Buying beach property in Pernambuco and Alagoas, Brazil, from abroad

Living abroad does not stop you from buying a home on the coast of Pernambuco or Alagoas, and you do not have to fly in for every step. The route has five parts: a CPF (the Brazilian taxpayer number), a power of attorney if someone signs for you, the money arriving through Brazil's foreign exchange market, the purchase taxes and, on the beachfront, a check on whether the land is federal "terreno de marinha".

Every rule on this page was checked against an official Brazilian source on 31 October 2026, and the links are under "Sources" at the end. This is a guide, not legal advice: confirm your own case with the notary's office (cartório), your bank and, if needed, a lawyer.

Step one: the CPF taxpayer number

The CPF is the number the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service (Receita Federal) uses to identify you. It is required even to sign a power of attorney at a consulate, so get it first.

Both Brazilians and foreigners living abroad can apply, and the service is free. Brazilians fill in the form on the Receita Federal website and email it, with their documents, to the address the Receita provides. Those who cannot apply by email can go to a consulate.

Foreigners apply in person at the Brazilian consulate or embassy that serves the area where they live, booking an appointment through the e-consular system. Bring the completed and signed form, an identity document and your birth or marriage certificate. The Receita does not publish a processing time, so start here.

Signing from abroad: the power of attorney

Unless the law says otherwise, Brazil's Civil Code requires a public deed (escritura pública) to transfer property worth more than thirty times the highest national minimum wage. It also requires a power of attorney to take the same form as the act it authorises. So if someone is going to sign a deed on your behalf, the power of attorney must be a public one too.

Abroad, a public power of attorney is drawn up at a Brazilian consulate or embassy. Brazilians and foreigners holding a valid RNE (Brazil's registration for foreign residents) can use this service. You must appear in person, and some consulates require an appointment. Brazilians bring an identity document and their CPF number; foreigners bring their RNE and CPF. The consular fee depends on the local currency.

Foreigners without a valid RNE cannot sign a public power of attorney at the consulate. They sign it before a notary in their own country and have the signature legalised by the consulate. The same goes for any foreign document: to have effect in Brazil it must be legalised, or carry a Hague apostille if your country is a party to that convention, and be translated into Portuguese by a sworn translator registered with the commercial registry (Junta Comercial) of a Brazilian state.

The wording is entirely the responsibility of the person granting it, the consular service says. Identify the property by its registry number (matrícula) and spell out every power: signing the purchase agreement and the deed, paying the transfer tax and fees, and representing you at the registry office and, on the coast, at the Federal Property Department (SPU). Before you go to the consulate, show the draft to the notary's office that will draw up the deed and ask whether it will be accepted.

Getting a mortgage with income earned abroad

This is the least predictable part. We found no official rule, valid for every bank, on mortgages for borrowers whose income is earned outside Brazil. Each bank decides through its own credit review, and the documents it asks for can differ from one bank to the next.

So reverse the usual order. Before reserving a property on the assumption of a mortgage, ask the bank in writing three things: whether it accepts your foreign income, which documents it requires for that income, and whether the review can be done while you live abroad and sign through an attorney.

Without that answer, plan as if you will pay without a bank. When buying off-plan, part of the price is usually paid in instalments during construction, directly to the developer, and the balance on completion.

Sending the money to Brazil

Money from abroad enters through Brazil's foreign exchange market. Under the 2021 foreign exchange law, these operations may only be carried out by institutions authorised by the Central Bank of Brazil, and there is no limit on the amount. Before sending, check that whoever handles the transfer holds that authorisation.

Keep every record: the exchange contract, the statement of the account the money left and the statement of the Brazilian account that received it. These papers show where the money came from if the bank, the notary or the seller asks.

Do not pay for property with cash carried in your luggage. Agree with the seller how and to which account each payment goes, and pay only against a signed contract or a receipt.

Taxes: when you buy and when you sell

On purchase, the tax is ITBI, the property transfer tax, which Brazil's Constitution assigns to municipalities. Each municipality charges it under its own law, so the rate in Ipojuca, Tamandaré or Maragogi is not the rate in Recife. Ask the city hall (Prefeitura) of the town where the property is before you do the sums.

Living abroad matters if you sell one day. When the seller lives abroad, Brazilian law makes the buyer resident in Brazil, or the buyer's attorney when the buyer also lives abroad, responsible for withholding and paying the income tax on the capital gain. Plan the sale with an accountant before you put the property on the market.

What you must declare to the Receita also depends on your situation: people who are still Brazilian taxpayers and people who have formally left the country follow different rules. Confirm your case with an accountant before buying.

Beach property: "terreno de marinha" (federal coastal land)

On the coast there is one more check. "Terreno de marinha" is the strip 33 metres deep measured inland from the mean high-tide line of 1831. This land belongs to the Federal Government (União) and is managed by the Federal Property Department (Secretaria do Patrimônio da União, SPU). Flats and houses built on this strip are bought and sold, but the land under them remains federal.

That means a yearly charge under one of two regimes. Under "aforamento" you pay the "foro", set by law at 0.6% of the value of full ownership per year. Under "ocupação" you pay the occupation fee, also yearly, calculated as a percentage of the land value. Both are based on the land, not on the buildings.

When the property is sold, the seller pays the "laudêmio": 5% of the land value, excluding improvements. Only after this payment does the SPU issue the CAT (Certidão Autorizativa de Transferência). Without it the property cannot be transferred at the SPU, and it is required to draw up the deed and to register it.

As a buyer, insist that the seller shows you a CAT in the seller's own name. The SPU itself warns that if the certificate is in someone else's name, the property's record is irregular and that CAT cannot be used for the sale. After registration, ask the SPU, through its online service portal, to put the property in your name as the person responsible.

To find out whether a property is on "terreno de marinha", ask the seller in writing, request an up-to-date registry certificate (certidão de matrícula) and, if in doubt, check with the SPU before signing.

What changes for foreigners

The starting point is the same: a CPF, requested in person at a Brazilian consulate or embassy. If you have no RNE, your power of attorney goes through a local notary, with legalisation or an apostille and a sworn translation, as described above.

Within 100 metres of the coastline, federal law requires an authorisation to sell, grant or transfer federal property to a foreign person. The same law waives that authorisation in two cases. The first is an autonomous unit in a condominium in an urban area, provided the ideal fractions sought, taken together, do not exceed one third of the total area. The second, for individuals only, is the transfer of plots of up to 1,000 square metres within that strip.

Rural land has its own law, with limits for foreigners. If the property you want is outside the urban area, talk to a lawyer before paying any deposit.

This page lists only the restrictions we could confirm in an official source.