90 and 180 day rule

07/29/22 Hi all, How does the 90 day rule work in Brazil is it a rolling calender? I.e I spent 16 days here last week of June first week of July. I am coming back at the beginning of October. So am I right in thinking the 16 days fall of after six months?

I am trying to stay on the right side of border forces there and will shoot across to Uruguay for three weeks at a time. I want to preserve some time so I can come back next July to apply for my Retirement visa?

- @ltoby955

08/01/22 If you're able to extend the tourist-visa depends on your citizenship. As a German this "90-day extension" will not work.

For others it'S 30/60/90 days.

- @Michael P369

08/01/22 Just to clarify my question: it is about duration of time you have to spend out of Brazil BETWEEN the 90 day visas. I understand that in a rolling 365 days you can only spend a max of 180 days in Brazil. But could you literally cross the border to eat lunch before your first 90 day visa is up and reenter Brazil after lunch to start the second 90 day visa? Thanks

- @EricPau

@abthree Thanks Abthree!

I found out today from several Federal Police venues:

That every tourist when they first ever enter Brazil the very first time, then have their unique calendar year for being in Brazil max 180 days on a tourist visa.

This means your calendar year is not from the day your arrive in Brazil on a tourist visa a second, third, fourth & so on time in order to have a new 180 day period, rather your calendar year starts in line with your first ever visit to Brazil, it runs in synch with this date every time you return to Brazil.

If my first ever visit Is October 1 in a given year, then i have 180 days from then. I can only come back October 2 the next year. This will become my personal calender year permanently.

But if I arrive on a second tourist visa say June 1 in a given year, then I can stay until October 1 no problem (under 180 days) but then I must leave and I can return on October 2 and start another 180 day period.

It is not 180 days from each time you arrive in a 12 month period. It is 180 days within your personal calendar year which could overlap before or after that date.

Anyone else know of this? I think it is the immigration Law. Of course I might be wrong but I was told by four offices that this is the correct calendar date to be using - your first ever arrival

06/15/23 @inthevalley.  Welcome, and thanks for posting.   Two questions: 

Is  your current visit your first trip to Brazil? 

Do you speak Portuguese?

My guess would be that either they misunderstood your question, or you misunderstood their answer. 

I first entered Brazil in July 1973, and I can assure you that I don't have a fifty year old immigration record that reconciles to that July, or to any July.

@abthree Hi,

Its a real complex thing. I am currently in Brazil on a tourist visa staying with my Brazilian wife.

I speak basic Portuguese but I use the google translate well enough.

A first fed Police office where I am living told me that the calendar date is from my & any persons first ever entry into Brazil, which in my case is March 11 2017

However, I after asked 3 other different Fed Police groups in different states.

They collectively told me, A new law came into effect on 21/11/2017. They told me that my new calendar year date would then restart and be every following year from 7th of December to the 7th of December the next year. Why this date, well I think it is this date because, I left to Colombia mid October 2017 for a trip & I came back into Brazil on 7/12/2017. I figure because of the Law change in the prior November 2017, they consider my 2nd entry into Brazil on 7/12/2017 to actually become my new calendar year start date.

So in conclusion If i can stay in Brazil on a tourist visa for 180 days during my allocated calendar year. So in effect I could have 179 days before and as long as I leave before the date of December 7th, I could come back after the December 8th then to reset & restart 180 days.

This is how it has been presented to me. I thought it was just from any first entry date on a new tourist visa for the next 12 months, but it appears its not that simple. Given most people come to brazil once only , then it is easy to know their own 1 year calendar dates.

Now all this might mean that this system of the calendar year for 180 days has started in more recent years rather than a long time ago as in your case. So it will apply to X number of people and to others from a date they may have entered when this system was established.

Does this make sense to you?

06/15/23 @inthevalley  As a matter of fact, it DOES make sense to me. 

You happened to arrive at a unique moment.  The current Law of Migration DID replace the previous (40+ years old) Law of Foreigners on November 20, 2017, 180 days after it was published in the Diário Oficial da União on May 25, 2017.  The Polícia Federal computer systems were all updated in preparation for the November date, and your previous record apparently was erased.  So you got a new "ano migratório" that started on December 7, 2017. 

If a traveler comes from a distant place, like Australia, from which the journey is difficult and expensive, it may look like your "ano migratório" is fixed in the calendar, because you come once a year and stay six months.  If you stay six, you have to stay out six, and it ends up seeming like it's always the same. 

