Celpe-Bras Requirement for Brazilian Citizenship

Congratulations!!

Just 3 clarifying bullets for people who don't know what Celpe-Bras is:

1. In order to naturalize, you must be able to communicate in Portuguese. The most common way to prove this, is by doing the Celpe-Bras exam. Another option is to follow a course in an institution credentialed by the ministry of education, which I assume is what is described in the post above.
2. Celpe bras starts at level B1, which is why I'm a bit surprised that an A2 level course is considered sufficient... But if it really is, this is a nice option for people who have difficulty obtaining the actual Celpe-Bras certificate.
3. You only need this for naturalization. To live and work in BR, you 'just' need a residence permit, which has no language requirements.

11/16/24 @JNSQ86.  Correct on all points.  When the Law of Migration was revised in 2017, the courses that it foresaw as being acceptable in place of CelpeBras had not yet been developed, so CelpeBras was effectively the only way to satisfy the language requirement.  Since then some courses have been developed and are accepted. Having taken and passed CelpeBras myself I'm familiar with what's required, and am frankly surprised that some of the courses are accepted.  But they are, and until that changes, they're a pretty good deal.  If the course has been approved and the applicant is able to produce the satisfactory  documentation from it, the Polícia Federal are not going to second-guess it.

The language requirement is waived for anyone who has been a legal resident for fifteen years or more and requests Extraordinary Naturalization.

The language requirement only applies to naturalization, and unlike in some countries, there is no pressure on a permanent resident to become a citizen.

@Pablo888 @abthree

I was looking into this and it starts I believe with level A1 and then has a A2.  Is an A2 what I would need or just an A1?

Is it a good course?  My portuguese sucks so if I'm able to improve it, would be worth the time and $$$.  The ability to use it

for citizenship would be the cherry on top, but I have no plans for that right now.

11/17/24 @Pablo888 @abthree
I was looking into this and it starts I believe with level A1 and then has a A2. Is an A2 what I would need or just an A1?
Is it a good course? My portuguese sucks so if I'm able to improve it, would be worth the time and $$$. The ability to use it
for citizenship would be the cherry on top, but I have no plans for that right now. - @mikehunter

I think that any accredited course taught by professional instructors is well worth the time and the money.  I've never yet met anyone who's truly mastered a foreign language through immersion/osmosis alone, without any formal training at all. 

@abthree Thanks! I'll give it a try.  Definitely couldn't hurt. 

@Pablo888 @abthree
I was looking into this and it starts I believe with level A1 and then has a A2. Is an A2 what I would need or just an A1?
Is it a good course? My portuguese sucks so if I'm able to improve it, would be worth the time and $$$. The ability to use it
for citizenship would be the cherry on top, but I have no plans for that right now. - @mikehunter

@mikehunter - I would really recommend anyone taking a formal course because there is so much historical and cultural context in the language that just relying on what people use on a daily basis would leave gaps in the deep understanding of the message.

I believe that you should try the first course and you will be able to assess for yourself how quickly you can improve.  I think that the FAAP course costs R$3000 and you can get a 10% discount for subsequent courses.

The students who have lived in Brazil for the past 7 years have all reported an improvement in their skills.

R$3000, chump change for a California zillionaire.

@Pablo888

My only beef about this course is the schedule. At 7pm my brain doesn’t work well anymore. My entire adult life every job I had started at 6-7am. I just got accustomed to being an early bird. I might sign up if they had a class mornings or even midday.

Celpe bras starts at level B1, which is why I'm a bit surprised that an A2 level course is considered sufficient... But if it really is, this is a nice option for people who have difficulty obtaining the actual Celpe-Bras certificate.

- @JNSQ86

Update:

The explanation from FAAP was a little strange but I had a few students in the last A2 class who was applying this certificate to the Celpe Bras.  And apparently if you take a test at FAAP in São Paulo, this A2 level counts.  Since I am still in the US, I could not verify that.... I would recommend that whoever wants to clarify, then a call to FAAP in São Paulo would be useful. But yes, I agree that this would be a nice option.

The official path offered by FAAP - now that I know it - is A1, A2, B1, and B2.  There is also C1 and C2.

@JNSQ86, thank you for keeping me honest here.

@Pablo888
My only beef about this course is the schedule. At 7pm my brain doesn’t work well anymore. My entire adult life every job I had started at 6-7am. I just got accustomed to being an early bird. I might sign up if they had a class mornings or even midday. - @bepmoht

@bepmoht, the course at FAAP is an intensive conversational and limited writing course but I did not feel that those 2 courses were taxing.  When I was taking the course on the island, I found it helpful to have a caipirinha or two during the online class - just allowed an unimpeded flow of thoughts during the class.

And the teachers were very competent and helpful.

R$3000, chump change for a California zillionaire. - @alan279

Since I am still paying taxes in the US, this course is a 100% deductible educational expense.  This is a benefit that is available to anyone. 

Who is the zillionaire that you are referring to?

@alan279

Not a zillionaire, but proud California resident nonetheless.

@Pablo888

"IF" you itemize deductions.  Those days are long gone for me.

@Pablo888

Thanks so much for the info.  I'm planning on signing up for this course:

From June 16 to August 01, 2025

Deadline for registration: June 06, 2025

I think I will enroll as well. I would like to improve my Portuguese and I have time on my hands as a retiree.

Thanks to all for the helpful information.

Paul

Pablo888.....

Do you have a link for registering for this ? I was reading the FAAP website a couple of weeks ago and found nothing about the course you are talking about. I'd rather do a course and learn some more, than write the CELPE BRAS which I could easily pass, but waste an entire day doing so.

@kolyaS122HSU, here is the link for the Intensive Online Portuguese Course -> https://www.faap.br/extensao-e-livres/i … se-course/

I found that the FAAP site goes down regularly and the page that has the online course tends to be outdated - mainly because those classes have a minimum of 4 students in order to be offered.

I believe that the next online course is planned for next March.

OK thanks......I'll go check it out.

@kolyaS122HSU, here is the link for the Intensive Online Portuguese Course -> https://www.faap.br/extensao-e-livres/i … se-course/I found that the FAAP site goes down regularly and the page that has the online course tends to be outdated - mainly because those classes have a minimum of 4 students in order to be offered.I believe that the next online course is planned for next March. - @Pablo888

Well, that was a surprise. They've totally revamped their website from the green background and massive text wall that they had before. It looks like all the subject headers are still present, except for the addition of the course we're talking about.

Now, the FAAP level 2 course is also R$3.300,00.........gack.........on the gov.br site the Celpebras test is R$247.00..........and the two part exam is now stated as being 3 hours of writing and 20-30 minutes of one on one oral conversation. I appreciate the link to FAAP, but, I'm just going to do the Celpebras instead, and spend the remaining R$3.053,00 at Belmonte KKKKKKKKKKKKK.

I can see the value in someone who perhaps does not yet  have a certain level of language fluency doing FAAP however, in order to benefit from it linguistically and also complete the migratory process. I just though it would have been much less costly. For example, I used to be fluent in Russian......now I can only read the Cyrillic alphabet and sound out words, but, I have lost 98% of my vocabulary so, I don't know what anything means anymore. I am taking intensive in person classes (5 students at a time) with native Russian speakers as our teachers twice a week, 2 hours at a time, in Copacabana.......R$400 a month.......

Yeah, the course is expensive but I have to do continuing education as part of keeping my professional designation - and hence is totally tax deductible.

The major advantage of FAAP for me is that I can learn both spoken and written Portuguese in an intensive fashion AND from a distance.  I started with zero Portuguese in October 2023.

However, I agree with you that learning new languages helps with keeping the brain active....  I also tell myself that this also delays the onset of dementia.  I am not sure if this is indeed the case.

But I am not counting the number of brain cells that were destroyed by too much drinking....

12/05/24 @Pablo888.  You've made the right decision for your case:  CelpeBras would be impossible for anyone with little or no Portuguese, and most people who picked up the language informally would have trouble with it. For learning the language a good formal course is definitely the way to go, and one like yours that will provide both the fluency and the CelpeBras equivalent credential is ideal.

@kolyaS122HSU's decision is also the right one for him, assuming that his evaluation of his Portuguese level is accurate.  That's what I did myself and, while I wouldn't call it a breeze, it didn't give me any serious trouble, especially since I worked through a couple of prior year tests to prepare and had a good sense of what to expect.

Kudos all around!

@Pablo888

R$3.300 isn't a lot of money for the value offered, being equivalent in value to one month's rent for a flat in most cities. I just though for what I would obtain from the FAAP course for the cost would have nominal benefit. I took 2 different and expensive 12 week in person Portuguese courses in Canada before moving and spent most of the time talking to my teacher about things totally unrelated to the subject matter, as my existing ability was deemed above her advanced course levels. While I enjoyed the interaction I felt I had wasted money as the formal learning was not adding anything. Trying to avoid that again, that's all.

#abthree

The Celplebras tests on the gov.br site were easy IMHO. I did them with my wife sitting beside me as the person taking score. Everyone gets to the level where they pass eventually........I've been married 23 years now, so, I'd expect a certain result by now.

I don't know if this was mentioned on another thread or I saw this course elsewhere, but I'd like to share my experience and suggestion:

For a free, online Portuguese course anyone can register to the courses of IFRS (Instituto Federal do Rio Grande do Sul). https://ifrs.edu.br/ensino/ead/

I think there are two levels and they're pretty intense. Intense, as in, it advances pretty quickly and not like those simple duolingo levels that you skip. A lot of short quizzes.

It's totally self managed so unfortunately I guess there's no tutor support, but using chatgpt for questions is an idea. Talking of chatgpt, I use free voice calls with AI to practice without shame

It wouldn't replace the above mentioned courses for beginners, but for those of us who know some Portuguese and need a general guidance to improve via self-study, I think it's a great option.

I doubt the IFRS certificate would serve for immigration purposes, so Celpe-Bras would still be necessary.

Hello everyone,

First of all thank you to everyone for all the help and all the best for the ones in process.

I want to share my experience as today 20/01/2025 my process for naturalization has reached analyse MJSP.

MY RNM was completing 1 year on November 1 2024, but I applied for naturalization on 28 August as I was completing 1 year in Brazil in August. Counting the 3 months validity of police clearance certificate, I took my chances and it paid of well.

Also I got my Portuguese fluency certificate level A2 from FAAP UNIVERSITY. There were a lot of doubts about that but it worked too.

So all the best guys and if you need any information don't hesitate to ask.

Parabens !!! Happy for you !!!