Immigrant visa processing for Brazilians resumed in August 2026. On the Brazilian side, a separate clock started — exit filings, withholding duties, powers of attorney and exclusive jurisdiction over Brazilian assets.
Scope note. This content addresses Brazilian law only. Matters governed by foreign law are handled in partnership with lawyers licensed in the relevant jurisdiction.
What happened
Three developments, all between 18 and 22 August 2026, all matters of United States law and therefore treated here only as context:
On 21 August 2026, in Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) et al. v. Rubio, No. 1:26-cv-00858 (JAV), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Jeannette A. Vargas, vacated the State Department policy that categorically suspended immigrant visa issuance to nationals of 75 countries — announced 14 January and effective from 21 January 2026. Brazil appears expressly in the list reproduced in the opinion. The court also vacated refusals based solely on that policy and remanded them for further processing. As of 24 August there was no docket entry of an appeal or a stay request.
On 18 August 2026, USCIS issued Policy Alert PA-2026-09, implementing the final rule "Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility" (Federal Register, 20 July 2026, 91 FR 45324), effective 18 September 2026 and applicable to adjustment of status applications filed on or after that date.
On 22 August 2026, the State Department published the September 2026 Visa Bulletin. In the column applicable to Brazil, family-sponsored Final Action Dates are: F1 — 22JAN20; F2A — 22AUG26; F2B — 22AUG19; F3 — 22OCT14; F4 — 22OCT11.
None of this changes a single provision of Brazilian law. What it changes is how many people will, over the coming months, stop being Brazilian tax residents while still owning an apartment in São Paulo, quotas in a family company, a bank account, and an unresolved estate. That is where the Brazilian question begins.
Two things about the Brazilian system worth knowing first
Brazil taxes by residence, not by citizenship. A Brazilian citizen who properly exits the tax system stops being taxed on worldwide income — which is the opposite of the United States rule, and the source of most confusion. But the exit is not automatic: it requires an affirmative filing, and until that filing is made you remain a resident in the eyes of the Brazilian tax authority regardless of where you actually live.
Brazil also has exclusive jurisdiction over real property located in its territory and over the probate and division of assets situated there. A will admitted in California, or a probate concluded in Florida, does not reach a Brazilian apartment. A separate Brazilian proceeding is always required — and, since it is a separate proceeding, it has its own tax, its own deadlines and its own documentary formalities.
The technical reading
Leaving the country is not the same as leaving the tax system. Under Article 2, V of Normative Instruction SRF 208/2002, a person who departs Brazil permanently without filing the Communication of Definitive Exit continues to be treated as a Brazilian resident for the first twelve consecutive months of absence — worldwide income, monthly carnê-leão payments, progressive rates, annual return. Twelve months of resident taxation for a missing form.
Two deadlines, and they are different. The Communication of Definitive Exit (Article 11-A, added by Normative Instruction RFB 1.008/2010) runs from the date of departure through the last day of February of the following calendar year. The Definitive Exit Return (Article 9, I) runs through the last business day of April of the following calendar year, with any tax due paid in a single instalment on that same date. Filing the Communication does not excuse the Return — and it is the Communication, not the Return, that triggers non-resident status.
Once you are a non-resident, the regime changes entirely. Rent from Brazilian property is no longer reported annually; it is subject to a final 15% withholding at source (RIR/2018, Article 744) — 25% if the recipient is in a favourably-taxed jurisdiction. Capital gains on the sale of Brazilian real estate are taxed at progressive rates of 15%, 17.5%, 20% and 22.5% (Law 8.981/1995, Article 21, as amended by Law 13.259/2016; Law 9.249/1995, Article 18; RIR/2018, Article 745). Older guidance still circulating quotes a flat 15% — that text was never updated and does not control.
Two losses catch nearly everyone. Non-residents lose the exemptions and reductions available to residents (Normative Instruction 208/2002, Article 26, § 5) — including the single-property exemption and the holding-period reduction. And where the acquisition cost cannot be documented, it is treated as zero (§ 4), meaning tax on the entire sale price. For a property inherited in the 1990s, whether the paperwork survives is the difference between a manageable tax and a punitive one.