But it's actually a rolling twelve months.  Many people from North America and Europe visit Brazil more frequently than once a year for shorter visits, and their "ano migratório" adjusts to ensure that they can stay 180 days and only 180 days in any consecutive 365, (or for some EU citizens, 90 days in any consecutive 180 days).  So, let's look at your example in that light.

"So in conclusion If i can stay in Brazil on a tourist visa for 180 days during my allocated calendar year. So in effect I could have 179 days before and as long as I leave before the date of December 7th, I could come back after the December 8th then to reset & restart 180 days."

Nope.  If you did that and came back on December 10, as soon as the Immigration Officer scanned your passport, the system would warn her that you had spent 179 of the past 365 days in Brazil, and you would be denied admission.  Even if the officer didn't understand the formula, the system would and it would catch you.

On the other hand, if you had unlimited funds and wanted to alternately spend two months in Brazil and two months somewhere else, all year round, you could do that indefinitely, as long as you made the minor adjustments needed to address the fact that 365 isn't evenly divisible by 180.

Well, it sure is interesting....and complex.

I will will tell you this, I am married here presently and in 2017 I had a different partner.

Both times I have been able to extend above the 180 days in extra 90 day lots, via the discernment of the officers at the time because I had relationship ties here and circumstances related to that. So irrespective of the system, if one has grounds to extend it can be done. Like im saying its the power of speech to be able to convince the Fed Police where there are good circumstances to do so. Thanks for your earlier thoughts on it.

Now, may I ask you while Im here. i just today extended again my tourist visa for another 90 days. Over and beyond the norm as per the above. With the 90 days I now have which has an end date ie. 18/9/23, if i leave the country for some holidays eg. 14 days holiday in Columbia  (remember Ive just been given 90 days), are these 14 days added on to my current extended visa until I use up the total of 90 days - I am saying I have an end date on the current visa of 18/9/23 (90 days), so can I extend this date by adding the 14 days i have not used while on holidays outside of Brazil in Colombia?

06/15/23 @inthevalley.  I've always known that the Polícia Federal have some discretion and sometimes exercise it, but I've never heard of anyone getting as much as you have, so I can't imagine how to advise you.  In principle, being out of the country four 14 days during an extension from Day 91 to Day 180 should mean that you have 14 days unused days after your return, but I don't know any rules that govern Days 181 through 210, since they're not supposed to exist. 😂

@abthree Go you. Well this extension is the 2nd above the first 180 days, but there maybe some dates at play here  in relation to my supposed 7/12/23 first migratory entry but i really dont know.

Well thats true as I am outside of the 180 day period by 90 days already. could be different, I will have to contact the FP and ask about what my current extension allows in terms of adding some days past the day.

Lastly, would you agree though that during the current 90 day extension I should at least be able to go on a holiday & be back before the extended end date of 18/9/23?

06/15/23  @abthree  Lastly, would you agree though that during the current 90 day extension I should at least be able to go on a holiday & be back before the extended end date of 18/9/23?
-@inthevalley

That all depends on what the FP put in your record when they extended you the last time, and how the Immigration officer reads it at the port of entry when you return.

@abthree Ahh ok, well I will talk to them about it directly, the two possibilities.

Anyway thank for your thoughts on all, Boa noite!!

@abthree Hi again,

Additional info on this is that on Friday last, I rang the FP office and spoke to the front desk guy who assisted with my extension for 90 days tourist visa last week. He was also the one organising the stamp with the actual FP officer. He said :

1) during the 90 days now available, I can exit Brasil & re enter any time at will before the extended visa expiry date.

2) He said any days outside of Brazil can be added on to be used after the extended visa expiry date of 18/9/23 as part of the original 90 day visa. He said upon re enter to brazil the passport when stamped will activate the extra additional days to be available.

3) Most interestingly, he informed me that my calendar date each year is from March 11.

I explained to him that 3 other FP offices had told me it would be Dec 7 each year because of the new law change of Nov.2017, but he said "no that its not correct & in my case it remains my first ever Brazil entry of March 11".

Lastly, given my March 11 calendar date, in my case because I left Brazil this year on 7th March 23 & returned 20 March , he explained that because I left Brazil on March 7 2023 before my first entry calendar date of March 11, that this was required to reactivate my new 180 day calendar beginning from March 11 every year.

I take this last part as saying, that as long as I leave before my calendar date is due, then I can return again anytime after the calendar date to start a new 180 day period. 

