Driving in Brazil as a Foreigner

Getting a CNH from a foreign license

Mark day 180

Count from your date of entry, and keep the proof of that date in the car. Start the process well before day 180, since exams and translations take time.
Who: you.
Get your documents ready

You need ID showing regular stay (the CRNM or equivalent), a CPF, proof of address, and the original valid foreign license. If the license isn't in Portuguese, get a sworn translation by a public translator.
Who: you and a sworn translator. Time: days. Cost: ask the translator for a quote.
Open the process at your state's Detran

Ask the Detran where you live to open your foreigner registration in RENACH, the national driver register. Some states use service centers, so read the state's page first. The Detran may ask for proof that the license is authentic.
Who: you, a despachante or a driving school. Cost: state fee.
Biometrics and exams

Give your photo and fingerprints. Take the medical and psychological exams at an accredited clinic. A road test applies if Brazil doesn't recognize your license. Toxicology testing applies to category C, D or E equivalents.
Who: you. Cost: one law firm estimates R$ 150 to 300 for each exam.
Pay and collect

Pay the fee and collect the CNH. Delivery time depends on the state. Rondônia's Detran has quoted from 24 hours in the capital to 5 business days inland. You can choose a physical or digital license since Law 15.428/2026.
Who: you or a representative.

The rule in short

You can drive in Brazil on a valid foreign license for up to 180 days. The clock starts on the date you entered the country. That applies whether you are a visitor or a new resident. After that, if you want to keep driving, you take the exams and get a Carteira Nacional de Habilitação, the Brazilian license known as the CNH.

The source is Resolution 1.020 of 1 December 2025 from CONTRAN, the national traffic council, under art. 142 of the Traffic Code (CTB, Law 9.503/1997). Art. 142 says recognition of a foreign license depends on treaties and CONTRAN rules. Art. 102 of the resolution sets out the 180 days. Senatran, the federal traffic department, now cites Resolution 1.020 on its own page. Many state sites still quote the earlier Resolution 933/2022, and some still mention Resolution 360/2010, which Resolution 933 revoked. The foreigner rules read much the same across the versions, but quote the new number if you ever have to argue the point with a Detran, the state traffic department.

The 180-day clock is where many guides go wrong. They say it starts when residence begins and that tourist time doesn't count. Art. 102, §1 says it starts from the date of the driver's entry. Art. 102, §4 then refers to 180 days of regular stay in Brazil. So don't assume you get a fresh 180 days when your residence card arrives. If you came in on a visit, stayed and then got residence, ask the Detran how it counts your days. The text doesn't address re-entry directly either, so an owner who leaves and returns should ask that as well.

Here is a worked date. You land on 1 March 2027. Day 180 falls at the end of August 2027, whatever your immigration status has done since. If you bought a home in Florianópolis and moved in, that is the date to plan around.

Which rule applies to whom
Your position	What applies	What to do
Tourist or owner on a short visit	Foreign license for up to 180 days from entry	Carry the license, ID, proof of entry and any permit required
Owner who comes and goes through the year	Same rule; the text doesn't say how repeat entries count	Ask the Detran where you stay, and keep every entry record
New resident, under 180 days since entry	Foreign license still works, if in date	Start the CNH process now
Resident, past 180 days since entry	You need a CNH to keep driving	Stop driving until you have the license, and go to the Detran
Foreign license expired	Right to drive on it ends at once	Renew it at home if you can, because recognition depends on a valid license

What to carry on a foreign license

Art. 102, §3 and Senatran's page set out the documents to carry in the car:

Your foreign license, in date. Your right to drive ends if it expires, because art. 102 respects the validity of the original license.
An ID document.
A document showing your date of entry, such as a passport stamp or a travel record.
The International Driving Permit, in the cases below.

You also have to stay within the category of your license. Driving a truck on a car license is no more legal here than at home. Art. 102 applies only to a driver who can be held criminally liable in Brazil, which in practice means adults. The rules do not cover career diplomats and consuls (§6), who follow their own arrangements.

