Stop Looking For a US Notary in Brazil

It’s time to set the record straight on notarizing documents in Brazil. Despite writing about this issue before, we continue to get questions about it. So let’s be clear: a US notary public doesn’t have jurisdiction to notarize documents in Brazil.

The question most often arises when someone in Brazil - whether a Brazilian or American citizen - is purchasing property in the US. Closing documents must be notarized, and the poor paralegal helping with the transaction is tasked with finding a US notary somewhere in Brazil.

What they don’t realize is that it can’t be done with a US notary. A Florida notary, for example, must attest to the fact that the document was notarized in Florida. Instead, consider the following alternatives.

The easiest way to notarize a document in Brazil for use in the US is at a US Consulate or Embassy in Brazil. Schedule an appointment online, pay the US$50 fee per stamp, and a consular official will notarize the document for you. It’s that easy.

You can also notarize the document at a Brazilian notary office or cartório. In addition to the notary stamp, you’ll need to have it apostilled, which makes it valid for use anywhere in the US. Before apostilling it, the Brazilian notary office may require that the document be translated into Portuguese by a certified translator.

The next time you need a document notarized in Brazil, you can skip the wild goose chase. A US notary in Brazil just won’t cut it.