VisaBrazil removes a preliminary step for refugees seeking family visas
A current follow-up explains the direct consular route, the refugee-status certificate and why an older online service should not be mistaken for a required first step.
Official source date: 2026-02-24
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Use the direct visa route rather than an old preliminary request
Brazil’s Justice Ministry says recognised refugees no longer need to declare their wish for family reunification to the National Committee for Refugees, Conare, before starting the family-visa process. Its current family-reunification page attributes the change to Normative Resolution 34 of 24 February 2026. This November guide explains that existing procedural change; it is not a newly announced visa waiver.
The ministry directs the refugee to the Foreign Affairs Ministry and consular process, attaching a certificate of refugee recognition. Removing the preliminary Conare declaration does not remove the visa assessment or family-relationship evidence. Use the updated family-visa page and the responsible Brazilian consular post’s checklist for the actual application.
Obtain the certificate that matches the sponsor’s status
The Justice Ministry’s separate certificate service explains how to obtain evidence of current refugee status. It can also produce a certificate for an asylum applicant whose case remains undecided, but that is a different status. A document showing that an application is pending should not be presented as proof of refugee recognition.
For cases in Sisconare, the service describes generating a PDF through the account’s certificate function. People whose cases were decided before that system and who do not have an account are directed to a certificate request through SEI. The instructions require the relevant identification documents and distinguish the information needed from recognised refugees and applicants. The certificate is valid for ninety days after issue. Schedule its preparation around the consular application rather than assume that an old certificate remains current indefinitely.
Check the family relationship and consular documents
UNHCR’s Brazil family-reunification guide distinguishes relatives outside Brazil from relatives already in the country. It says a recognised refugee may pursue the family-visa route, whereas a person whose own recognition claim is still pending cannot use that entitlement. The guide describes spouses or partners, ancestors and descendants, and certain other relatives where economic dependency is required.
For the overseas process, UNHCR directs applicants to the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s electronic form, the appropriate residence-family purpose, consular fees and the responsible post’s workflow. That post determines arrangements such as appointments, interviews and original-document submission. The cited resources do not establish one fee or processing period applicable to every nationality and consulate. Ask for the current checklist and charges for the actual family member and application location. UNHCR also says it and the Brazilian government do not fund family members’ travel, so visa approval should not be confused with a travel-financing programme.
An older service page still describes the superseded sequence
The government’s older service entry titled for a declaration of intent retains instructions to open a Conare family-reunification process in SEI before consular processing. Its displayed modification date is 15 December 2025. This conflicts with the later notice on the Justice Ministry’s dedicated family-visa page, which expressly says the preliminary declaration is no longer necessary.
Readers should therefore distinguish a live web address from an up-to-date procedural requirement. Do not submit an unnecessary preliminary request solely because the older entry still has a start button. If a consulate asks for a document by the older name, refer it to the current ministry notice and obtain clarification about the actual evidence required; the newsroom cannot resolve an individual consular request or promise how an existing file will be handled.
A Supreme Court case is not a general permission to travel without a visa
Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has separately agreed to examine whether courts may waive a visa requirement for family reunification during a humanitarian crisis. Its September report concerns the wife and daughter of a Haitian resident. The court’s Theme 1475 page records publication of the general-repercussion ruling on 5 October 2026. That procedural stage should not be described as a final general visa exemption.
Follow the court’s case resource for that legal question. Removing the preliminary Conare declaration does not settle humanitarian-entry litigation or guarantee permission to travel without a visa.
