New regulations to active SIM cards, CPF now required.

01/13/22

Thanks, Rraypo!

Pretty dumb policy for a country with a weak economy that claims it wants to increase tourism.  We'll need to spread the word to anyone planning on visiting as a tourist to make sure that they have international roaming enabled on the phones they bring from home, because they're not going to be able to get burners here. 

This gave me a scare, because I got my chips (2) before I had a CPF, and they were registered under my (now expired) passport number.  TIM is terrible about correcting anything, so when I followed the link above, I rushed to see how much trouble I was headed for.  Apparently, though, during one of our long, painful conversations to fix one or another of their screw-ups, I must have updated their records with my CPF, as well.  Whew! 

Wow. Thanks for that vital info. Just got to Brazil after receiving my family reunification visa. Thanks for all the help and info.

01/14/22

kmitch0077 wrote:

Wow. Thanks for that vital info. Just got to Brazil after receiving my family reunification visa. Thanks for all the help and info.

Glad you made it!   

Remember, if you don't have a CPF, you don't need to wait until you have your CRNM.  You can request one right away, at any Post Office, or the local Receita Federal.

Thanks . Gonna work on that next week.

I can confirm, I arrived in Brazil last January (2021), and I needed to register/activate it with a friend’s CPF. A few months later I bought a second SIM card, same again.
What is a CRNM?

rraypo wrote:

Although I have a CPF and CRNM, I was just made aware of changes to government regulations as to activating cell phone SIM cards. It seems that after running a pilot program, Brazil is now once again requiring users to have a CPF to activate SIM cards for cellular phone use. This would indeed be a big change for tourists and other temporary visitors.

https://www.gov.br/anatel/pt-br/dados/u … o-pre-pago

01/15/22

Kurterino,

CRNM is Carteira do Registro Nacional Migratório, the ID card from the Federal Police for foreigners who are authorized to reside in Brazil.  It replaced the old CIE -- often misnamed "RNE" by expats -- but if you have a CIE issued prior to November 2017, there's no need to replace it.  It was grandfathered, and is treated as a CRNM until it expires.

abthree wrote:

01/15/22

Kurterino,

CRNM is Carteira do Registro Nacional Migratório, the ID card from the Federal Police for foreigners who are authorized to reside in Brazil.  It replaced the old CIE -- often misnamed "RNE" by expats -- but if you have a CIE issued prior to November 2017, there's no need to replace it.  It was grandfathered, and is treated as a CRNM until it expires.

_____________

My, how time flies by us, I too had forgotten the RNE, Registro Nacional de Estrangeiro,  was to foreigners just what the RG, cédula de identidade ID card, is to Brazilians, just the physical document. It seems most of us have stopped using the term CIE,  or National Alien Registration,  to identify immigration status prior to the 2017 changes.

01/15/22

rraypo wrote:

My, how time flies by us, I too had forgotten the RNE, Registro Nacional de Estrangeiro,  was to foreigners just what the RG, cédula de identidade ID card, is to Brazilians, just the physical document. It seems most of us have stopped using the term CIE,  or National Alien Registration,  to identify immigration status prior to the 2017 changes.

I was one of the last people to  get one: I requested it on November 7, 2017, and picked it up on December 5, about a week after the current law went into effect, and the CRNM replaced them.  I had one of the last VIPERs, too, and the PF were a little flummoxed when I walked in with it. 😂

When I became a citizen and qualified for my RG, I expected for the PF to ask for the CIE back, but they never did, so I have it as a souvenir.   All part and parcel of how strangely blasé (as compared to the US, anyway) they are about naturalization.

abthree wrote:

01/15/22

rraypo wrote:

My, how time flies by us, I too had forgotten the RNE, Registro Nacional de Estrangeiro,  was to foreigners just what the RG, cédula de identidade ID card, is to Brazilians, just the physical document. It seems most of us have stopped using the term CIE,  or National Alien Registration,  to identify immigration status prior to the 2017 changes.

I was one of the last people to  get one: I requested it on November 7, 2017, and picked it up on December 5, about a week after the current law went into effect, and the CRNM replaced them.  I had one of the last VIPERs, too, and the PF were a little flummoxed when I walked in with it. 😂

When I became a citizen and qualified for my RG, I expected for the PF to ask for the CIE back, but they never did, so I have it as a souvenir.   All part and parcel of how strangely blasé (as compared to the US, anyway) they are about naturalization.