• So if I have got it all of this correct, this model would fit in with me having used around 162 days in the last calendar year when I entered on 28/9/22 & up until 11 March 2023 and therefore I now have an available 180 days in this new calendar year from 11 March 2023 which is my first migratory calendar date into Brazil.
• Hence the previous calendar period expired when I left Brazil on 7 March 2023 for holidays in Colombia. I have had my first 90 day period from March 20 2023 when I re entered Brasil from Colombia and last week I have received my  first extension of 90 days up until 18/9/2023 = Total of 180 days to be used up.

Again all of the above is my subjective understanding based on what my local FP office has told me....

So it really does depend on whom one is talking to within the Brazil immigration system AND upon how one understands the information given out by the FP. I will be guided by my local FP obviously. In my case it would seem the 3 other FP office via email were incorrect on the law change of Nov 2017 changing my calendar date, and that my local FP office are correct (unless they have made an error) because all has been assessed and hence a new 90 day visa given

Cheers

Interesting... yeah, it can be confusing, but I hired a lawyer to research because I am interested in not a tourist visa extension, but Tax law implications.

If you stay in Brazil longer than 183 days in a consecutive 365 (or in leap year 366) day period, you are a tax resident and are required to file a tax return. It doesn't matter what kind of Visa you have or if you are a resident with a CRNM or not. What matters is the definition of tax resident. The tax year begins upon your first entry in a particular year. For example, say you entered Brazil on June 4th, 2023. That tax year begins on June 4th, 2023 and ends on June 3rd, 2024. If you are in Brazil for more that 183 days during that period, you are a tax resident. Doesn't matter if the days are consecutive or not. Each day counts, including the day of arrival and the day of departure, and it doesn't matter how many hours you are there on the day of arrival or day of departure. What counts is what day is stamped on your passport. So you could be in Brazil for 3 hours and that counts as 1 day.

So using the above example, let's say you left Brazil on May 31st, 2024 (before the end of the tax year) and you counted the days and you stayed 180 days. You ARE NOT a tax resident, because you did not exceed 183 days in the tax year (consecutive 365/366 day period).

You return to Brazil on September 15th, 2024. The new tax year starts on September 15th, 2024 and ends on September 14th, 2025. In other words, the next tax year starts on the day of your next entry into Brazil. It's a rolling date.

I don't know about extensions on Tourist Visas and how they work, but I would recommend you be careful with the days and keep in mind the rules on Tax residency.

Just reviewed some other posts and this also agrees with what @abthree detailed in post #18.  So, again, if I were you, regardless of what the PF allows you to do, I would count the days within each 365/366 day period, keeping in mind it is rolling.  The last thing you want is to get in trouble with the tax folks. 

hello! i just want to share my experience and i'd like to get clarification

So back in 2021, i stayed in brasil for 90 days then i flew to mexico and stayed there for 1 month. i returned back to brasil after and i was able to stay again for 90 days, no problem.

So my question is, u can extend 90 days if you exit and return? cos it was never an issue 2 years ago. I was able to return to brasil after spending total of 180 days in brasil.

I hope someone can give an insight on my case. thank you!

Well I didnt know about the tax aspect. Interesting

I was here in 2017/18 around 12 months, nothing ever said to me since

Im now here 9 months and it will be around 12 or 14 once I leave. I doubt anything will be said also this time. Not that it matters as I dont earn income here.

True I will monitor the tourist thing ongoing but I think I'm across it now. Yes the tax part will note that too.

Best Regards

@Mrxx If I understand your question then I would say: If you arrive and stay 90 days, you can just go to the Federal Police and request another 90 days. You dont need to leave Brazil.

I just did this myself in the last year.

06/18/23. I hope someone can give an insight on my case. thank you!
-@Mrxx

Good evening.  Your profile says that you're a US citizen. If that's the case then now, as in 2021, you can stay for 90 days and then extend for up to an additional 90 days, as long as you're not in Brazil for longer than 180 days in a rolling 365 days.

The visa waiver program for US citizens ends on September 30, so you'll need to obtain a visa in advance from a Brazilian Consulate to be admitted from October 1 on.

@inthevalley It depends on your home country. For example, the US and Brazil don't have a tax treaty, so Brazil wants to tax your US income. You may not owe any taxes because Brazil will take into the account the taxes you payed in the US. For example, if you paid $5000 in Federal taxes in the US, and your Brazilian tax liability is $4000 you pay nothing. On the other hand, if you paid $5000 in Federal taxes in the US and your Brazilian tax liability is $6000, then you own Brazil $1000. This is a gross simplification because taxes are complicated, but you get the general ideal.