The International Driving Permit

The permit (PID in Brazil, IDP elsewhere) is a translation booklet tied to a license. It never replaces one. Sources differ on when you need it:

Senatran says a foreign driver must carry it with the license where the license was issued by a party to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, and it links to the United Nations list of parties.
Art. 102, §3, II of the resolution lists the permit with the license, both valid, for documents issued by a party to that convention.
A 2026 law firm guide reads the rule more loosely, saying that where reciprocity applies a visitor generally needs only the license, ID and proof of entry.

When official and private readings differ, follow the official one. Check the UN list for your country, and get a permit before you leave home if your license comes from a party. An inexpensive booklet avoids an argument at a checkpoint. The permit also helps a rental company staff member who can't read your license.

Brazil's own PID goes with a CNH, for use abroad (arts. 99 and 100), and it can't stand in for a CNH that has been taken away. So plan on getting any permit for your foreign license from your home country before you travel.

What happens after 180 days

Art. 102, §4 says a foreign driver who stays beyond 180 days of regular stay and wants to keep driving must take the physical and mental fitness exams and the psychological evaluation in CTB art. 147, and obtain a CNH in the license's category. Senatran's page repeats this and sends you to the Detran of your state.

If you carry on driving without one, you are exposed to these penalties under the CTB:

Driving without a valid license in Brazil
Rule	What it says	In money
Art. 162, I	Driving without a license: very serious, fine times three, vehicle held until a licensed driver appears	R$ 880.41 (about US$ 162), from the R$ 293.47 base in art. 258
Art. 259	Very serious infractions carry seven points	None directly
Art. 309	Driving on a public road without a license and creating a danger of harm is a crime	6 months to 1 year's detention, or a fine

A checkpoint can hold the car until someone with a valid license shows up, which is a poor outcome far from home on a road to Jericoacoara or Paraty. Ask your car insurer about cover too. An insurer may refuse a claim from someone driving outside the law, and you should read your policy on that point before relying on it. Rental contracts have their own terms on licenses, so read those as well.

Routes to a Brazilian license

Older pages call this a simple swap with no road test. That is true only for some. The route depends on where your license came from.

Routes to a CNH under Resolution 1.020/2025 and Senatran guidance
Your position	What you do	Road test?
License recognized through a treaty or reciprocity	Medical and psychological exams, then CNH in the same category (art. 102, §4)	No
License from Spain, Italy or Mozambique	These countries have mutual recognition agreements, and Senatran says you may exchange the license for a CNH	Check the agreement's terms with the Detran
License not recognized by Brazil	Exchange at the Detran after medical, psychological and driving exams (art. 103)	Yes
No license at all	The full process for new drivers (art. 105)	Yes, plus a written exam
Brazilian citizen licensed abroad	Arts. 102 or 103 apply if you prove at least six months of normal residence there (art. 104). A pending suspension in Brazil blocks it	Depends on the license

States apply this in their own ways. Three examples:

Santa Catarina's Detran (Normative Guidance 1108 of 2 October 2025) asks for the medical and psychological exams after 180 days, in the same category, and a road test where the license isn't recognized. It refuses a license issued when the holder already lived permanently in Brazil, citing the Vienna Convention (Decree 86.714/1981).
Rondônia's Detran said in 2022 that drivers from countries with no reciprocity agreement take the road test, plus psychological and medical exams.
São Paulo's Detran said in 2018, updated in 2022, that the license should be over a year old and in date. Its note also says exams can be waived for Vienna or reciprocity countries, which sits uneasily with the national text requiring medical and psychological exams. Ask for the current position.

Adding or changing a category needs the extra exams for that category (art. 3 in Santa Catarina's guidance, following CTB art. 146).

