Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic we are suspending notarial services, until further notice. If you have an urgent consular issue, for example for an emergency travel document, you will need to book an appointment online. We are unable to see anyone without a pre-booked appointment.
Overview
The British consulates in Brazil can provide a range of notarial and documentary services for British nationals.
Where local notaries can provide services, the British consulates will not provide them. In many cases local notaries or lawyers can provide services more cheaply, quickly and conveniently.
Some services may be available by post. You must make an appointment for each service that requires your personal attendance.
Before booking, make sure you have selected the correct service and that the document will be accepted by the relevant authority. This could be the local town hall, registry office, tax authorities, immigration office or another authority either in Brazil, the UK or a third country.
Services we provide in Brazil
Consular staff in Brazil can:
- administer an oath, affirmation or affidavit
- witness a signature
- make a certified copy of a document
- unite documents
For information about documents relating to marriage, such as a certificate of no impediment (CNI) and affirmations or affidavits of marital status, see getting married abroad.
If you can’t find the service you are looking for on this page, see other services provided by the British embassy in Brazil
What to bring to your appointment
See the individual services below for details of supporting documents to bring. Make sure you have acceptable proof of identity, and payment for any fees. See the full list of consular fees
Payment
We accept payment by credit card (Visa or MasterCard) or cash in the local currency on the day of the appointment. For postal applications for legalisations, we can only process payments by credit card, and an authorisation form must be sent together with cardholder’s copy of photo ID.
Proof of identity
For all appointments for notarial services you will need to bring acceptable proof of your identity. We accept passports or national identity cards as proof of identity.
Administer an oath, affirmation or affidavit
This service is for people who need to swear an oath, make an affirmation or make an affidavit in front of a consular officer. You may need to make an affirmation or affidavit of marital status in order to get married in Brazil. See getting married abroad to find out what you need to do.
The consulate will not draft documents for you. First check with the consulate what format they need and then have the document drawn up or checked by a professional.
What you will need to bring with you:
Witness a signature
This service is for customers who need to sign a document and have their signature witnessed by a consular officer. The document must be prepared before your appointment as we will not draft documents for you. We do not handle wills or probate, or witness deed polls.
Please do not sign the document before your appointment.
What you will need to bring with you:
Make a certified copy of a document
This service is for customers who need certified photocopies of British passports, Home Office registration/naturalisation certificates, UK educational documents (only those that have been issued in the UK by a recognised institution and are listed on the Legalisation Office website), British driving licences (both the plastic card and paper document are required) and British divorce decrees.
What you will need to bring with you:
Unite documents
This service joins documents together using ribbon and a seal and is usually only needed for legal reasons.
What you will need to bring with you:
Services provided elsewhere
- we no longer witness life certificates for British nationals claiming a British pension abroad. Please refer to the list of people working in a recognised profession who can do this for you.
- we no longer provide Consular Certificates (“Certidão de Inscrição Consular”). Please refer to this informative note
- we no longer issue Notices of Marriage and Certificates of Non Impediment. Please refer to the announcement
- we no longer legalise documents issued in Brazil to be used in the UK. Please refer to the announcement for the new process adopted by the Brazilian government.
Informative notes
You can download the following free of charge:
Data protection
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office holds and uses data for purposes notified to the Information Commissioner under the Data Protection Act 1998. Such personal data may be disclosed to other UK government departments and public authorities.
Disclaimer
This information is provided as a general guide and is based upon information provided to the embassy / consulate by the relevant authorities and may be subject to change at any time with little or no notice. Accordingly the FCDO and the British embassy / consulate will not be liable for any inaccuracies in this information. For all notarial and legalisation services it is the responsibility of the customer to ascertain the precise requirements of the person requesting the notarial or legalisation service and to satisfy themselves that the service provided by the embassy/consulate will be accepted.