_____

I have helped a number of Americans with getting K1 and K3 Visas for immigration into the USA.  While becoming a U.S. Citizen is very simple and straightforward, legal immigration is off the wall, and most immigration attorneys totally mess it up. I have yet to fail or even face delays, but it is a serious process.

I am here on a tourist visa awaiting a retirement visa. My attorney gave me a CPF card. Still, I was unable to obtain a SIM from either TIM or Claro. They said my CPF is "irregular" (whatever that means). Fortunately my US plan is with AT&T, which has free roaming in all of Latin America including Brazil. Still, it is near impossible to do business without a Brazilian phone number. My attorney is working on my CRNM/RNE. I hope that will solve the problem.

@ibdegen Hello try getting a sim card and phone service through Correios. It is a monthly prepay service through the mail provider. https://www.correioscelular.com.br/ I have used this service for a few years without any issues. I am able to recharge online and have gone in person to recharge as well.

01/09/23I am here on a tourist visa awaiting a retirement visa. My attorney gave me a CPF card. Still, I was unable to obtain a SIM from either TIM or Claro. They said my CPF is "irregular" (whatever that means). Fortunately my US plan is with AT&T, which has free roaming in all of Latin America including Brazil. Still, it is near impossible to do business without a Brazilian phone number. My attorney is working on my CRNM/RNE. I hope that will solve the problem.
-@ibdegen

The problem may just be that a database hasn't been updated somewhere along the line.

If you have an Android phone, there's a little Brazilian government app called "Pessoa Física" in the Play Store; I assume that the same thing is available for Apple but I don't know, and that's not always a safe assumption.

If you input your CPF and date of birth (DD/MM/YYYY), it should show an official confirmation of your CPF by the Receita Federal and show your "Situação Cadastral" as "REGULAR"; this should be adequate evidence for anybody.  If it shows anything other than "REGULAR", you should talk to your lawyer about how to resolve it. 

It took me approximately 6 months after getting my CPF to be able to register a sim card, it seems that they don't regularly update their databases, and I had tried with both Claro and Vivo. Unfortunately, I have to say that it wasn't solved when I got my CRNM. So patience...

If you need a sim and activated use tim I got SIM cards or you can get it yourself

Tim usually don’t care they activate your card with passport info no problem

@dedecadaver I tried TIM with my passport number but they wouldn't do it. Maybe I sho7ld try another store...

@abthree Thank you. I installed the app and it shows that my CPF is "REGULAR" yet Tim and Claro don't seem to get the same result.

you can use somebody else cpf... like the one from the SIM shop keeper... I work with tourists, that is what I always do...

If you need a sim and activated use tim I got SIM cards or you can get it yourself

Tim usually don’t care they activate your card with passport info no problem
-@dedecadaver

It is not a carrier issue, it is a firm law in Brazil. No SIM can be activated without a CPF. Some store employees simply use their own to make the sale. Just remember, it is illegal, for both of you.

@abthree l just checked and the app “Pessoa Física” is available in the Apple store

Thanx for the post. Learn something new every day. When I first came to Brazil a few months ago, my Brazilian wife of 20+ years took me to a cellphone store to get a SIM for my What’s App number. We didn’t have any problem, so I spoke to my wife after I saw the post.

Turns out she just used her CPF and didn’t tell me. She’s always had my back for the last 20+ years

Update: Armed with my newly downloaded Pessoa Fisica app, I went to a nearby Claro store and explained my problem in my best broken Portuguese. A very kind and helpful agent was then able to activate the prepaid Claro SIM I purchased elsewhere. I then went to a nearby pharmacy and charged it up. I'm a happy camper again. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences. I couldn't have done it without you.

01/10/23 @ibdegen.  So glad that it worked out for you! 

These are the type of situations that make Brazil challenging. With persistence, one prevails. Luckily for me, persistence is my forte. Never underestimate it!

@ibdegen I had the same problem "irregular" means, that is not jet in the database of them.

Vivo did it after a second attempt. They did take pictures of my face and passport in the store and I got my SIM.