Certified Translation of the Brazilian Police Certificate (Certidão de Antecedentes Criminais)
Brazil issues criminal record certificates at two levels. IRCC names the **Federal Police** one — the easiest to confuse with the civil police certificate of your state. Asiatis translates the right document into English.
Pricing depends on the number of pages in your document. Get your quote online in a few minutes.
Get my quote onlineAlso known as
Certidão de Antecedentes Criminais — certidao de antecedentes criminais · certidao de antecedentes criminais · antecedentes criminais Polícia Federal · certidão negativa · casier judiciaire brésilien · police certificate Brazil IRCC · traduction portugais brésilien document officiel
What is the certidao de antecedentes criminais?
The certidão de antecedentes criminais attests to the presence or absence of a criminal record. Two administrations issue one: the Polícia Federal, competent across the whole territory, and the civil police of each state, whose certidão covers only that state. IRCC names the first in the very title of the document it requires. The request is made online where you hold the necessary Brazilian identity documents — the CPF, and the CIE for foreigners who have lived in Brazil; failing that, it requires attending a Polícia Federal unit in person. The document is issued in Portuguese, with a verification code allowing its authenticity to be checked online.
Variants of the document
| Name | Type | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Certidão de Antecedentes Criminais — Polícia Federalfederal | The required document | Covers the whole of Brazilian territory. It is the one IRCC names, and the one to provide. |
| Certidão de Antecedentes Criminais — Polícia Civilestadual | The state one | Issued by the civil police of a state and limited to that state. Easier to obtain, but not what the document checklist asks for. |
| Certidão de Distribuição — Justiça Federalcertidao de distribuicao | Court certificate | Issued by the federal courts and covering pending proceedings. Sometimes requested in addition, never instead. |
How to obtain the document in Brazil
- 1
Request the federal certidão, not the state one
Go through the Polícia Federal online service. Check on the issued document that it does come from the Federal Police: it is the commonest confusion on a Brazilian application.
- 2
Have your Brazilian documents to hand
The online request requires a CPF, and for a foreigner who lived in Brazil, a foreigner identity card. Without them you must attend a Polícia Federal unit in person.
- 3
Note the date of issue
A Brazilian certidão has a short validity period, stated on the document itself. Request it once the rest of your application is ready, rather than months in advance.
- 4
Send us the original PDF
The verification code and the timestamp are part of what authenticates the document. Send the file as issued, not a screenshot or a photo of a printout.
What an acceptable translation requires
IRCC requires any document that is not in English or French to be accompanied by a translation into one of those two languages, and its page for Brazil provides for no exemption. The translation must be complete — issuing authority heading, CPF number, record or no-record entry, verification code and validity date included — and may not be produced by the applicant, by a family member, or by a representative on the application. Identifying the issuing authority matters especially here: it is what lets the officer check that the certidão is indeed the federal one. Asiatis assigns your document to a certified translator who is a member of a Canadian professional order: the translation carries that translator's signed and sealed declaration. For a Quebec immigration application, the MIFI admits French and English alike, provided the translator belongs to OTTIAQ, ATIO, STIBC or CTINB.
The pitfalls specific to this document
The state certidão does not replace the federal one
Both carry the same title and look alike. But the civil police one covers only one state, whereas IRCC names the Federal Police in the title of the document required. Check the issuing authority before having anything translated.
Validity is short and printed on the document
A Brazilian certidão expires quickly, and its expiry date is printed on it. A document requested too early will have to be requested again, and translated a second time. Order it once the application is ready.
A Brazilian name carries several elements
The mother's and the father's surnames carried together, particles "de", "da", "dos": a Brazilian name does not split mechanically into given name and surname. The translation keeps the form of the document, and your passport fixes the spelling used.
A screenshot loses the verification code
It is the code, not a stamp, that allows the certidão to be verified. A photo of a printout or a screenshot degrades or truncates it, and the translation can no longer render it faithfully.
What you receive
- Complete certified translation, issuing authority identified explicitly
- Verification code and validity date rendered faithfully
- Name kept in the form of the document, spelling aligned with your passport
- Translator's signed and sealed declaration, meeting IRCC requirements
- PDF delivery — the digital format is enough for IRCC; paper copy on request
Pricing depends on the number of pages in your document. Get your quote online in a few minutes.
Get my quote onlineFrequently asked questions
Federal or state: which certidão do I provide?
The federal one. IRCC names "Certidão de Antecedentes Criminais, issued by the Brazilian Federal Police": the level is part of the name of the document. A state civil police certidão covers only that state and will not do.
How much does it cost to translate my certidão?
The price depends on the number of pages, and this document runs to one or two. Upload the PDF to our online quote form to get your price in a few minutes, with no commitment.
Get my quote onlineHow long does my certidão stay valid?
Its expiry date is printed on the document itself, and it is short. Request the certidão once the rest of your application is ready: an expired document has to be requested again, and translated again with it.
I no longer have a valid CPF. Can I still obtain it?
The online request requires a CPF, and for a foreigner who lived in Brazil, a foreigner identity card. Without those documents, the request is made in person at a Polícia Federal unit.
Can I send a photo of the printout?
Send the original PDF instead. The verification code and the timestamp are part of what authenticates the certidão, and a photo degrades them — which is what an officer uses to check it.