Brazilian passport expired? Get a new one before your next trip.
The consulate does not renew Brazilian passports: it issues a new one and reviews your standing in Brazil all over again. A single issue with your certificate, your CPF, your voter registration, or your military document (for men ages 18 to 45) is enough to have the application sent back. Cartório BR checks everything ahead of time, resolves whatever is holding you up, and tracks your application until your passport arrives.
- 2x2 photo and e-Consular application done in Bothell
- CPF and voter registration resolved before filing
- Appointments in San Francisco, Seattle, or Portland
Every passport is a new application, reviewed from scratch.
Many people believe that renewing a Brazilian passport just means showing the old one and taking a new photo.
It doesn't work that way. To issue the document, the consulate once again requires the Brazilian certificate that proves your citizenship, your CPF, proof of good standing with the Electoral Courts (quitação eleitoral) and, for men ages 18 to 45, a military service document.
Brazilians who have lived in the United States for years often have at least one open issue without knowing it. The most common are a voter registration canceled for missing elections, a CPF suspended for a missing tax return or outdated information, and a name spelled one way on the certificate and another way on the old passport.
And it tends to surface at the worst moment: with your ticket already bought and your application halfway done.
Your application moves forward only when everything is in order.
The consulate reviews your documents in e-Consular before scheduling an appointment. If your proof of electoral good standing, your CPF, or your military document is missing, the application stops right there. You may have your old passport in hand and still need to sort out your voter registration or CPF before you can get a new one.
How does Cartório BR handle your Brazilian passport application?
The Brazilian passport is the travel document issued by Brazil. Residents of Washington State, Oregon, Alaska, or Northern California apply through the Consulate General of Brazil in San Francisco. You can apply in person, by mail, or at the mobile consulates held in cities such as Seattle and Portland.
Cartório BR prepares that application from start to finish. Here is how the work is divided:
What Cartório BR handles: reviewing your documents, resolving any CPF or voter registration issues, taking your 2x2 photo, preparing and submitting your e-Consular application, scheduling your appointment (at the consulate or a mobile consulate), and following your case until delivery.
What the consulate handles: reviewing the application, collecting your biometric data at the appointment, and issuing and mailing the passport.
This service is for Brazilians in the United States, 18 or older, who:
Have an expired passport or one about to expire
A new passport can be valid for up to 10 years, and it is best to apply well before your next trip. Dual citizens need a valid Brazilian passport to travel to Brazil: the consulate warns that Brazilian citizens cannot be issued a Brazilian visa in their U.S. passport.
Have never had a Brazilian passport
If you left Brazil with another document, or were born in the United States and had your birth registered at the consulate, you apply for your first passport with your Brazilian certificate in hand.
Lost their passport or had it stolen
The application is filed with a police report or the consulate's lost passport form, and our team walks you through how to describe what happened.
Have an open issue blocking the application
A voter registration (título de eleitor) that is canceled, suspended, or was never issued; a CPF that is suspended, pending regularization, or nonexistent; a military document left behind in Brazil. Our team resolves the issue before sending your application to the consulate.
The problem shows up exactly when the trip cannot wait.
The passport sits in a drawer, valid or not, until the day a family member falls ill, a wedding date is set, or a work trip to Brazil comes up.
That is the day the application goes into e-Consular and comes back: voter registration canceled, CPF suspended, certificate not in the required format, photo rejected. And each item has its own timeline and its own agency: the Electoral Courts, Brazil's Federal Revenue Service (Receita Federal), the local military enlistment board (Junta de Serviço Militar).
In an election year, it gets harder. During the election period, the voter rolls are closed to new registrations and updates. Anyone whose registration is irregular must then rely on a detailed electoral certificate (certidão circunstanciada), which is issued only after a request and a review.
Done ahead of time, a passport application is simple: documents, photo, appointment, delivery. Done in a rush, it turns into three or four processes at once, with your travel date drawing closer every day.
