Brazil: Federal Police System Disruption Affects Immigration Services

A nationwide outage of the Federal Police system is disrupting several immigration services. Initially affecting smaller offices, the disruption has expanded to include appointment cancellations in São Paulo. Affected services include visa registrations, appointments for in-country change of status applications (including Mercosur and family reunion applications), issuance and collection of Brazilian immigration identification cards (CRNM) and verification of outstanding immigration fines. The Federal Police has described the issue as technical system instability. It remains unclear when the system will be restored.    

Until the system is restored, employers and foreign nationals should expect appointment cancellations and delays in completing immigration procedures at the Federal Police. Appointment availability was already limited before the outage, particularly in São Paulo. Once services resume, Federal Police offices will need to accommodate both canceled appointments and new requests, which may further extend waiting times. 

Fragomen is working with affected clients to provide case-specific advice and will report on developments. 

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen