Brazil · Residency by investment
Investor Visa — Corporate Investment (VITEM IX)
Governed by Lei 13.445/2017 (Migration Law) and CNIg Normative Resolution 11/2017. The BRL 500,000 corporate threshold and the BRL 150,000 innovation threshold have been stable for years. Notably, neither has ever been indexed for inflation.
Roughly USD 90,000 into a real Brazilian company buys residency in a G20 economy and starts a four-year clock toward one of the strongest passports outside Europe. Judged purely on cost per passport point, it is among the best offers in the world. The tax regime is what keeps it from being an obvious choice.
Qualifying routes
Roughly USD 90-100k. It must be registered with the Banco Central as foreign direct investment.
Roughly USD 27-30k. The reduced threshold is conditional on the company's qualifying activity.
The facts
- Minimum investment
- 500k BRL
- Total landed cost
- BRL 500k investment, plus roughly USD 8-20k in legal, accounting and incorporation costs.
- Route type
- Residency by investment
- Timeline
- 3–9 months (CNIg reviews the case, then processing continues either through a consulate or in-country. The RNM card follows once you register with the Polícia Federal.)
- Physical presence
- The permit can lapse if you are absent from Brazil for more than two consecutive years. Naturalisation, though, requires genuine, uninterrupted residence.
- Family
- Spouse or stable union partnerChildrenDependent parents
- Permanent residency
- The investor authorisation grants indefinite-term residency from the outset, subject to conditions.
- Citizenship
- 4 years of residence for ordinary naturalisation. 1 year if you have a Brazilian child. 1 year for nationals of Portuguese-language countries.
- Language test
- Portuguese proficiency, typically shown through CELPE-Bras or Brazilian educational documents.
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- Investment registered with the Banco Central do Brasil as FDI.A Brazilian company with a business plan and the potential to create jobs or income.CPF and Brazilian corporate registration.A clean criminal record, apostilled and sworn-translated.Registration with the Polícia Federal on arrival.
- The BRL 500,000 is not a deposit. CNIg expects a real operating company, with a business plan and job or income creation. Renewals are reviewed against what you promised. Shell companies get refused and, later, unwound.
- The real cost is tax. Brazilian tax residency generally attaches the moment you arrive on a permanent visa, which brings your worldwide income into scope. Lei 14.754/2023 taxes your offshore company's profits at 15% every 31 December, whether or not you actually take the money out, for anyone who controls over 50% of a foreign entity. It also treats foreign trusts as transparent, taxing the settlor directly. For a UHNW family, this can dwarf the investment many times over in year one.
- From 2026, Lei 15.270/2025 adds the IRPFM minimum tax. Annual income over BRL 600,000 attracts a minimum rate that rises linearly to 10%, and a flat 10% applies above BRL 1.2 million. The regime is tightening, not loosening.
- The offshore-asset amnesty is closed. There is no longer a reduced-penalty path to regularise previously undeclared foreign assets. Arriving with a messy structure is now expensive.
- State inheritance tax, known as ITCMD, is being made progressive under the 2023 constitutional tax reform. Treat the historic 8% ceiling as a floor for planning purposes, not as a comfort.
- Naturalisation after four years requires real, uninterrupted residence and the CELPE-Bras language exam. The visa is easy. The passport is not.