Without a valid Brazilian passport, all of this is at risk:
- Boarding a flight to Brazil as a dual citizen
- An emergency trip for an illness or a death in the family
- Entering and leaving Brazil with a Brazilian document
- Opening a bank account and handling other banking in Brazil
- Proving your identity at Brazilian registry offices and government agencies
- Your children's passport applications, when your own Brazilian ID has expired
No passport without good standing with the Electoral Courts and, for men of military age, with military service.
This is required by Brazil's Travel Documents Regulation, enacted by Decree No. 5,978 of December 4, 2006, as amended by Decree No. 8,374 of 2014.
The trouble is that many people only learn about an open issue when the application is returned through e-Consular. That is exactly when the trip is at risk, which is why we check your voter registration, CPF, and military document before anything is submitted.
Article 22 of the Regulation lists the requirements for obtaining a regular passport abroad: being a Brazilian citizen; proving your identity and personal information; being in compliance with mandatory military service; proving that you voted in the last election (when voting was mandatory), paid the fine, or filed a justification; paying the fee; providing biometric data; and not being barred by a court.
Article 38 sets the maximum validity of a regular passport at 10 years.
The electoral requirement comes from Brazil's Electoral Code (Law No. 4,737 of July 15, 1965), Article 7, paragraph 1, item V: without proof that they voted in the last election, paid the corresponding fine, or properly justified their absence, voters may not obtain a passport or an ID card.
The military requirement comes from the Military Service Law (Law No. 4,375 of August 17, 1964). Under Article 74(a), from January 1 of the year a Brazilian man turns 19 through December 31 of the year he turns 45, he may not obtain a passport without proving that his military obligations are up to date. Article 75 lists what counts as proof: an enlistment certificate, a reservist certificate, an exemption certificate, or a certificate of dispensation from service (dispensa de incorporação).
In practice, the San Francisco consulate asks for a copy of the military document starting at age 18, because the military obligation begins in the year a citizen turns 18 (Article 5 of the Military Service Law). Anyone who has never enlisted must do so first and attach the proof of enlistment to the passport application.
What you need to send
For an adult passport (18 and older)
- Your original previous passport, if you have one. If it was lost, tell us how and when it happened: the application is filed with a police report or the consulate's lost passport form
- Brazilian civil status certificate (birth or marriage) or naturalization certificate
- Photo ID: Brazilian ID card (RG), valid Brazilian driver's license (CNH), or professional council ID card (carteira de classe)
- Current proof of address (your driver's license works if the address on it is up to date)
- Your CPF number
- For men ages 18 to 45: military document (enlistment certificate, reservist certificate, certificate of dispensation from service, or exemption certificate)
If your CPF or voter registration needs to be cleared up, add:
- A selfie holding your photo ID, following the sample our team sends you
Four steps. No trip to Brazil.
You contact Cartório BR
Our team reviews your situation: the expiration date of your current passport, your certificate, CPF, voter registration and, for men ages 18 to 45, your military document. In that first conversation, you learn whether anything is pending and what it takes to resolve it.
Our team resolves any open issues and prepares your application
If your CPF or voter registration has an issue, our team resolves it first, remotely, using your selfie and your documents. Then you visit our office in Bothell for a 2x2 photo that meets the consulate's standard (or send your own photo, following our guidelines). Finally, we fill out the travel document form and put together your e-Consular application.
The consulate approves the application and you attend your appointment
Once your application is approved in e-Consular, our team schedules your in-person appointment: at the Consulate General in San Francisco or at the mobile consulate in Seattle or Portland, when dates are available. You may also submit your application by mail. At the appointment, the consulate checks your original documents and collects your biometric data.
The consulate issues and mails your passport
Once printed, your passport is mailed to you in the prepaid envelope included with your application, or you can pick it up at the consulate by appointment. Our team tracks the progress and lets you know when your passport arrives.
Why prepare your application with Cartório BR?
Hands-on experience at Brazil's mobile consulates
Francisco Harto has lived in the United States since 2016 and has volunteered at Brazil's mobile consulates since 2017. Cartório BR has served the Brazilian community for more than five years, mainly in Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco.
Everything checked before filing
Certificate, CPF, voter registration, military document, name spelling, and current passport validity. Your application goes into e-Consular only when it is complete, which greatly reduces the risk of it being returned.
