Mandatory Military Service in Brazil Question

We got our son an exemption letter before coming and he was 20 years old at the time. He had lived in Brazil from between the ages of 6-10 years of age previously. There was absolutely no problems or questions. We got this from the consulate in the US. I do believe it was the CAM.

Oh, and he had been a citizen since very young with his mother being Brazilian. He was born in the US but we did the citizenship paperwork with the consulate early on I just don't remember what age he was at the time other than very young.

12/09/23  With what is currently happening in the North of Brazil, I became curious about the military and learnt that Military Service in Brazil is mandatory.
Since I am looking to move to Brazil soon and my kids will and have just passed the age of 18, will they be required to serve when the request for PR and future citizenship request?  Will my kids need a Certificado de Alistamento (commonly known as CAM); Certificado de Reservista; Certificado de Isenção; or Certificado de Dispensa de Incorporação?

Anyone know about those?
   

    -@Pablo888

When I was naturalized, I was informed by the Justiça Eleitoral that a male citizen between 18 and 40 needed one of those documents to obtain his Título de Eleitor which, since voting is obligatory between the ages of 18 and 70 and not voting is penalized, is a necessary document to live successfully in Brazil as a citizen.  I was also told that for anyone over 19 who's never been called up, the issuance of the Dispensa is pretty automatic, but it has to be requested.  As far as I know, the requirement only applies to citizens.

Since I was over 40 at the time, I was exempt anyway.

Thank you @Brazil Bill and @abthree for the responses.

    With what is currently happening in the North of Brazil,
Anyone know about those?
   
    -@Pablo888

I hate to sound ignorant or oblivious, but "what is currently happening in the north of Brazil"?

Maduro is threatening to annex Guyanese oil fields.

A non starter frankly.......just more posturing for his media

For the Venezuelan army to reach Guyana, they would have to pass through a part of Brazil first, as the border between Venezuela and Guyana is impassable. That is the problem...

09/12/23    For the Venezuelan army to reach Guyana, they would have to pass through a part of Brazil first, as the border between Venezuela and Guyana is impassable. That is the problem...        -@Peter Itamaraca

Absolutely right, and the Brazilian government has announced that they plan to send more armored vehicles to the border areas in Roraima to counter any such ideas; they've also said that the reinforcements will take at least a month to get there, so it's not being treated as a red alert.

We'll probably see an uptick in the ongoing harassment of Guyanese vessels along the maritime border in the leadup to the Venezuelan presidential election, which Maduro swears will be free and fair this time.  If the plebiscite is any indication of what he plans I wouldn't count on that,  but if he does lose, his threats to his neighbors will probably retire to Havana or Managua with him.

Here's what i do remember, from about 40 years ago....

Conscription was based on a draft basis.  And most of conscripts were assigned to the local jurisdiction of the "Tiro de Guerra", which is nowhere near what volunteers and recruits deal in the US.  More close to a National Guard Training. 

Basic training consisted of showing up at the local "Tiro de Guerra" from 5AM to 8AM and then you are off to your civilian daily life.

Very few, a 1 in a 100 shot, got called to join the Army under conscription. 

Most of the folks who volunteer for service are from poor background, and there are plenty of them. There are more candidates than open spots to join in.

The equivalent of a Marine Corps is the Fuzileiros Navais. And the gig on Navy and Air Force is far more disputed by volunters, the majority does not meet the grade.

if your kids gets sent to the nearest Tiro de Guerra, all they will limited to training duty, involving physical exercise, basic firearms training, civic indoctrination.

Basically it affords the Brazilian Armed forces to have a pool of voluntary candidates.

will they be required to serve when the request for PR and future citizenship request?
    -@Pablo888

Taking citizenship of any country give you rights, but also responsibilities.

If you don't want to serve in any form, perhaps it would be a bad idea to take up citizenship.

@Fred, I have served in 2 countries and my question was simply to ascertain of how to get the form.  I am very disgusted at your suggestion.

I will definitely not move to Indonesia if every person made assumptions like you have simply made.

I don't want to get any feedback from you as you only make offensive insinuations and comments.

    @Fred, I have served in 2 countries and my question was simply to ascertain of how to get the form.  I am very disgusted at your suggestion.
I will definitely not move to Indonesia if every person made assumptions like you have simply made.

I don't want to get any feedback from you as you only make offensive insinuations and comments.
   

    -@Pablo888

My point is easy enough - If you are concerned about you or your family having to do military service for their adopted country, don't go for citizenship.

We had at least one thread from Ukraine on this one. Some guy took citizenship for his convenience, but was trying to skip the country illegally when it came to responsibilities.

Don't get upset at the blindingly obvious just because I stated it in way that you didn't like.

At the end, it's an attempt to get out of responsibilities, nothing else.

@Fred, the exemption forms are valid and legal ways in Brazil to choose a different path based on circumstances.

You are either ignorant - in which case you should stick your noses where you belong - i.e. not in the Brazil forum or you are simply obnoxious.

I believe that you are the latter because you impose your morality on others without really helping.

I don't know why expat.com even tolerates your "mightier than thou" attitude.  The longer you stay in this helpful forum, the more you poison the atmosphere.

@Pablo888 I live in the North east of Brazil. What do you believe is happening here?

Roddie in Retirement

@rraypo I am laughing now, because I asked that same question when I read it before I even saw your post.

I have the window overlooking my pool open, but all I see is tropical trees blowing in the wind. What am I missing? My wife hires local contractors to do landscaping, but I don't think that is a job for the Military.

Roddie in Retirement.

Too much ado about nothing..

Brazil has no track record of invading nations, the last one was the Paraguayan War, and Solano, Paraguay's madman and dictator, got emboldened and started it all. 

The lame ass Brazilian Armed Forces gave him a whoop ass kicking, and Paraguay lost territory and never fully recovered from it. 

Our last intervention was in Haiti, for humanitarian purposes. And WWII, we send a few to the Italian Campaign.   

Most of what our Military does, other than  the occasional politicking, is to send in troops to squash any uprising, or as in Rio,. because the local law enforcement was inefective, and unpaid, due to budget shortfalls in Rio.

They will send the Fuzileiros Navais ( Our version of Marines ) ,to the Amazon bordering states, as there are issues with the drug traffickers poaching into our border. 

And the coast guard, to safeguard our 200 nautical miles ( Thanks Greenland!!! ). 

If your kid gets conscripted ( they only take 18 year olds , anyone older, they could care less to call ),  it's actually a good thing.  He will learn discipline, pickup on Portuguese ( the proper one ) much quicker. Odds to be sent to any battle front, one in a 1000, I would daresay. 

    @Pablo888 I live in the North east of Brazil. What do you believe is happening here?
Roddie in Retirement-@roddiesho

@roddiesho, I will also be planning to live in the North East in the future. 

I am not very familiar with the military in Brazil and will let more "experienced" people decide what is more likely to happen there....

What I am currently doing is planning my future retirement in the NE.  That includes all the paperwork that my family and I would probably need now and in the future.

What I am hoping (without any proof) though is that Maduro is just saber rattling as a diversionary tactic ahead of the elections.

I agree with @sprealestatebroker that this may cause the military to do additional drills (exercise for the troops) and probably increase military spending - which may be a good thing to boost the economy.

From a macro standpoint, I doubt that Brazil will be the only country involved if Maduro decided to do something that can cause a war.

Hence I expect very little changes in the security situation in Brazil.

I am not worried and continuing my trips and plans to Brazil as usual.

Just giving my $0.02 worth here as I believe strongly in Brazil.