I need someone to file a document in Brazil
Filing in Brazil means receiving a number — and the country takes its numbers seriously: cartório protocolo, city hall protocolo, the federal NUP. With the number, everything can be tracked; without it, nothing exists. For anyone abroad, the good news is the double route: digital e-protocols growing, and the old postal AR (delivery confirmation) as valid as it ever was.
Where filing happens
- Cartórios: applications for annotations, rectifications, marriage files — protocolo on the spot, at the counter.
- City halls and state/federal offices: general filing desks, increasingly with e-protocolo (gov.br, dedicated systems).
- Post with AR (delivery confirmation): for bodies that accept postal filing, the signed AR proves delivery and date.
- Electronic petitioning: whoever has a silver/gold gov.br account files digitally at many bodies — including from abroad.
The Brazilian proof
In person: the stamped copy or the numbered receipt. Postal: the AR + the tracking. Digital: the electronic receipt with the NUP/protocolo. Keep ALL of them — Brazilian tracking without a number is an endless phone call.
When a person is needed
Originals required, fees paid on the spot (slips that expire!), filings with queue tickets — and the national classic: the application that needs a counter conversation to enter the right way. The bearer carries two copies, the paid slips (or money to pay them), an authorisation when acting for another, and instructions on what to accept.
What to demand from whoever goes
A photo of the protocolo (number legible), of the paid slip, time and place — and the account: the counter's verbal requirements, announced deadlines, the attendant's name when possible. On King Hands, the recorded proof releases the payment from the locked vault — the model was born exactly for this.
Frequently asked questions
The fee slip expired before filing. Now what?+
The slip is reissued — one more day lost. That is why the right design pays the slip as close to the filing as possible, ideally by the same person on the same day.
Does filing by AR count for deadlines?+
For bodies that admit postal filing, the posting/receipt date (per the body's rule) counts. Fatal deadlines call for confirming the specific rule — or the counter, which leaves no doubt.
Informative content about request procedures. We do not cover citizenship or visa eligibility. Rules and amounts may change; always confirm before acting.