Client case: Six months of procedures to obtain a retirement visa in Brazil: the journey of a Luxembourgish couple

How a retired couple from Luxembourg ultimately obtained their Brazilian visas after six months of procedures, rejected documents, a replacement health insurance policy, a missing CPF number, and a bank citing European anti-money laundering regulations.

17 March 2026 by

Jason Aerts

The Starting Point: Moving to Brazil and Preparing a Business Project

When our client first contacted us in early 2025, the plan was already well defined. She and her husband are both Luxembourg nationals and retired. She worked as an educator within the Ministry of Education, while he worked in another sector. They wanted to spend a significant part of their lives in Brazil, specifically in Natal, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, where they have family.

Their profile for a retirement visa was strong: their combined pensions exceeded the required threshold of USD 2,000 per month. The procedure was well known. On paper, everything should have moved quickly.

It took six months.

The CPF Number: An Application That Never Existed

During the first few weeks, our client's CPF application at the Brazilian Consulate in Brussels stalled. She believed she had submitted her application through the e-Consular portal. However, when we contacted the consulate on her behalf to understand the issue, the answer was clear: she was registered on the platform, but no CPF application had ever been submitted.

The application had been created but never finalized. This type of confusion occurs regularly on the portal, as some of the steps are not always intuitive.

We logged directly into her account using her credentials, and Nieilly submitted the application correctly. Our client received an appointment at the consulate on July 17, 2025, and obtained her CPF on the same day. However, the CPF number was not written down during the appointment. Since we needed it to start the visa process, we retrieved it through our contacts at the Brazilian Federal Police, using the same procedure we had successfully used for previous clients.

Banking Documents: The Anti-Money Laundering Wall

The retirement visa requires proof of regular income of at least USD 2,000 per month. The couple met this requirement through their pensions. The challenge came from a different direction: their bank in Luxembourg refused to issue a document in the format expected by the Brazilian Consulate.

The bank explained that new European anti-money laundering regulations prevented it from providing certain types of certificates for foreign authorities. This was not a matter of unwillingness but rather a genuine regulatory constraint that complicated the process.

We adapted. The document the bank agreed to issue was a certificate confirming our client's ability to make international transfers of €2,000 per month. It was not exactly what the consulate requested, but it was defensible. At the same time, we had the client's bank sign and stamp the complete history of her Wise transfers to Brazil for the previous three months. We also contacted Wise directly to obtain official certification of those transfers.

This combination of documents (the bank certificate and the certified transfer history) was presented by Nieilly to the consulate, together with a detailed explanation of why they should be considered equivalent to the standard document. The consulate accepted them.

Two Applications Instead of One: The Husband First, Our Client Second

Once it became clear that obtaining our client's banking documents would take longer than expected, we made a practical decision: submit her husband's visa application first using the documents already available. This prevented the entire project from being delayed. The couple had already booked flights for October 2025.

The husband's application was submitted in August 2025. Our client's application followed a few weeks later, as soon as the supporting documentation for her Wise transfers was ready.

Health Insurance: The Question of 365 Consecutive Days

The Brazilian retirement visa requires health insurance valid in Brazil for a minimum period of one year. This requirement often hides a subtle trap: many insurance policies provide one year of coverage but limit stays abroad to 90 or 180 consecutive days. These are not the same thing.

The first insurance policy presented by our client, through her regular insurer in Luxembourg, was unclear on this point. We requested explicit written confirmation: did the policy cover a continuous stay abroad of 365 consecutive days without interruption? The answer was delayed. Eventually, we decided to work with another insurance provider recommended through our network. The advisor provided written confirmation that the coverage remained valid for 365 consecutive days. This was precisely the type of document the consulate required. Our client subscribed to the policy and submitted it on October 1, 2025.

The Consulate Appointment

Our client's appointment at the Brazilian Consulate in Brussels was scheduled for September 24, 2025, following her husband's earlier appointment. Nieilly prepared a complete checklist of original documents to bring: eleven documents in total, including the signed RER form with photograph, proof of transfers, the apostilled birth certificate, the translated criminal record certificate, and the marriage certificate.

The visa fee (€110 per person) had to be paid on-site by bank card only. This practical detail, which often catches applicants by surprise, had been anticipated in advance.

Result: visa approved.

We called upon Jason and Nieilly as part of our project in Brazil, particularly for obtaining our RNM. From the outset, we needed reliable support to secure complex administrative and legal procedures. Throughout the process, we benefited from professional, clear, and structured follow-up, which allowed us to progress with complete peace of mind and in perfect compliance.

The Federal Police in Brazil: One Final Mandatory Step

Obtaining the visa at the consulate is not the end of the process. Once in Brazil, applicants must visit the Federal Police for migration registration and the issuance of the CRNM (Carteira de Registro Nacional Migratório), the temporary resident card and the first step toward permanent residency.

We arranged this appointment in advance, selected the office that best suited their schedule, paid the administrative fees through our Brazilian bank account to avoid complications with international payments, and prepared all the necessary documentation. The appointment with the Federal Police took place without any issues.

A Business Project and What Came Next

Beyond the visa process, the couple also had plans to develop a professional activity in Brazil. We assisted them in evaluating their options: which legal structures are accessible to foreigners, the applicable requirements, and how such a project could be aligned with temporary resident status. While this is not our core business, these questions naturally arise in long-term client relationships, and we are always happy to provide guidance when needed.

What This Case Demonstrates

This case should have been straightforward. Two comfortable pensions, a clear project, and organized, proactive clients. What ultimately stretched the process to six months was a series of small obstacles: a CPF application that was never finalized on a poorly designed portal, a bank citing European regulations, an insurance company unable to confirm 365 consecutive days of coverage, and a CPF number that was never recorded after the consulate appointment.

None of these issues was insurmountable on its own. However, each one had the potential to cause weeks of delay if not handled correctly.

What we did in practice was straightforward: log into the client's e-Consular account, retrieve the CPF through our contacts, negotiate the acceptance of non-standard banking documents with the consulate, identify the right insurance policy and obtain written confirmation regarding the 365-day requirement, organize the Federal Police appointment, and pay the required fees through our Brazilian account. At every stage, it meant one less administrative burden for our clients in Luxembourg.

As with many European investors and expatriates, structured support often helps to avoid administrative bottlenecks and secure each stage of a relocation project in Brazil.