, it’s more convenient to refer to the cards as RG
and RNE. The full names are Registro de
Identidade Civil (civil identity registry) and Cédula de Identidade de
Estrangeiro (foreigner’s identity card.)
As an immigrant in Brazil, registering for your RNE is one
of the first things you do. A
requirement of my visa (and I assume any type of immigrant visa) was that I
register with the Federal Police within 30 days of arriving in Brazil. For this, you need to take the following
documents:
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| RNE - ID card for foreign residents in Brazil |
- Passport and a copy of all of the page of the passport
- Original visa application form (this is the form that was given to you at the consulate when your visa was issued)
- 3 recent colour photos against a white background, size 3x4
- Copy of proof of address (doesn’t need to be in your name, but must be where you live in Brazil)
- Copy of spouse’s RG and CPF (if it is a marriage visa)
- Marriage certificate and “legalised” marriage certificate (from the Brazilian consulate, you needed this to get the visa in the first place! I wasn’t told about this by the immigration consultants, luckily I thought to bring them along just in case)
- Entry/exit card from your arrival in Brazil
- Previous protocol (if you have previously applied)
At the end of the appointment, you will be given the
Registry Protocol – a slip of paper with your photo which confirms that you
have registered with the Federal Police.
Until your RNE arrives, you will need this to open a bank account, apply
for a CPF, notarise documents etc. I was
told it may take up to six months for the RNE to arrive, but mine took two
months.
But that’s not all!
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| CTPS - Work and Social Security Booklet |
The final document you will need if you are going to work in
Brazil is the CTPS (Carteira de Trabalho e Previdência Social – work and social
security booklet.) This document is a
small booklet that looks like a passport and contains a photo, thumb print,
personal details and two more numbers (one is the number of the document, the
other is a social security number.) Any
time you start a new job, the details are written (or in my case, printed and
glued) into the booklet with details of the employer and salary. If your salary changes, then it will be
updated in the work booklet.
This booklet is issued by the Ministério do Trabalho
(ministry of labour) and you can usually apply for this at a regional agency,
which can be found in most major cities.
Foreigners, though, will need to go to a “Gerência Regional” (regional
management office) which can only be found in a few cities. As Pato Branco only has an agency, I had to go
to Cascavel, three hours away. The
documents required are:
- Passport
- Original and copy of the RNE protocol
- Original and copy of proof of address (again, it doesn’t need to be in your name, just the place where you will live
- CPF Number
The process only took about five minutes, as my documents
were checked and entered into the computer and my photograph was taken along
with an electronic thumb print. I was
told that 10 days later, I could collect my CTPS from the regional agency in
Pato Branco. Once I had it, I sent it to
my company’s Brazilian office to enter the details of my employment.
Now all I need is my Brazilian driving licence, although I
can drive using a foreign licence for my first six months in the country. To be continued…
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