Brazil's Civil Code recognizes a união estável, a stable union, as a family without any minimum length. Canada's immigration regulations set one: a common-law partner has lived with you in a conjugal relationship "for a period of at least one year". A couple who formalized their union at a Brazilian notary six months ago holds a valid deed and, for IRCC, not yet a common-law relationship.
That gap is typical of Portuguese-language files: sound documents meeting Canadian rules they were never written for. Below: the translation rule, the documents, police certificates, names, unions, and where Quebec and the provinces are stricter.
Do Brazilian and Portuguese documents need a certified translation for IRCC?
Yes. IRCC requires a translation into English or French of every supporting document in another language. Its first option is a certified translator, "a member in good standing of a professional translation association in Canada or abroad" whose seal shows a membership number. Otherwise, the translation must come with an affidavit from the person who translated it, referring to both the translation and the original.
Upload three items together for each document: the complete translation, including every handwritten averbação and seal ("all stamps and seals that are not in English or French must also be translated"), the stamp or affidavit, and a scan of the original. You, your relatives and your representative may not translate, even if one of you translates for a living. Files missing required translations are returned as incomplete.
Official Translations is not a member of a Canadian provincial translators' association. For IRCC it provides a complete translation with a signed Certificate of Accuracy plus, as an add-on, the translator's affidavit sworn before a notary (+CA$24.95 per document). See IRCC translation requirements and certified translation vs sworn affidavit.
Which Brazilian documents do Canadian applications ask for?
Usually the civil set, the police certificate and, for economic programs, education and work records. Civil registry offices (cartórios de registro civil) keep vital records and add later events, such as a divorce or name change, to the original entry as an averbação.
| Document | Portuguese name | Issued by | Canadian use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birth certificate | Certidão de nascimento; full copy certidão de inteiro teor | Civil registry cartório | Parentage for dependants and sponsorship |
| Marriage certificate | Certidão de casamento | Civil registry cartório | Later divorce or name change shown as an averbação |
| Divorce | Court sentença, notarial escritura pública, or annotated marriage certificate | Court or notary; then entered in the cartório's records | Proof that each prior marriage ended |
| Stable union | Escritura pública de união estável | Notary or civil registry | Relationship evidence only |
| Death certificate | Certidão de óbito | Civil registry cartório | Widowed applicants, estates |
| Police certificate | Certidão de Antecedentes Criminais | Polícia Federal | The only Brazilian certificate IRCC accepts |
| Work record | Carteira de Trabalho (CTPS), issued preferably in digital form since 2019 | Federal government | Supports employer reference letters |
| Identity | CPF; RG or the new Carteira de Identidade Nacional | Federal revenue service; state offices | The new card uses the CPF as its number |
Standard certidão or inteiro teor?
IRCC names no format. A standard certificate summarizes the record; the inteiro teor reproduces the whole entry with every annotation. Order the inteiro teor when history matters: a corrected name, a child recognized later, several marriages. Brazilian records can also register socio-affective parentage, so a certificate may list up to four parents; a translation that stops at two is incomplete.
Since January 1, 2025, certificates follow single national models set by the National Justice Council's Provimento No. 182 of 2024, while older models stay valid indefinitely. Each carries a matrícula, a 32-element number identifying the cartório, the record type and its sequence. The translation copies it character for character.
Which Brazilian police certificate does IRCC accept?
Only the Certidão de Antecedentes Criminais from the Polícia Federal. IRCC's Brazil page says: "Brazilian state certificates are no longer accepted."
IRCC says applicants with Brazilian identification (it names the CIE card for foreign residents and the CPF) apply online, and others apply in person at a Federal Police office. The certificate is free; if the online system cannot issue it, for example because of a namesake or a CPF mismatch, you get a protocol number and finish at a Federal Police unit, which can take up to 15 days.
For Express Entry you need certificates for "every country you (or a family member) stayed in during the last 10 years for 6 months in a row or longer", leaving out time before age 18, within 60 days of the invitation. See the police certificate translation guide.
What do documents from Portugal and other Lusophone countries need?
The same IRCC rule, with different offices. Portuguese births, marriages and deaths are registered at the Conservatória do Registo Civil, with later changes added as averbamentos, often on the back. Many people hold a certidão permanente, viewed online with an access code; the Portuguese government says it is always current when consulted and has the same legal value as paper. Keep the access code in the translation and print close to filing.
IRCC asks for the Certificado do Registo Criminal from the Direção-Geral da Administração da Justiça (DGAJ). From Canada you can request it online with a Citizen Card and reader or the Chave Móvel Digital, paying through Portuguese home banking, or send DGAJ's form by email, mail or fax. The fee is 5 euros, and each certificate carries an access code for online verification. Portuguese citizens applying through International Experience Canada need not submit one up front, though an officer may ask later.
Angola and Mozambique have their own IRCC pages; from abroad, Mozambique requires a local resident to apply for you in Maputo.
How should Brazilian and Portuguese names appear in the translation?
Exactly as your current passport splits them into surname and given names; that split runs through every IRCC form and permit.
- The last word is not always the father's surname. Brazil's Public Registry Law adds the parents' surnames "em qualquer ordem", in any order.
