Brazilian born and naturalized: what is the difference in the law?

Depending on the competition you are entering, you may need to declare your nationality, and people often get confused about the concept of Brazilian-born and naturalized, without knowing which of these is correct.

So let's understand more about this subject and what the main differences are under the law.

What does it mean to be a Brazilian born and naturalized?

Before understanding what the law says about these two types of nomenclature, it is necessary to understand what these two terms mean.

Brazilian born

A native Brazilian is someone who is born in Brazilian territory, even if someone's parents are foreigners or foreigners, the child born will be Brazilian as long as it is within the national borders.

There is only one exception: if the parents are in service to the country, due to wars or conflicts of political interest or otherwise, the child born will not be Brazilian.

Furthermore, if the parents are Brazilian, but the child is born in international territory due to the provision of services by the Federative Republic of Brazil, the child will also be a native Brazilian.

If a person born abroad to Brazilian parents wishes to be considered a natural-born Brazilian, he or she may request registration of his or her birth at a competent Brazilian office, such as an embassy or consulate. After registration, he or she will be considered a natural-born Brazilian.

Naturalized Brazilian

Naturalized Brazilians are those who were not born as Brazilians, but became Brazilians of their own free will, acquiring Brazilian citizenship.

However, there is no automatic naturalization, the person must make a request for naturalization for it to be effective.

This request must be made to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security and there are some requirements for it to be accepted.

The first requirement is that to make this request the person must be over 18 years old.

In addition to having lived with residence in Brazil for at least 4 years, they may be uninterrupted or not and they also cannot have been convicted.

If the individual is married to a Brazilian-born person or has a Brazilian child, the residency condition also applies, but he or she may apply for naturalization after just 1 year.

Finally, those who come from countries where Portuguese is their mother tongue may also apply for naturalization after 1 year of uninterrupted residence.

Furthermore, those who are going to apply for naturalization may end up finding more than one option, as there are ordinary, extraordinary, special and provisional options.

The ordinary one only requires compliance with the requirements and the extraordinary one is given to foreigners who have lived in Brazil for more than 15 years.

Furthermore, to apply for naturalization it is necessary to demonstrate that the candidate has ways of supporting himself in the country.

In the case of special naturalization, the request may be made by anyone who is the spouse or partner of a member of the Brazilian Foreign Service in service for more than 5 years, or if they work or have worked in diplomatic or consular missions in Brazil for a continuous period of more than 10 years.

Finally, the provisional nationality is aimed at children or adolescents who have residency in Brazil before the age of 10. After that, upon reaching adulthood, the person has up to 2 years to request definitive nationality.

Is there a difference between these types according to the law?

According to the Federal Constitution, the distinction between a native-born Brazilian and a naturalized Brazilian is prohibited. The article that contains this states that there is no distinction, except for some cases that are also mentioned by the Constitution.

In the cases we are going to talk about today, according to the CRFB/88 there are five differences regarding what can or cannot be done by native-born and naturalized Brazilians.

According to Art. 13.3°, some positions, such as president, whether of the Republic, Chamber of Deputies, Senate or STJ, are restricted to native Brazilians only.

As well as a diplomatic position, an officer in the armed forces and Minister of State for Defense.

The role of Council of the Republic is also exclusive to natural-born Brazilians who are over thirty-five years of age, as stated in art.89. Therefore, naturalized Brazilians cannot be part of the council.

Article 222 states that a journalistic and broadcasting company, whether sound or image, is limited to Brazilian-born citizens or those who have been naturalized for more than ten years.

Fourthly, Article 12.4 states that a naturalized Brazilian may lose his nationality for acting against the national interest or for carrying out harmful activities.

Finally, the last difference is shown in Art. 5°LI, which states that no Brazilian will be extradited, only naturalized, but only in the case of a crime committed prior to naturalization or involvement in trafficking.

List of documents for naturalization

Now that you know what a Brazilian citizen is and what a naturalized Brazilian citizen is, you will need to separate a certain amount of documents in order to have your naturalization application processed.

The main one is the form filled out and signed by the applicant, which must be delivered to the immigration process coordination.

In some situations, the individual's name may need to be translated or adapted to the Portuguese language, which happens in the case of Asian names that sometimes do not use romanized letters.

Some certificates will also be requested, such as the following:

• State Certificate of Civil Distribution of the place of residence for the last five years;
• Federal Certificate of Civil Distribution of the place of residence for the last five years;
• Certificates from the notary offices of protests at the place of residence for the last five years;
• Negative Certificate of Labor Debts from the Labor Court of the place of residence for the last five years.

The applicant will also need a copy of the National Migration Registration card, even if it has expired, and an original copy.

See some of the other documents:

• Proof of CPF registration status, if applicable;
• Criminal record certificate issued by the Federal and State Courts of the place where you live for the last 5 years;
• Proof of rehabilitation;
• Proof of residence;
• Copy of international travel documents;
• Marriage certificate or stable union documents, if applicable;
• Birth certificate of a Brazilian child, if applicable;
• Document indicating the ability to speak Portuguese.

Now we know the differences between a born and naturalized Brazilian, and how to go through the naturalization process.