Brazil Document Translation Requirements

USCIS requires a full English translation for every foreign-language document. The translator must sign a certification stating that the translation is complete and accurate and that they are competent to translate Portuguese into English.

• Translate all visible text, including seals, stamps, signatures, marginal annotations, and text on the reverse.
• Reproduce identifiers such as the matrícula, livro, folha, termo, CPF, and registry numbers exactly.
• Keep names and dates consistent with the passport and the rest of the filing.
• Attach the signed Certificate of Translation Accuracy to the translated pages.

USCIS does not require a Brazilian tradutor público, notarization of the translation, or an apostille as a general translation condition. A consular visa interview can follow different language rules: the U.S. Consulate in Rio de Janeiro states that documents not in English or Portuguese need a certified English translation.

Brazilian government guidance says that foreign documents intended to produce official effects in Brazil generally must be apostilled or legalized and accompanied by a Portuguese translation produced in Brazil by a tradutor público e intérprete comercial registered with a Brazilian Junta Comercial.

Under Law No. 14,195/2021, a properly registered public translator may act in any Brazilian state and the Federal District while maintaining registration in the state of domicile or most frequent activity. Public translations may also be issued electronically when the legal digital-signature requirements are met. A regular U.S. certified translation and a Brazilian tradução juramentada are not interchangeable formats.

The National Council of Justice (CNJ) coordinates Brazil's Apostille Convention system and delegates issuance to authorized extrajudicial registry and notary offices (cartórios). The current electronic platform is the Apostil system.

• Use the CNJ directory to find a cartório authorized to issue apostilles.
• The apostille authenticates the origin of an eligible Brazilian public document; it does not translate the contents.
• A foreign public document must be apostilled by the competent authority in its country of origin, not by a Brazilian cartório.

When authentication is required, obtain the apostille before translation so the translator can cover the document and apostille as one complete packet.

The U.S. Department of State's Brazil reciprocity schedule identifies the civil registry (Cartório de Registro Civil das Pessoas Naturais) as the issuing authority for Brazilian birth, marriage, death, and related records. Birth certificates can be standard, annotated, or unabridged (certidão de inteiro teor).

Use the exact version required for the case. A recently issued annotated certificate may be needed to show later life events, and the reciprocity schedule specifically calls for a certidão de inteiro teor in certain parentage situations. Translation cannot cure submission of the wrong underlying civil document, so confirm the document version before ordering the English translation.