If you’re in an international marriage there’s one detail that catches most people off guard: in Brazil’s eyes, that marriage doesn’t exist until it is registered with a Brazilian civil registry office (cartório). Until then, Brazil still lists you as single. That shows up everywhere: your tax return, an inheritance, a benefit claim with the INSS, even a divorce, if it ever comes to that.

Leia este artigo em português: Casamento Internacional: O Que Fazer Para Ele Valer no Brasil.

Do we have to get married in both countries?

No, and you shouldn’t. An international couple should marry in one country only. Before you set a date, talk to a firm that works in international law and have someone look at your situation to say which country makes the most sense to marry in.

The ceremony happens in one place, and the other country then recognizes it. Which place you pick can make the years that follow far simpler or far more expensive.

That recognition doesn’t happen on its own, at least in Brazil, and it isn’t something to take on alone. A mistake made at this stage is often close to impossible to undo later, which is why it should be the couple’s lawyer filing it.

Why doesn’t my international marriage count in Brazil automatically?

Because Brazil has to recognize the marriage on its own terms, even when a foreign authority performed it perfectly legally. Brazilian law accepts a foreign certificate as genuine. But genuine is not the same as valid here. The certificate only carries weight in Brazil once it has been translated and registered with a Brazilian registry office.

What can go wrong if I don’t register?

• Your Brazilian documents — CPF, ID card, birth certificate — still say you are single;
• An inheritance or a social security benefit that depends on marital status can stall;
• Anything that turns on your marital property regime gets blocked;
• If you ever need to divorce in Brazil, the marriage has to be registered here first, which slows down an already hard moment;
• A name change made at the wedding leaves your Brazilian documents out of step with your foreign ones;
• Proving parentage of children from the marriage becomes harder;
• And people almost always find this out at the worst possible moment — at a counter, at a bank, in the middle of an estate proceeding. Sorting it out calmly, before you need it, is a completely different experience.

What to do to register

It starts with the paperwork: the marriage certificate, a sworn translation, and legalization (here is how document legalization works). From there, it belongs with a lawyer you trust. Handling it yourself tends to create problems, and the marital property regime is where they usually surface. A lawyer who works in international law points you down the right path from day one, instead of you discovering years later that something was set up wrong.

Documents a foreign spouse needs

When the wedding takes place in Brazil and one partner is not Brazilian, that partner has to bring extra paperwork: a valid passport, a certificate of marital capacity from their home country (proof that they are free to marry), and proof of address.

Depending on the route you choose, more may be needed, in some cases the foreign partner has to get a CPF, Brazil’s taxpayer number. Anything not in Portuguese needs a sworn translation and, depending on the country, an apostille as well. The list shifts from case to case, which is why it is worth asking a lawyer what yours looks like before you start collecting anything.

Before you marry, it’s worth talking to a lawyer about where to marry

This is a conversation to have before the wedding, not after. Sometimes it works out better to marry in Brazil and have the marriage recognized abroad later; other times the opposite is true — marry abroad, then recognize it here.

It depends on which route leaves the couple with less to deal with afterward, which country treats their situation more favorably, where their assets are, and what each country requires before it will marry them at all. Deciding this up front spares you problems that otherwise surface long after the wedding.

And if the marriage ever ends, recognition in Brazil follows much the same logic: here is how international divorce works.

Frequently asked questions

I got married abroad and don’t intend to move back to Brazil. Do I really need to register it?

Yes. Even if you never come back, the missing registration gets in the way of anything that depends on your marital status or property regime. If you changed your name when you married, it also leaves your Brazilian documents contradicting your foreign ones. It is worth doing right from the start.

How long does it take to transcribe a foreign marriage?

It varies from one registry office to another, but the registry office is rarely the slow part — the time goes into the translation and legalization beforehand. Once those are in order, the review is usually quick.

I’m already married in Brazil. Can I marry someone else abroad?

No. That is bigamy, a crime in Brazil, and the second marriage is void under Brazilian civil law even though it took place abroad.

No two international marriages need the same set of documents, and the most common mistake is finding that out when a clerk hands the paperwork back. Dr. Daiane Furlanetto works with Brazilians and foreign nationals, in Brazil and abroad, entirely online. Talk to Furlanetto Advocacia before you start gathering documents — that is the moment when the right path gets chosen.