CPF and voter registration handled in one place
You do not have to work out on your own how to resolve your CPF with Brazil's Federal Revenue Service or your voter registration with the Electoral Courts. Our team files the necessary requests remotely, before your passport application.
Photo, form, and e-Consular done at our office
Your 2x2 photo meets the consulate's standard, the travel document form is filled out with full names spelled correctly, and your e-Consular application goes in with every attachment. No time wasted learning the system.
Mistakes that get a passport application returned by the consulate
Assuming that renewing just means showing your old passport.
Finding out your voter registration is canceled or your CPF is suspended after the trip is booked.
Being a man between 18 and 45 without a military document or proof of enlistment.
Using a photo that does not meet the standard: taken more than 6 months ago, with a colored background, or wearing a cap or sunglasses.
Writing your name one way on the certificate and another way on the form, without accents or the cedilla (ç).
Submitting a marriage certificate that is not registered in Brazil when your name has changed.
Mailing original documents without a prepaid return envelope.
Applying without prior validation in e-Consular: the consulate warns that such applications may be returned unprocessed.
Processing time is set by the consulate and depends on demand.
The Consulate General of Brazil in San Francisco states on its service page that passport processing times vary with demand. The consulate also notes that it does not answer emails about application status. Since late July 2026, passports requested at Brazilian consulates in the United States have been printed in Brazil, which has changed delivery times. The steps that depend on you and Cartório BR move quickly: we review your documents and take your photo at your first appointment. Resolving a CPF or voter registration issue, when needed, has its own timeline, which we share when we review your case. The sooner you start, the more time you will have to resolve any issue calmly.
Frequently asked questions
No. You apply for a Brazilian passport through the consulate, here in the United States. Clearing up your CPF and voter registration, when needed, is also done remotely. You only need to attend the consular appointment, in San Francisco or at a mobile consulate, or send your application by mail.
Not always. The consulate offers in-person appointments in San Francisco, accepts applications by mail, and holds mobile consulates in Seattle and Portland. Our team recommends the best option for your case and your timeline.
Not on its own. The consulate issues a new passport with the same documents required for any application. What changes is how you prove your identity: a passport that expired more than two years ago no longer serves as an ID, so you present your RG, CNH, or professional council ID instead.
It depends on the timing. Outside the election period, Cartório BR requests the reinstatement of your voter registration before the passport application. During the election period, the voter rolls are closed, and the alternative is a detailed electoral certificate (certidão circunstanciada) from the Electoral Courts, which the consulate accepts. In that case, however, the consulate states that the passport will be issued with reduced validity. Our team reviews your situation and recommends the best way forward.
A CPF is mandatory for a passport, including for seniors. Cartório BR handles the registration or reinstatement with the Federal Revenue Service before preparing your passport application.
Between ages 18 and 45, the consulate requires a military document. If you have never enlisted, you need to enlist through the consulate: the request starts in e-Consular, under the "Alistamento Militar" (Military Enlistment) service, and ends with a scheduled in-person appointment. The proof of enlistment is then attached to your passport application. Our team prepares the request and guides you through scheduling.
Yes. The photo is taken at our office in Bothell to the consulate's standard: 2 x 2 inches, white background, facing forward, head uncovered, neutral expression. The consulate also requires the photo to have been taken within the last 6 months.
It depends on the consulate and current demand. The part handled by Cartório BR (review, photo, and e-Consular) is done right at the start. If your CPF or voter registration needs to be cleared up, we tell you how long that step takes when we review your case.
No. Cartório BR is a private document services company with an office in Bothell, Washington; it is not a consulate, a Brazilian registry office (cartório), or a government agency. The passport is issued by the Consulate General of Brazil in San Francisco; the CPF, by the Federal Revenue Service; and the voter registration, by the Electoral Courts. Our job is to get your application ready and see it through to the end.
Don't wait for your trip to find out something is holding up your application.
Has your Brazilian passport expired, is it about to expire, or was it lost? Or have you never had one? Cartório BR takes care of everything that comes before the consulate and stays with you until your new passport is in your hands.
Remote service for Brazilians in the United States, with a team in both countries.