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RNM / CRNM — registration with the Federal Police

How to get the CRNM migration card: filing deadlines, fees, booking with the Polícia Federal, documents and real-world timing.

Once your visa or residence permit (residência) is approved, you must register it with the Polícia Federal (PF, the Federal Police). After registration you receive an RNM number (Registro Nacional Migratório) and a plastic CRNM card (Carteira de Registro Nacional Migratório): a foreigner's main document inside the country, the counterpart of the RG identity card Brazilians carry.

Checked on 8 October 2026. The grounds for residence are covered in a separate overview.

In short

  • The deadline to apply for registration after residence is approved is 30 days from the date the decision is published (Federal Police FAQ). Missing it carries sanctions under Decreto 9.199/2017.
  • The card fee is R$ 204.77 (code 140120). It is paid with a GRU, the federal budget payment slip generated by the PF website.
  • You must come in person, to the PF unit where you live, with an appointment.
  • Pick the right "modality" for your application and bring the full set of documents: otherwise the application may be rejected.

What you need

The set depends on the basis of your residence. For the most common case, residence already approved and published in the Diário Oficial da União (DOU, the official gazette), the PF requires:

  1. The electronic application, filled in on the PF website.
  2. A valid travel document (passport) or another document proving identity and nationality.
  3. A birth or marriage certificate (or a consular statement) if your passport has no parents' details. Foreign documents must be legalised and translated according to PF rules.
  4. The DOU page where the decision was published.
  5. The GRU payment receipt for the card.
  6. If the biometrics system is down, you may need a 3×4 photo (colour, white background).

For holders of a temporary visa the set is slightly different: the original visa form instead of the DOU page, plus a "chamante" document for family reunification. Both modalities have their own pages in the sources.

Step by step

  1. Open the service "Registrar-se como Estrangeiro no Brasil" (link below) and choose your modality: "detentor de visto temporário" or "publicação em Diário Oficial". The PF warns plainly: a wrong modality is grounds for rejecting the application.
  2. Fill in the electronic form. When you finish, the system offers to book an appointment.
  3. Pay the GRU. The slip is generated by the PF website; you can pay it at any bank, lottery outlet, Correios branch or banking correspondent.
  4. Attend your appointment at the PF unit of your region with the documents. Only the unit covering your place of residence will serve you; you can reschedule, cancel or check the booking through a link on the service page.
  5. Biometrics and protocol. They take your fingerprints and photo and give you a protocol. While the card is not ready, a temporary document applies, the DPRNM (Documento Provisório de Registro Nacional Migratório): ask at your unit what exactly it looks like there.
  6. Track the status on the PF website ("andamento de processos"). When the card is ready you get an e-mail; you collect it at the PF unit. You do not have to check the site every day: the bot @amigo_brasil_bot checks the request twice a day and messages you when its status changes (it needs your date of birth, RNM and request number; the data is stored encrypted and erased once the document is issued or with the /delete command).

How long it takes in practice

The author of the @brazilwithliza channel (2025) got her protocol on the day she applied; the e-mail saying the card was ready came about six weeks later, and a week after that the cards were handed out: about seven weeks from filing to holding the card. Her card is valid for 9 years with indefinite residence (post). The validity depends on the type of residence: check with the PF.

A second example: a couple filed on 20 December 2024 (residence based on the birth of a child in Brazil). On the day of filing they got a PF printout with their assigned RNM numbers, and they collected the cards on 30 January 2025: about six weeks. The ready-for-collection e-mail reached only one of them, while the other's card was already there. If no e-mail comes and a month has passed, go to the PF and ask (post about the status change, 21.12.2024, post about collecting the cards, 30.01.2025).

Why not to put it off

Renewal, replacement, loss

  • Card lost or damaged: the service "Solicitar 2ª via de CRNM". For theft or loss you need a Boletim de Ocorrência (police report), for damage the card itself. The fee is the same, R$ 204.77.
  • Temporary residence is expiring: you can apply to extend it up to 90 days before it ends. It is filed through "Obter Autorização de Residência"; the review fee is R$ 168.13 (code 140066) plus R$ 204.77 for the new card.
  • Permanent residence: there is no fine for an expired card, and replacement goes through "Substituir CRNM". With temporary residence, a fine accrues for every day after expiry.

Sources

Official:

Personal experience (channel @brazilwithliza, in Russian):

Personal experience (channel @russo_no_brasil, in Russian):