Starting from nothing

If you hold no license, Resolution 1.020 changed the process in your favor on 9 December 2025. Driving school became optional, the theory course is free online and the minimum practical training fell to two hours, as reported. You still have to pass the theory exam (30 questions, pass mark 20, according to one law firm's guide) and a road test. Your first document is a one-year permit, which becomes a full CNH after 12 months with no serious infractions. Regular stay in Brazil is a condition, so sort out your status first through the residency options guide.

Documents and the translation question

Lists vary by state. Santa Catarina's 2025 list is short and clear: a valid ID proving regular stay, a valid CPF, proof of address, the original valid foreign license and a sworn translation by a public translator registered with a commercial board. A license in Portuguese needs no translation. The Detran can ask for more if it doubts a license.

Rondônia's list adds a registration form and, unless the license can be checked on the issuing country's official website, a certificate confirming the license is authentic, with apostille and translation. So ask your home licensing authority, before you travel, how it can confirm a license or issue a driving record. That is easier to arrange while you are still there.

On translation, one point isn't settled. A 2026 law firm guide says no CONTRAN text requires a sworn translation. State rules such as Santa Catarina's ask for one in so many words, and São Paulo's older note does too, with an exception for Portuguese-speaking countries. So get one, unless your Detran says in writing that you don't need it.

You will need a CPF, so start with the CPF guide. The same number also underlies buying a car and insuring it. Your ID usually means the CRNM, the card you get after registering as a resident, or the provisional document issued while you wait. That process is on the Brazil Investor Visa page and in the residency comparison.

For proof of address, a utility bill or a registered deed may work, depending on the state. If you have just bought a home, make sure the registration of your purchase is done, and keep a bill in your name. The monthly bills described on the condominium fees page may help too, though the Detran decides what it accepts.

Cost and time

There is no national fee. Each state sets its own charges and each accredited clinic prices its exams within the state's rules. The only recent published estimates reviewed here come from one 2026 law firm guide, written mainly about new licenses, so use them as a rough guide and check your state's table.

Rough budget for a foreign license holder, reais first
Item	Estimate	In dollars at R$ 5.42
Medical exam	R$ 150 to 300	US$ 28 to 55
Psychological evaluation	R$ 150 to 300	US$ 28 to 55
Detran application	About R$ 200	About US$ 37
License processing	About R$ 100	About US$ 18
Road test, if required	About R$ 150	About US$ 28
Sworn translation	Ask for a quote
Total before translation, no road test	About R$ 600 to 900	About US$ 111 to 166

Compare that total with a single fine of R$ 880.41 for driving without a license. Set against the wider cost of moving, this is small, and the wider budget for each market is on pages such as the Salvador cost of living page.

Timing depends on the state and on how quickly you get appointments. Rondônia's Detran quoted delivery in 24 hours in the capital, 48 hours at its advanced posts and 5 business days inland, once exams were done. Those are one state's figures from 2022, so don't plan on them elsewhere. A sworn translator needs a few days, and clinics need booking. Leave at least two months before day 180. If you live in a smaller town, ask early where the nearest accredited clinic is. A despachante, a licensed paperwork agent, can run the process for a fee.

How long a CNH lasts

CTB art. 147, §2, as changed by Law 14.071/2020, ties renewal to age: every 10 years under age 50, every 5 years from 50 to 69, and every 3 years from 70. A 2026 law firm guide gives those figures and also says "valid for 5 years" in its introduction, which conflicts with them. Rely on the statute. São Paulo's older note on foreigners also mentioned five years, so ask whether your state ties a foreigner's first CNH to anything shorter, such as your residence card.

Law 15.428/2026 made further changes. Sanctioned on 5 June 2026, it says the CNH can be physical or digital at the driver's choice, with public faith and the value of an identity document (CTB art. 159). It also came out of the measure that created automatic renewal for good drivers on the national positive register. Art. 268-A, §7 renews those licenses automatically and waives the art. 147 procedures, except for the physical and mental fitness exams, so the medical exam stays even though earlier reports on the measure said otherwise. The passages reviewed here mention no age limit, so ask your Detran before you assume it applies to you.

