Brazilian Citizenship - My mother was born there, I was born in US.

Hi kathaa111,

Yes, you can acquire Brazilian citizenship since your mother was born in Brazil. Since you are over the age of majority I'm not certain which is the best way to go about it however.  There are two options in your case:

1)  Citizenship by Judicial Declaration - a judge determines that you're Brazilian
2)  Ordinary Naturalization

In your situation I believe the easiest and best is No. 1. You'd need to consult a lawyer on the issue because I believe that you must do the first within 4 years of reaching majority. In either case you can only do these within Brazil, you can't acquire citizenship from outside the country.

Cheers,
James    Expat-blog Experts Team

Thanks James! Would that still be the case for a Brazilian Passport?

Yes, you would need to acquire citizenship in order to obtain a Brazilian passport. While they do issue passports for foreigners, they're temporary documents for citizens of countries that do not have a diplomatic representation in Brazil.

Cheers,
James    Expat-blog Experts Team