Brazilian passport
Encyclopedia
Brazilian Federal Police
The Polícia Federal is the federal police force of Brazil subordinate to the Ministry of Justice, whose main assignments are the investigations of crimes against the Federal Government or its organs and companies, the combat of international drug trafficking and terrorism, and immigration and...
.
A new model was officially introduced in December 2006 that complies with both Mercosul
Mercosur
Mercosur or Mercosul is an economic and political agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Founded in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción, which was later amended and updated by the 1994 Treaty of Ouro Preto. Its purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people,...
and ICAO standards.
As a rule, Brazilian passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
s are valid for five years from the date of issue. They cannot be renewed: a new passport must be obtained when the previous one has expired or a minimum validity period is required by the country to be visited.
However, Brazilian passports can be ordered by mail for a duration of 3 years at the Brazilian consulate that has jurisdiction over the person's residence in a foreign country. The instructions say that whether applying for a "new" passport or a "renewal", the same application is used.
Brazilian citizens do not need a passport when traveling to other Mercosul countries (Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
and Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
), as well as to Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
or Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
. For these countries, they may use just their domestic identification cards
Brazilian Identity Card
The identity card — diversely named in Portuguese cédula de identidade cartão/carteira de identidade or "RG" , depending on the state — is the national official identity document in Brazil...
, issued by federal governments.
The "green" (old) and "blue" (new) models
The newest model for Brazilian passports, introduced in December 2006, follows the standard established by the MercosulMercosur
Mercosur or Mercosul is an economic and political agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Founded in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción, which was later amended and updated by the 1994 Treaty of Ouro Preto. Its purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people,...
countries concerning cover color (dark blue for common passports) and the printing of the name Mercosul (Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
) or Mercosur (Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
) on the upper portion of the cover, with the country name below it. The new passport model was first issued to Brazilian citizens for travel outside the country in 2007 and by May 2010 was the sole model being issued.
The previous, "old" model has a dark-green cover and is not machine-readable
Machine-readable passport
A Machine Readable Passport is a travel document where the data on the identity page is encoded in optical character recognition format. Many countries began to issue machine readable travel documents in the 1980s....
. It does not have the name Mercosul printed on its cover, either. The even older model (also green) that was used until the 1970s, following that time's diplomatic
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
tradition, had the inside pages printed only in Portuguese and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
; the more recent "green" model has text in Portuguese, French and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. The latest, "blue" model is in four languages: Portuguese, French, English and Spanish, but the page with the holder's identification data is in Portuguese and English only, and the cover only in Portuguese.
Older passports (the "green" model) were produced either by Casa da Moeda do Brasil
Casa da Moeda do Brasil
The Casa da Moeda do Brasil is the Brazilian mint, owned by the Brazilian government and administratively subordinated to the Ministry of Finances. It was established in 1694...
, the government's official mint
Mint (coin)
A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is usually closely tied to the political situation of an era...
, or by the American Bank Note Company
American Bank Note Company
The American Bank Note Company was a major worldwide engraver of national currency and postage stamps. Currently it engraves and prints stock and bond certificates.-History:Robert Scot, the first official engraver of the young U.S...
. New passports (the "blue" model) are made solely by Casa da Moeda.
The "blue" passport's features
The current Brazilian passport is machine-readableMachine-readable passport
A Machine Readable Passport is a travel document where the data on the identity page is encoded in optical character recognition format. Many countries began to issue machine readable travel documents in the 1980s....
, complying with the ICAO Document 9303 standard. When the passport is first issued, the holder's fingerprint
Fingerprint
A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...
s, signature
Signature
A signature is a handwritten depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a signature is a signatory. Similar to a handwritten signature, a signature work describes the work as readily identifying...
and photograph
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
are digitally acquired and stored in a database, but only the holder's digital picture is coded in the physical passport, in a two-dimensional barcode. The latter, as well as the holder's personal identification data and his or her picture are directly laser-printed
Laser printer
A laser printer is a common type of computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. As with digital photocopiers and multifunction printers , laser printers employ a xerographic printing process, but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced...
on the passport; only the holder's signature is handwritten in the traditional way. (Since the old "green" model was designed in the 1970s, before computer technology became widely available, the holder's data are typewritten or even handwritten on it.) At 8.5 x 12.5 cm (3.35 x 5.31 inches), the new passport model is 1 cm (0.39 inch) shorter in height than its predecessor.
Passports issued before November 2010 do not contain an RFID chip, but do contain about 20 advanced security features, including a security band embedded within the paper pulp, sewing threads and watermark
Watermark
A watermark is a recognizable image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light , caused by thickness or density variations in the paper...
s with a red fluorescence
Fluorescence
Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation of a different wavelength. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore lower energy, than the absorbed radiation...
under ultraviolet
Ultraviolet
Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3 eV to 124 eV...
light, latent images, optically-variable ink, laser
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
perforations and a holographic
Holography
Holography is a technique that allows the light scattered from an object to be recorded and later reconstructed so that when an imaging system is placed in the reconstructed beam, an image of the object will be seen even when the object is no longer present...
plastic film protecting the holder's data page.