- Older passports blur the split. Before December 2010, Brazilian passports printed the whole name on one line. If an earlier Canadian visa split it differently, explain that in your application.
- Keep every particle and accent. "Ana Luiza dos Santos e Silva" is not "Ana Luiza Santos Silva".
- Translate the averbação behind each change. The Civil Code lets a spouse take on the other's surname at marriage, and since 2022 an adult can make one change to a given name directly at the cartório. The annotation shows the previous name and the identity, CPF and passport numbers, linking an old certificate to a new passport.
Does a união estável count as a common-law partnership for IRCC?
Not by itself. The regulations require someone "cohabiting with the person in a conjugal relationship, having so cohabited for a period of at least one year", while Brazil's Civil Code sets no minimum period for a stable union built on public, continuous and lasting cohabitation.
Translate the deed in full and add proof of 12 months under one roof, such as a joint lease or bills at the same address; IRCC's Statutory Declaration of Common-Law Union (IMM 5409) asks about this kind of evidence. See the spousal sponsorship guide.
For prior marriages, a Brazilian divorce comes from a court or, for consensual cases that meet the legal conditions, a notarial deed under Article 733 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Translate it together with the annotated marriage certificate.
Do Quebec and the provinces accept the same translation?
Often not.
- Quebec immigration (MIFI). Translations made in Canada must come from a member of OTTIAQ, ATIO, STIBC or CTINB, or from the issuing country's embassy or consulate, and bear the translator's name and seal. Official Translations is not a member of those bodies, so its translations do not meet this rule; use a member translator for Quebec selection. IRCC's rule applies at the federal stage. See Quebec immigration documents.
- Quebec civil status. Inserting a foreign birth or marriage record into Quebec's register requires "an original French translation rendered or authenticated by a member of" OTTIAQ. Since Bill 96 (2022), the Civil Code requires a translation authenticated in Quebec for any civil status act made outside Quebec in a language other than French.
- Driver's licences. Brazil and Portugal are on neither Ontario's nor Quebec's exchange list. Ontario asks for a translation by a certified translator, "dated within six months" of your application; its approved translators include embassies, consulates and translators with proven credentials, but not other translators from the issuing country. Quebec's SAAQ takes translations only from an embassy, a consulate or a member of OTTIAQ, ATIJ or a CTTIC association. See driver's licence translation by province.
- Remarrying in Ontario. After a foreign divorce, ServiceOntario needs an Ontario lawyer's legal opinion letter, and a Portuguese decree needs "a translated copy and an affidavit" sworn by a certified translator. Ask your lawyer which translators qualify.
Why Brazilian and Portuguese files get returned or questioned
- State police certificates sent instead of the Federal Police certificate.
- Averbações left out because they were faint, handwritten or on the reverse.
- An outdated certificate issued before a later divorce or name change.
- Name order rearranged or particles removed, breaking the match with the passport.
- A union deed without cohabitation evidence.
- A relative's translation, or one with neither a stamp nor an affidavit.
- Verification codes left out of the translation.
Checklist for Brazilian and Portuguese documents
Questions people ask
Does a Brazilian birth certificate need a certified translation for IRCC?
Yes. IRCC requires an English or French translation of every document in another language, by a certified translator or, if the translator is not certified, with the translator's sworn affidavit. Upload it with a scan of the original, and make sure every averbação is translated.
Which Brazilian police certificate does IRCC accept?
Only the Certidão de Antecedentes Criminais from the Polícia Federal, because IRCC says state certificates are no longer accepted. It is free and usually issued online, and if the system cannot issue it you finish at a Federal Police office.
My Federal Police certificate says it is valid for 90 days. Will IRCC refuse it later?
Not if you no longer live in Brazil. IRCC accepts a certificate with an expiry date if it was issued after the last time you stayed in that country for six consecutive months or longer. If you still live there, it must be issued within six months before you apply.
Does a registered união estável make us common-law partners for IRCC?
Not on its own. IRCC requires at least one year of cohabitation in a conjugal relationship, while a Brazilian stable union has no minimum period. Submit the translated deed with evidence of 12 months living together.
Can a relative who speaks Portuguese translate my documents?
No. IRCC bars applicants, their family members and their representatives or consultants from translating, even professionally qualified ones. Use an independent translator who is certified or swears an affidavit.
Do Brazilian documents need an apostille for IRCC?
No. IRCC's translation instructions ask for a certified translator's stamp or an affidavit, not an apostille. Apostilles matter when another authority requires them; Brazil has applied the Hague Apostille Convention since August 14, 2016, and Canada since January 11, 2024.
Will the same translation work for Quebec immigration?
Not necessarily. MIFI accepts translations made in Canada only from members of OTTIAQ, ATIO, STIBC or CTINB, or from the issuing country's embassy or consulate. Official Translations is not a member of those bodies, so use a member translator for the Quebec stage; the federal IRCC stage follows IRCC's rule.
What does a Portuguese translation cost, and how fast is it?
Certified translation is CA$39.95 per page of up to 300 words, and the sworn affidavit for IRCC adds CA$24.95 per document. Most one-page certidões arrive as a signed PDF by email within 24 hours, while longer inteiro teor copies and court sentences take one to three business days.
