Customs

Visa Applications:    Monday to Friday

                                     9:15 AM to 12:00 PM

Visa pick-ups:          Monday to Friday

                                     12:00 PM to 12:45 PM

Other Services:        Monday to Friday

                                     9:15 AM to 12:45 PM

Baggage of Bearers of Permanent/Temporary Visas

(A) The personal luggage and used household effects of immigrants or bearers of permanent visas benefit from custom’s exemption on their first arrival to Brazil, as per Normative Instruction 117, of October 6th 1998, article 10, item II, of the Secretariat of Federal Revenue (Secretaria da Receita Federal), except for the following items and parts or motors of these items: motor vehicles, motor boats, airplanes, trailers and jet skis.

The luggage, which must come from the immigrant’s country of origin, must arrive in Brazil within 6 months of the immigrant’s first arrival to the country or 3 months prior to it. The itemized list of goods is presented directly to the Brazilian Customs, in the port of entry into Brazil.

(B) The temporary admission regime allows for travelers’s baggage (Normative Instruction 164, of December 31st 1998, of the Secretariat of Federal Revenue).

Temporary visa bearers, with a stay of 6 months or more, may take into Brazil goods for personal or professional use, including motor vehicles, filming cameras, notebooks and similar equipment, sports equipment, etc. There is no duty (suspended taxation), provided these items are not to be sold or industrially processed in Brazil. They may also take their household effects for the period of their stay/assignment.

Customs clearance is done at the port of entrance, requiring a declaration (“termo de responsabilidade”) signed by the traveler (complete identification: name in full, passport number, address, profession, travel itinerary in Brazil, by which he/she will take responsibility for removing the goods from Brazil, once he/she leaves the country).

Whenever the stay is to exceed 180 days, the list of goods must be authenticated by the Embassy. The Embassy will provide a special form for the listing of the items, or the applicant can make his/her own, based on the same pattern. The form will then be legalized simultaneously with the processing of the visa, for presentation to the Brazilian Customs.

Household effects should arrive in Brazil 3 months before or until 6 months after the owner’s arrival. They must be cleared through Customs within 180 days from the date of passenger’s arrival in Brazil.

Unaccompanied luggage must be covered by a cargo bill.

Consular legalization fee: CDN$ 36.00 in certified check or money order payable to the Embassy of Brazil in Ottawa.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILLING THE BAGGAGE FORM:

1. An itemized, printed list of the goods must be presented to the Embassy (original and 2 copies) with their complete description, including, as applicable, motor number, make, year, model, serial number, and manufacturer; quantity; value for customs purposes in US$ dollars. If not in Portuguese, customs authorities may require to have it translated into Portuguese by a Public Translator (‘tradutor juramentado’).

2. In describing items, please note that:

2.1. the list (one per family) must include both "accompanied" and "unaccompanied" baggage, with their respective articles listed accordingly;

2.2. all electric and electronic items must be listed one by one. Only one of each kind is tax exempted.

2.3. the rest of the baggage may be listed as sets or groups (for example: living- room set, dining room, linen, kitchen utensils);

2.4. pets and plants must also be listed. For pets, a health certificate and rabies vaccination (when applicable), and for plants a phytosanitary certificate, both endorsed by the Ministry of Agriculture of Canada, must be authenticated by the Embassy and attached to the list to be legalized by the Embassy.

Consular fee: CDN$ 36.00 per document, in certified check or money order payable to the Embassy of Brazil in Ottawa.