2 Passports and length of stay in Brasil

Hi expert globetrotters

I am going to Brasil. I am Hungarian and UK citizen with passports from both. I can be in Brasil for 90 days. My question is: Can i leave the country and then re-enter with my other passport (1st 90days with Hungarian passport and 2nd 90days with my UK passport?

Or will they know it is the same person and thus the restriction on length of stay applied.

Thank you very much for the help here guys. You are rockstars for having this blog!

Doing so will get you a very long stay in Brazil, unfortunately most of it will be behind bars. The 180 day stay limit for tourists is for the PERSON and not for the passport he/she uses.

With your UK passport you can stay 180 days, which can be consecutive because of Brazil's agreement with the UK. With your Schengen Area passport you can only stay 90 days in a six month (180 day) period.

When you enter the country, regardless of the passport you hold, your passport information and name and all your other indentifying data will be entered into the Federal Police database. Should you use up your legal entitlement to 180 days in any "rolling" year and try to re-enter Brazil on any other passport thinking you will put one over on the Federal Police, think again because you won't. They enter your information into the computer on your next visit and regardless of the passport number your previous visit will pop up on their screen...  This is also considered immigration fraud and can land you in a Brazilian jail; not my idea of a tourist destination. At the very least it will get you put right back on the plane you came on or the first one back to your home (at your expense) and with a big ugly stamp in your passport that says DEPORTED.

Immigration laws are no joke, not here not anywhere.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Expat-blog Experts Team

Thank you for the quick response. This is really great insight. Just to be clear, I was not looking to fraud or make a joke of it at all. I am just looking for the simplest way to spend more time in Brasil. I am doing some business development there for my startup and looking to do it a cost effectively as possible.

Again thank you for your fantastic insight!

The only way to stay longer than the 180 day limit for tourists would be to have a VITEM-IV Student Visa and be enrolled and re-enrolled in courses that would keep you here, obtain a work contract with a Brazilian company that would qualify you for a VITEM-V Work Visa, Marry a Brazilian, have a Brazilian child or invest over R$150 thousand (about US$ 75 thousand) which would entitle you to apply for a VIPER Permanent Visa.

Very useful thank you sir! Do you know if there is a minimum amount of hours I need to study if I apply for student visa? I have 3 university degrees already and I mainly just want to study portugese maybe 4-6 hours a week. I hear that the gov no longer accepts such few hours?

I really don't know the number of hours of study that would qualify for a VITEM-IV Student Visa, but I would guess you're right that 4 - 6 hours per week wouldn't even be considered. You should contact the Policia Federal, Departamento de Estrangeiros and ask them or phone the Consulado-Geral do Brasil in your home country for exact information regarding study hours.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Expat-blog Experts Team