Apostille and Sworn Translation for Brazil: A Guide for Foreign Investors (2026)

Reviewed by Luiz Eduardo da Silva, director of LegalBR. Updated on 14 October 2026. About 10 minutes to read.

Almost every company Brazil registers for a foreign investor starts with paperwork issued abroad. Get the apostille and the translation right and the registration moves in weeks; get them wrong and the documents travel back across the ocean. This guide shows exactly what Brazilian authorities expect.

Which documents need an apostille

Any document issued abroad that will be filed with a Brazilian authority has to prove where it came from. In a company formation, the authorities involved are the Federal Revenue (Receita Federal), which issues the CPF and CNPJ tax numbers, the state Board of Trade (Junta Comercial), which registers the company, and the bank that opens the corporate account.

The difference between public and private documents matters. A certificate issued by a company registry is already a public document, so it can be apostilled directly. A resolution or power of attorney signed by a director is private: a notary first recognizes the signature, and the apostille then certifies the notary.

How the apostille works

Brazil joined the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents in 2016 (Decree 8,660/2016). Between member countries, a single certificate, the apostille, replaces the old chain of authentications. Once a document carries a valid apostille, it does not need any further stamp from a Brazilian consulate.

1. Sign or obtain the document

   Prepare it in the format Brazil expects. We send drafts of the power of attorney and resolution in English and Portuguese.

2. Notarize private documents

   A local notary recognizes the signatures. Public certificates skip this step.

3. Request the apostille

   The competent authority of the issuing country places the apostille, on paper or electronically.

4. Send scans for review

   We check names, dates, powers and the apostille before the originals are shipped.

5. Translate and file in Brazil

   A Brazilian sworn translator translates the documents, and the filings start.

Each country chooses its own competent authority. In the United States it is usually the Secretary of State of the state where the document was notarized. In the United Kingdom it is the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. In mainland China it is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and authorized local foreign affairs offices. A growing number of countries issue electronic apostilles that can be checked online through a public register.

Status by country

The list of member countries keeps growing, and recent changes affect several of the largest investor markets. This is the status we apply at the time of writing:

Bilateral agreements can simplify things further. Brazil and France, for example, have a judicial cooperation agreement that can waive legalization for certain public documents. Whether it applies depends on the document and the authority receiving it.

Consular legalization when there is no apostille

For countries outside the Convention, the document follows the traditional chain: notarization, authentication by the local ministry of foreign affairs and legalization by the Brazilian consulate with jurisdiction over the place of issue. Each consulate sets its own appointment system, fees and processing times, which can range from a few days to several weeks.

Because this route is slower, we usually ask investors from non-member countries to start their documents in parallel with the CPF or CNPJ application, not after it.

Sworn translation into Portuguese

Brazilian law requires documents in a foreign language to be translated into Portuguese to have legal effect in the country (Civil Code, article 224). For filings, that means a translation by a public sworn translator, a professional qualified and registered with a Board of Trade in Brazil under Law 14,195/2021. A translation made abroad, even if notarized, does not replace it.

Bilingual documents

Corporate registration rules allow the Junta Comercial to accept documents prepared side by side, in the foreign language and in Portuguese, without a separate sworn translation in many cases. Drafting the power of attorney and the board resolution in two columns from the start often saves a step and a fee. Certificates issued by foreign registries are not bilingual, so they still go to the sworn translator.

Registry of Deeds and Documents

Some foreign documents and their translations must also be registered at a Registry of Deeds and Documents (Registro de Títulos e Documentos) to produce effects before third parties. Whether this is needed depends on the document and the authority that will rely on it, so we decide it case by case.

Sequence and timing

The apostille itself does not expire. Recency is a different question: Brazilian authorities and banks often expect certificates of good standing and registry extracts to have been issued within roughly the last 90 days, and some apply stricter internal rules. The efficient sequence is to issue, notarize and apostille everything in one round and ship the originals together.

Once the apostilled documents arrive in Brazil, our team typically has the company ready to operate within 15 to 30 days, unless the activity requires a specific license. You can see the route and document list for your profile in our Brazil Entry Planner.

Mistakes that cause delays

• Apostilling a plain photocopy instead of a certified copy, or apostilling only one page of a multi-page document.
• Powers of attorney without the specific powers Brazilian authorities expect, such as receiving service of process or representing the partner before the Federal Revenue.
• Names, passport numbers or company names that differ between documents, even by an accent or an abbreviation.
• Documents from non-member countries sent with an apostille-style certificate instead of consular legalization.
• Certificates issued months before filing, which the bank or the Junta then refuses as outdated.

Questions investors ask