The tax is due at closing, and the buyer is on the hook. Under Law 10.833/2003, Article 26, the Brazilian-resident buyer — or the attorney-in-fact, where the buyer is also abroad — is responsible for withholding and paying the capital gains tax owed by the non-resident seller. The payment date is not the following month: it is the date of the taxable event (RIR/2018, Articles 153, § 1, III and 930, I, "a"). The tax form is generated at the closing table. A buyer unaware of this assumes someone else's tax liability without noticing.
Without an attorney-in-fact in Brazil, nothing closes. No provision states outright that a non-resident must appoint one. But the attorney-in-fact withholds tax on rent (Decree-Law 5.844/1943, Article 100, sole paragraph; RIR/2018, Article 781) and on capital gains; the non-resident's tax domicile is the attorney-in-fact's domicile (RIR/2018, Article 31); and the payment form for a taxpayer abroad requires the tax number of the attorney-in-fact or the paying source (RIR/2018, Article 938, § 2). In practice, no attorney-in-fact means no payment form, and no payment form means no closing.
The power of attorney has to be right from the start. To sell real estate it must grant special and express powers (Civil Code, Article 661, § 1) in public form (Articles 657 and 108), expressly including the power to receive the price and grant discharge, plus spousal consent where applicable (Articles 1.647, I and 220). Executed at a Brazilian consulate, it is a Brazilian public deed and is directly usable (Law 6.015/1973, Article 221, I) — consular acts are not apostilled. Executed before a foreign notary, it requires an apostille (Decree 8.660/2016), a sworn translation, and registration with the Registry of Titles and Deeds (Law 6.015/1973, Articles 129, item 6, and 148) before any real estate registry will accept it (Article 221, III). No national rule sets an expiry date for a power of attorney; the common demand for a "recent" instrument comes from the notary's duty to verify that the powers are still current (CNJ Provision 149/2023, Article 150) and from state-level rules.
The Brazilian tax number must be kept alive. Normative Instruction RFB 2.172/2024 requires registration by anyone resident abroad who carries out real estate transactions in Brazil, holds a Brazilian bank account, or owns assets subject to public registration — real property and company quotas included (Article 4, II). A suspended or irregular CPF blocks deeds, registrations and tax payments alike. Foreign nationals with an address abroad must additionally update their registration annually (Article 23-A).
And Brazilian assets stay under Brazilian jurisdiction. Article 23 of the Code of Civil Procedure gives Brazilian courts exclusive jurisdiction over claims concerning real property in Brazil (I), over probate and division of assets located in Brazil even where the deceased was a foreign national or domiciled abroad (II), and over the division of Brazilian assets in divorce or dissolution proceedings (III). A foreign probate creates no lis pendens (Article 24). Which law applies is a separate question: Article 10 of the LINDB points to the law of the deceased's domicile, subject to § 1, which imposes Brazilian law in favour of a Brazilian spouse or Brazilian children whenever the foreign law is less favourable to them. Jurisdiction and applicable law are distinct — and conflating them is where most cross-border estate surprises originate.
Who this affects
- Brazilians whose immigration cases have resumed and who will actually relocate in the coming months
- Brazilians already living abroad who never filed the Communication of Definitive Exit
- Non-residents who own rental or saleable property in Brazil
- Brazilian buyers purchasing from a seller who lives abroad
- Heirs abroad with an unresolved estate involving Brazilian assets
- Shareholders in Brazilian companies who are about to become non-residents
What to do, and by when
- Fix the departure date and the nature of the departure before you fly, and file the Communication of Definitive Exit within the deadline of Article 11-A — the last day of February of the year following departure. Without it, resident status persists for twelve months.
- Assemble acquisition-cost documentation for every Brazilian property before losing access to your files there. Undocumented cost is treated as zero.
- Appoint an attorney-in-fact in Brazil and execute a public power of attorney with special and express powers, either consularly or with apostille, sworn translation and registration, covering in advance everything that may be needed — sale, lease, discharge, estate representation, transfers.
