Updated March 2026 · 4 min read

What documents do you need to get a CPF in Brazil?

The document list for a CPF looks simple. Here is why most foreigners still show up with the wrong things.

The short version

You need three things: a valid passport with your entry stamp or visa visible, proof of a Brazilian address, and your mother's full legal name. Some offices also ask for your father's name. That is the official list.

The unofficial reality is that each of these items has specific requirements that are not obvious from the list alone.

Proof of address, the hard part

This single requirement causes more wasted trips than everything else combined. If you have a formal rental contract or a utility bill in your name, you are fine. But most foreigners arriving in Brazil do not have either of those.

If you are in an Airbnb, a hotel, a co-living space, or staying with someone, the proof of address requirement gets more complicated. There are specific approaches that work for each situation, and others that look reasonable but get rejected.

The name that causes most rejections

There is one field on the application form that is responsible for more rejections than any other. It involves your mother's name. The requirement is that it must be her complete legal name with no abbreviations, no initials, no shortened versions. This sounds simple, but people routinely write it the way they are used to writing it rather than the way the Brazilian system requires it.