The point is the law says you are required to file if you are a tax resident. This is a reason why they say for a tourist VISA you can stay for 180 days. That is to keep you from becoming a tax resident.

In the US, penalties for non-filing are based on tax liability. I haven't research Brasilian law on this point, but I would imagine it is the same. In other words, if you would have owed no taxes, there is no penalty - but if you would have owed $1000 then the failure to file, failure to pay penalty would be a % of the $1000, with the additional interest continuing to accumulate while you don't pay.

Will they come after you for the single incident a few years ago? I would think the chances are low, but if you continue to exceed the limit, year after year IMO you would be inviting trouble.

@mikehunter Ok thank you to explain it all as its interesting.

Well im pretty confident my extra long stays are because I had stays in two sets of 180 day stay periods ie. before and after my first migratory calendar dates. Putting that aside I earnt know money in Brasil & had full approval of Federal Police to be in the country. It imo is unlikely I have any issue on it whatsoever. Ill sit with that for now and hopefully all is fine. cheers

@mikehunter HaHa here's a funny one. Coincidentally after posting on this forum on this topic,one day later or so, today I received a fax email saying i need to open a document pertaining to my incorrect Tax lodgment was. At first i was shocked me but then with a little google I saw that it is one of the many fake emails purporting to come from Recita federal.

The  criminals are looking at many websites and forums and taking email addresses illegally

Gee we live in quite a horrible world at times....

@abthree

Funny as hell!

hocytek

@inthevalley this is way too complicated.

I just went to santos Dumont airport today to ask this exact scenario . they told me the 180 days in a year is based on Your First Ever entry into brasil, where your year is based on when you first came rather than a constantly rolling 12 months. Which in my case was more than 15 years ago. I have been here many many times since.

So I am approaching my 90 days, and I didn't think I could get an extension because since September 14th, 2022 I had been here almost 90 over several trips, and almost 90 now on this trip. So I thought that I was approaching 180 since I thought it was a rolling 12 months from, in my case September 14th 2022. they said I could get 90 more since it is based on in my case, April 1st. when i first arrived many years ago.

not sure this is correct but it is what we were told.

07/17/23 @J.V.M.76.  A number of people have been reporting hearing a similar explanation from some PF officials.  I don't know whether they don't understand the system, or if their computers are down, or if they just can't be bothered to check.  It doesn't make any sense, but it doesn't really matter either when it works in your favor, as it does this time:  you can base your plans on what they tell you, whether they're right or wrong.  Enjoy your extra days! 👍

gov.br says "Stays in Brazil are allowed for up to 90 days, extendable for the same period, provided that the visitor does not exceed 180 days of stay in Brazilian territory every 12 months, counting from the date of the first entry."

So, what is first entry?

In your mind, that means a always rolling 12 months? (which makes more sense to me) or...???? Just curious what you think since I have no idea what to believe.

07/17/23 [link under review] says "Stays in Brazil are allowed for up to 90 days, extendable for the same period, provided that the visitor does not exceed 180 days of stay in Brazilian territory every 12 months, counting from the date of the first entry."
So, what is first entry?
In your mind, that means a always rolling 12 months? (which makes more sense to me) or...???? Just curious what you think since I have no idea what to believe.
-@J.V.M.76

Assuming that the traveler is a person who has 180 days available in every 365, I understand "first entry" as meaning "first entry during a 365 day period in which 180 days are available." So whenever that person stays out of Brazil for a year or more, the start date on the twelve month clock resets.  I don't see any other way that a 180 day limit is enforceable.

@abthree I agree that completely makes more sense, however that is exactly what I told the Police today and they said no, it's your first day ever. So while for my purpose now, the polices answer is better however, I totally agree that what you are saying makes a lot more sense. Which is why I thought I was approaching my 180. "Shrug" "Confused"

They even pulled up my date from ~17 years ago to tell me the exact day of arrival my first time ever.

07/17/23  @abthree I agree that completely makes more sense, however that is exactly what I told the Police today and they said no, it's your first day ever. So while for my purpose now, the polices answer is better however, I totally agree that what you are saying makes a lot more sense. Which is why I thought I was approaching my 180. "Shrug" "Confused"
They even pulled up my date from ~17 years ago to tell me the exact day of arrival at Santos Dumont.
-@J.V.M.76

Yep, you can only go by what the PF tell you.  They have some discretion in waiving rules, even if they do it accidentally.  I'd just recommend making a note of when and where you got your current guidance, so that when you leave, if someone does try to say that your overstayed, you have a ready answer.