- Check the status of your CPF and convert your Brazilian bank accounts to the non-resident regime. This is a precondition to every later act, not an administrative detail.
- Resolve, before departure, anything that requires presence or resident status — a pending estate, an irregular property title, an amendment to company articles, the ownership of quotas. From abroad, each of these requires a power of attorney, an apostille and a translation.
What it costs to skip this
Assets do not disappear when you move countries — they simply start being governed by rules nobody read, on deadlines that have already begun to run.
Editorial record
-
Pillar: 6 — Ties to Brazil
-
Related service (performed in Brazil): tax exit planning and registry regularization; public powers of attorney with special powers and apostille; sale of Brazilian real estate by non-residents and capital gains assessment; Brazilian probate and division of assets; restructuring of company ownership
-
Editorial tier: Gold
Sources: U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y. — CLINIC et al. v. Rubio, No. 1:26-cv-00858 (Aug. 21, 2026) · Docket · USCIS Policy Alert PA-2026-09 · Federal Register, 91 FR 45324 · Visa Bulletin for September 2026 · Normative Instruction SRF 208/2002 · Normative Instruction RFB 2.172/2024 · Income Tax Regulation — Decree 9.580/2018 · Law 10.833/2003, Article 26 · Law 8.981/1995, Article 21 · Law 6.015/1973 · Decree 8.660/2016 · CNJ Provision 149/2023 · Code of Civil Procedure, Articles 23 and 24 · LINDB, Article 10
Notice
This content is strictly informational, produced under Provimento No. 205/2021 of the Federal Council of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), with no commercial or client-solicitation purpose. The practical guidance is general and does not substitute for analysis of a specific matter. Artificial intelligence assisted in research and drafting, under the full professional review and responsibility of the signing attorney, in accordance with Recommendation No. 001/2024 of the Federal Council of the OAB.
Scope
This content addresses Brazilian law only. Matters governed by foreign law are handled in partnership with lawyers licensed in the relevant jurisdiction.
Verification record
Every provision was checked against primary sources on August 24, 2026: the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in CLINIC et al. v. Rubio, No. 1:26-cv-00858; USCIS Policy Alert PA-2026-09; Federal Register 91 FR 45324; the September 2026 Visa Bulletin; Normative Instruction SRF 208/2002; Normative Instruction RFB 2.172/2024; Decree 9.580/2018 (Income Tax Regulation); Law 10.833/2003; Law 8.981/1995; Law 6.015/1973; Decree 8.660/2016; CNJ Provision 149/2023; the Brazilian Code of Civil Procedure and the LINDB. The Final Action Dates were transcribed from the official bulletin.
As of August 24, 2026 there was no docket entry of an appeal or a stay request in the S.D.N.Y. matter. A stay would change the immigration timeline described here; it would not change any of the Brazilian rules.
A note on the English edition. This piece is an adaptation, not a translation. Legal citations keep their Portuguese designations, because those are what a Brazilian notary, registry office or court will recognize.
About the firm
Andrade & Cintra Advogados is a boutique law firm dedicated to Civil, Corporate and Real Estate Law, with a focus on Family and Succession Law, concentrated on estate and succession planning, the structuring of family and asset-holding companies, corporate governance and the organization of wealth for succession purposes — always with business purpose, substance and legal compliance. International practice in cooperation with Sintra Legal & Partners.
About the author
Dr. J. Guilherme de Andrade Cintra — Founding Partner · OAB/SP nº 220.915. Editorial co-authorship assisted by artificial intelligence (Anthropic Claude) as editor, under the review and responsibility of the signing attorney.
Talk to us
- WhatsApp: (11) 92499-0086
- E-mail: contato@cintraadvogados.com
- Address: Av. João Paulo Ablas, 1575 — Granja Viana — Cotia/SP — CEP 06711-250
- Website: www.andradecintra.com.br
Need a reading of your specific matter? Contact the firm and schedule a diagnosis.
