Brazil has two types of translations: tradução livre (free translation) and tradução juramentada (certified translation). As you probably guessed, a “free” translation doesn’t mean there’s no cost involved. It simply means it can’t be used for official purposes. Translations used for court filings and other government registrations must be certified.

Foreign legal documents need to be translated into Portuguese before they can be used in Brazil. And the translation must be done by someone authorized to certify the accuracy of the translation. Your simple Google translation won’t cut it. Even a lawyer’s translation won’t suffice.

Let’s say you’re signing a power of attorney. If it’s all in English, then a certified translator will translate it into Portuguese. If it’s in both English and Portuguese, a certified translator will need to confirm the accuracy of the translation. You can tell when a translation is certified because it’ll contain the translator’s seal or stamp.

The Brazilian Consulate in Miami maintains a list of translation companies here. Just make sure you know what type of translation they’re doing before you hire them. If they don’t know what a tradução juramentada is or can’t provide it, then you’ll want to look elsewhere.

To be safe, we recommend getting your documents translated in Brazil by a reputable company that offers certified translation services. There are plenty of companies to choose from. If you do it directly in Brazil, you avoid the risk of your documents not being accepted when you go to use them.