How to use a foreign Power of Attorney in Brazil
For documents to be acceptable in Brazil they must have been sworn translated into Portuguese. Sworn translations are provided exclusively by Brazilian sworn translators registered with the State Commerce Boards (“Junta Comercial”).
Nonetheless, for a POA to be valid in Brazil, it must be a "Public POA”, and it may be done in Brazil or in a Brazilian consulate or embassy as long as the grantor is a Brazilian citizen. For foreign citizens, whenever doing a POA abroad, some very specific steps in their home countries for a POA to be acceptable by the registration office in Brazil.
E&G offers the drafting of foreign POA customized for use in Brazil. Contact us for a quote via email info@egfinancialgroup.com. Services start from US$ 850.00 for the most basic POAs.
After this step, you have to take the English POA to a Notary Public / County Clerk / Department of State for signature and notarization. It will depend on your Country or State you live.
Do not hire translation services from companies outside of Brazil since they are unable to provide sworn translations in Brazil unless they are reselling the services of a Brazilian sworn translator. Note that sworn translator is not the same thing as what is considered a "certified translation" in the US or UK.
Following, you should ship the POA to a sworn translator in Brazil for a sworn translation from English into Portuguese, and take both the POA and the sworn translation to a Registration Office in Brazil for recording.
Thus, we have summarized the steps necessary for a foreign power of attorney to be valid in Brazil:
1. Drafting of the Power of Attorney in a foreign language in accordance with Brazilian law;
2. Hague Apostille of the Power of Attorney (POA) in the grantor's country;
3. In Brazil, sworn translation of the Power of Attorney into Portuguese;
4. Delivery of the original Power of Attorney and its sworn translated version to the competent bodies for the appropriate purposes and effects.
E&G has experience in drafting Powers of Attorney, as well as its notarization and Apostille. In Brazil, we offer full support so that the document meets the grantor's objectives, but is in accordance with Brazilian law.