Organize your move to Brazil

Hi Julie,

I left my home in Canada amost ten years ago now and came to Brazil.

With regard to your questions of what to bring and what to leave behind even back then the cost of shipping things here was prohibitive. The best advice I can give anyone is bring with them only those things that have great sentimental value or which cannot be replaced. It isn't worth the cost of bringing anything else.

Domestic appliances that are made for use in other countries generally speaking will not be suitable for use in Brazil or will require major modifications. Depending on where you live the electrical power will be either 117 volts or 220 volts. Things like refrigerators, washing machines, clothes driers or dishwashers will cost more to modify than they are worth. In the case of 110 volt appliances if you live in a region that has only 220 volt you will require a power convertor that can be extremely expensive depending on the watt/amp requirements. Since most gas appliances like stoves, water heaters, etc. will also require modification since few areas use piped in gas, but rather use LPG supplied from gas bottles.

Forget foodstuffs completely, they will generally be confiscated upon arrival.

While automobiles are quite expensive here in Brazil, the import taxes levied on cars brought into Brazil makes the practice almost impossible. Unless you are thinking of bringing in a classic car that simply cannot be replaced it is neither worth the cost involved nor the bureaucracy. If you are talking about a car for day-to-day use you are much better off selling your car at home and applying the proceeds to buying another car here. You also need to be aware of the fact that you will only be allowed to drive here in Brazil if you have either a Brazilian drivers licence (CNH = Carteira Nacional de Habilitação) or if you are from North America a Inter-Americas Driving Permit (IADP) along with your valid drivers licence from home. An International Driving Permit (IDP) is not valid here in Brazil since Brazil is not one of the countries that were ratifiers of the pact.

Smaller items like desktop computers note/netbooks, camcorders, will work here. I do not know if TVs or DVD players from other countries will work well here. Cellular phones pose special problems here and it might be advisable to check with the manufacturer regarding use of their equipment in Brazil.

Hope that you will find the foregoing information of some use.

Regards,
William James Woodward

Thanks for your contribution wjwoodward!

Harmonie.

It's probably too late for you Julie, but if anyone else needs advice on that mattre, I moved my stuff (a full container) from Montreal, Canada to Santos, Brazil (close to Sao Paulo) in last march and it was quite a hassle.

We have heard all kind of stories about extras (thousands of reais) asked by some employees to let you take out your goods from the port at customs. Some people even given up after months of waiting for their stuff to be released, asking as much as 10000 reais in some cases.

We did have to pay "extras", at least 1000 reais, to have our own goods, even though all the paperwork was well done. But at least we could get our stuff pretty quickly, couple of weeks only. Paperwork is very complicated and must be done properly, no joke. We probably got lucky too because the agent who took care of customs was an acquaintance and maybe it helped us pay a low "extra".

I advice anybody moving to Brazil to bring or send the strict minimum by plane. Although it is expensive to buy it there, dealing with customs at the port is complicated and risky. I'm not sure I would do it again for all the stress, but eh, it's for you to decide!

Best of luck,

Émilie