You still have to carry the license while driving (art. 159, §1), in paper or on your phone. Keep your phone charged if digital is your only copy.

Rules that catch foreign drivers

Alcohol tolerance is the big one. Under CTB art. 276, any concentration of alcohol subjects you to art. 165's penalties. Above 6 decigrams per liter of blood, or 0.3 mg per liter of breath, or with signs of impaired ability, it becomes a crime under art. 306: six months to three years' detention, a fine and a driving ban. A glass of wine at lunch before the drive back from Gramado can be enough to trigger the first level.

Fines come in four grades. The base for a very serious infraction is R$ 293.47 and seven points (arts. 258 and 259). One law firm's table gives R$ 195.23 and five points for serious, R$ 130.16 and four for medium, and R$ 88.38 and three for light. Suspension depends on points in 12 months: 20 with two or more very serious infractions, 30 with one, 40 with none (art. 261, I, as reported).

Foreign licenses are not immune. If an infraction carries a suspension, the authority can seize your foreign document until the suspension ends or you leave the country, and it can tell the authority that issued it (Resolution 1.020, art. 106). A Brazilian citizen with a suspension or a court ban waiting in Brazil can't use a foreign license to get around it (art. 104, §2).

Whether you need a car at all

That depends on the market, so look before you pay for the process. Each neighborhood page on this site scores walkability. Compare Ipanema, Jardins or Savassi with a place like Campeche or Lago Sul, and the answer will differ a lot.

Distances are the other factor. Weekend owners often drive further than they expect:

Typical drives from the nearest big city
Destination	From	Time
Búzios	Rio de Janeiro	About 2.5 hours (180 km)
Paraty	Rio de Janeiro	About 4 hours (250 km)
Campos do Jordão	São Paulo	About 2.5 hours (170 km)
Ilhabela	São Paulo	About 3 hours with the ferry
Praia da Pipa	Natal	About 1.5 hours (85 km)
Jericoacoara	Fortaleza	About 4 to 5 hours

Many buyers renting a car for those trips can stay on a foreign license during short visits. A resident has to deal with the 180-day rule either way, because the rule attaches to driving at all and not to owning a car. Choosing where to live with this in mind is part of comparing the markets, and homes for sale show what is on offer in each.

Questions

Can I drive in Brazil with a US, UK or EU license?

Yes, for up to 180 days from your date of entry, with the license in date, ID and proof of entry. Senatran says the International Driving Permit must also accompany a license from a party to the 1968 Vienna Convention.

When does the 180-day clock start?

On the date you entered Brazil, under CONTRAN Resolution 1.020/2025, art. 102, §1. Don't assume it restarts when your residence begins. Ask the Detran how it treats your stay.

Do I have to take a driving test to convert my license?

Not if Brazil recognizes your license through a treaty or reciprocity: you take medical and psychological exams. If it doesn't recognize the license, a road test applies (art. 103).

Which countries can exchange a license directly?

Senatran names Spain, Italy and Mozambique as having mutual recognition agreements. For all others, the 180-day rule and the Detran's exams apply.

What is the fine for driving on an expired foreign license?

Driving without a valid license is a very serious infraction with a fine of R$ 880.41 and the vehicle held. If you create a danger, art. 309 of the Traffic Code makes it a crime.

Is a sworn translation required?

State rules such as Santa Catarina's ask for one unless the license is in Portuguese. A law firm guide says no CONTRAN text requires it, so ask your Detran.

How long is a Brazilian CNH valid?

Ten years under age 50, five years from 50 to 69, and three years from age 70 (Traffic Code art. 147, §2).

Can I get an International Driving Permit inside Brazil?

Only with a CNH, for use abroad (Resolution 1.020/2025, art. 99). A permit for your foreign license has to come from your home country. The residency guide covers what comes before the CNH.

Sources

Written by Lucas Andrade. Updated November 2026. General information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Ask a Brazilian lawyer about your own case.