In November 2010, the Brazilian passport began being issued with an RFID chip. http://www.copa2014.turismo.gov.br/copa/noticias/todas_noticias/detalhe/20100106_01.html, http://noticias.r7.com/brasil/noticias/chip-deixara-passaporte-brasileiro-mais-seguro-e-caro-a-partir-de-novembro-20100105.html, http://g1.globo.com/Noticias/Politica/0,,MUL1435323-5601,00.html, http://www.curitibanacopa.com.br/?p=2219
Passport message
Passports of many countries contain a message, nominally from the official or office in charge of passport issuance (e.g., Secretary of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs), addressed to authorities of other countries. The message identifies the bearer as a citizen of the issuing country, requests free passage through the other country, and requests further that, when necessary, aid and protection is afforded as per international laws.In Brazilian passports, there is no highlight to the message whatsoever, nor is it referred to as a message from Brazilian authorities. It is printed on the back of the front cover, as well as three other information blocks. It is in Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. The message is:
In Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
:
-
- Roga-se às autoridades estrangeiras que prestem ao titular deste passaporte auxílio e assistência em caso de necessidade.
in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
:
-
- Les autorités des Etats étrangers sont priées de bien vouloir prêter au titulaire de ce passeport aide et assistance au besoin.
in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
:
-
- Foreign authorities are requested to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.
and in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
:
-
- Se ruega a las autoridades extranjeras que presten al titular de este pasaporte auxilio y asistencia en caso de necesidad.
Issuing process
Passport applications are now made exclusively through the InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, on the Federal Police Department's Web site. One fills the necessary information in an on-line form and must print the application form and the bank document for paying the required fee. If the new-model passport is going be issued (the site will inform if it is available at the chosen city and post), an appointment must be previously scheduled; this is also done on-line.
At the scheduled time (or at any time during the passport issuing post's working hours, for the old model), the applicant goes to the chosen Federal Police post with the required documents (no photograph needed for the new model, since the photo is taken digitally on the spot) and the passport will be ready at most six working days later (usually less). There is no fast-track system under ordinary circumstances.
The applicant's physical presence at the post is required for both applying for and picking up the passport, even if the old-model version will be issued. Special cases where the applicant is unable to go in person for relevant reasons (such as health issues) must be arranged with the authorities on a case-by-case basis.
As of May 2010, the passport issuing fee is R$ 156.07 (BRL
Brazilian real
The real is the present-day currency of Brazil. Its sign is R$ and its ISO code is BRL. It is subdivided into 100 centavos ....
) for the new model, and R$ 89.71 for the old model. The fee can be paid at any Brazilian bank, including Internet
Online banking
Online banking allows customers to conduct financial transactions on a secure website operated by their retail or virtual bank, credit union or building society.-Features:...
and home banking
Online banking
Online banking allows customers to conduct financial transactions on a secure website operated by their retail or virtual bank, credit union or building society.-Features:...
, with a document that is issued during the on-line application process and can be printed for payment. The fee is doubled if there is a previously issued passport and it is not produced when applying for a new one, but in practice this is rarely enforced.
Normally required documents for adult persons are listed below. Actual requirements are subject to change and there are special cases. Applicants should always check the Federal Police Web site for the latest information. Special requirements apply for minors (under 18 years of age).
For all applicants:
- state-issued ID card or other officially recognised form of identification;
- voter registrationVoter registrationVoter registration is the requirement in some democracies for citizens and residents to check in with some central registry specifically for the purpose of being allowed to vote in elections. An effort to get people to register is known as a voter registration drive.-Centralized/compulsory vs...
certificate, with proof of having voted in the latest elections or legally justified the absence (votingVotingVoting is a method for a group such as a meeting or an electorate to make a decision or express an opinion—often following discussions, debates, or election campaigns. It is often found in democracies and republics.- Reasons for voting :...
is compulsoryCompulsory votingCompulsory voting is a system in which electors are obliged to vote in elections or attend a polling place on voting day. If an eligible voter does not attend a polling place, he or she may be subject to punitive measures such as fines, community service, or perhaps imprisonment if fines are unpaid...
in Brazil); - Federal Revenue Secretariat (income taxIncome taxAn income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
) registration certificate (known as "CPF", will be waived if the number already appears on the ID document, which is common); - receipt of payment of the passport fee;
- application form printed from the on-line page.
If applicable:
- military serviceMilitary serviceMilitary service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
, conscriptionConscriptionConscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
or waiver certificate (for males 18 through 45 years old); - previous passport, if any (regardless of validity);
- two 5 × 7-cm photographs (for the old-model passport only);
- marriageMarriageMarriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
certificate; - judicial name change authorisation or sentence;
- naturalisation certificate.
Special passports
Other types of Brazilian passports are issued with different colors, but all will incorporate the new design and security features:- Red: diplomatic passport
- Green: official passport (for officers on duty for the Brazilian government, but without diplomatic immunity)
- Brown: laissez-passer for foreigners to travel to Brazil under special circumstances
- Yellow: for holders of refugeeRefugeeA refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
status in Brazil - Light blue: passport for emergency repatriationRepatriationRepatriation is the process of returning a person back to one's place of origin or citizenship. This includes the process of returning refugees or soldiers to their place of origin following a war...
of Brazilians