Portuguese language certificate

04/16/24 Good afternoon, alirkhorshid.  Successful completion of a Master's course in an accredited Brazilian university, i.e. earning  a Brazilian Master's Degree, will be accepted, not just participating in some classes.

Here are the requirements for a language course for foreigners to be accepted in place of the CelpeBras certificate:

Completion, with satisfactory success, of a Portuguese language course aimed at immigrants held at a higher education institution accredited by the Ministry of Education (MEC);

• The course can be carried out remotely, as long as the student, previously identified, is subjected to at least one face-to-face assessment at the responsible establishment or, in the case of a student domiciled in a location other than the headquarters, at a higher education institution affiliated with them and also accredited by the Ministry of Education.

• It must be accompanied by the academic record and the syllabus of the training carried out.

• Attention: certificates that only contain information about “participation” or “registration” will not be accepted. The educational institution's declaration must contain information that the immigrant was “approved.”

You should ask the school directly whether the Federal Police will accept the certificate that they will give you as a substitute for the CelpeBras certificate for naturalization purposes.

Check their syllabus carefully.  If it's strictly a conversation course and doesn't include any graded written compositions, it's doubtful that it will satisfy the requirement.

I did mine with Instituto ITESA. They are accredited and the Polícia Federal accepts their certificate of Proficiency in the Portuguese Language.

@StarkHorizon

Please can you confirm if you did the course as a beginner or had you had other lessons prior to doing the course I have checked their website and they seem very credible. But as a beginner would I cope with the 30 day course

@StarkHorizon

Sorry just recieved the reply from the college and the course is not for beginers they have sent me details of who to contact for beginners courses

I am doing my "official" Portuguese learning at FAAP in Sao Paulo.  I am currently on my beginner intensive course.  I did mention the CELPE-Bras and was told that I would need to reach get to the 4th course in order to even consider getting the equivalent of a certificate for CELPE-Bras.

The issue here is that you need to prove sufficient writing proficiency in an examination setting.  And yes, there will be an exam to make sure that you are able to read, write, and speak Portuguese.

Something to look forward to in the future....

04/21/24 @Pablo888. That FAAP was so straightforward with you on that question speaks well for their credibility overall. Are you satisfied with the quality of their instruction so far?

Is it possible to find a list of schools accredited by the MEC that can be used to satisfy the Portuguese language requirement for citizenship? It would be very useful to have that.

04/21/24    Is it possible to find a list of schools accredited by the MEC that can be used to satisfy the Portuguese language requirement for citizenship? It would be very useful to have that.        -@guerneca

I'm not aware of any list.  So far, members here have reported success, or at least possible success, with:

• UniCesumar -- https://www.unicesumar.edu.br/

• FAAP -- https://www2.faap.br/

• ITESA -- https://institutoitesa.com.br/

Before paying to enroll in any course, the person considering it should ask the school whether the Polícia Federal will accept successful completion as equivalent to the CelpeBras. 

Any local federal university that offers a Portuguese for Foreigners course is worth contacting to inquire whether their courses will qualify.

    04/21/24    Is it possible to find a list of schools accredited by the MEC that can be used to satisfy the Portuguese language requirement for citizenship? It would be very useful to have that.        -@guerneca

I'm not aware of any list.  So far, members here have reported success, or at least possible success, with:

UniCesumar -- https://www.unicesumar.edu.br/

FAAP -- https://www2.faap.br/

ITESA -- https://institutoitesa.com.br/

Before paying to enroll in any course, the person considering it should ask the school whether the Polícia Federal will accept successful completion as equivalent to the CelpeBras. 

Any local federal university that offers a Portuguese for Foreigners course is worth contacting to inquire whether their courses will qualify.
   

    -@abthree

Thank you for the detailed response! What are the pros and cons of such a course compared to the Celpe-Bras?

I looked at some past Celpe-Bras exams and they looked long and not super easy, but not impossibly hard either. The one big downside was it's only offered at certain times of the year.

04/22/24 Thank you for the detailed response! What are the pros and cons of such a course compared to the Celpe-Bras?I looked at some past Celpe-Bras exams and they looked long and not super easy, but not impossibly hard either. The one big downside was it's only offered at certain times of the year.        -@guerneca

It's not really an either/or.  If a candidate for naturalization has the prescribed level of Portuguese proficiency, which I've described elsewhere as about equal to that of a Brazilian who graduated from a pretty good Brazilian high school, CelpeBras is definitely the way to go, because for anyone who passes, it's one and done.

That's not a level that most people can achieve informally:  they'll need formal training along the way.  For people who don't have it but want to get there, the FAAP course, which looks very good on their site (that would have to be confirmed) is four modules of 100 hours and seven weeks each.  Anyone who does well on that course would probably do very well on CelpeBras, but for the investment of that much time and work at any school, you want to make sure that you get a certificate that the FP will accept without the test.

Remember that in Brazil, unlike the United States, nobody is pressured to become a citizen. Lots of people can and do spend their lives as permanent residents with no major disadvantages.

    04/22/24 Thank you for the detailed response! What are the pros and cons of such a course compared to the Celpe-Bras?I looked at some past Celpe-Bras exams and they looked long and not super easy, but not impossibly hard either. The one big downside was it's only offered at certain times of the year.        -@guerneca

It's not really an either/or.  If a candidate for naturalization has the prescribed level of Portuguese proficiency, which I've described elsewhere as about equal to that of a Brazilian who graduated from a pretty good Brazilian high school, CelpeBras is definitely the way to go, because for anyone who passes, it's one and done.

That's not a level that most people can achieve informally:  they'll need formal training along the way.  For people who don't have it but want to get there, the FAAP course, which looks very good on their site (that would have to be confirmed) is four modules of 100 hours and seven weeks each.  Anyone who does well on that course would probably do very well on CelpeBras, but for the investment of that much time and work at any school, you want to make sure that you get a certificate that the FP will accept without the test.

Remember that in Brazil, unlike the United States, nobody is pressured to become a citizen. Lots of people can and do spend their lives as permanent residents with no major disadvantages.
   

    -@abthree

Does one really have to take all four modules? I've taken classes previously, so I am not a beginner. I am probably just one level shy of where I need to be. On a good day I might even pass the Celpe-Bras.

Remember that in Brazil, unlike the United States, nobody is pressured to become a citizen. Lots of people can and do spend their lives as permanent residents with no major disadvantages.

I looked and the only differences I could find was voting and the passport.  Citizens can vote, residents can not.  I suppose another passport would be nice, but for me personally, my USA passport is more than sufficient.  AFAIK there are no other differences.

I looked and the only difference I could find was voting.  Citizens can vote, residents can not.  AFAIK there are no other differences.
   

    -@mikehunter

Citizens MUST vote, not can vote - it is compulsory!

Citizens may also be asked to join the military, I believe as well...?

Some countries may require you to give up your citizenship if you become a citizen elsewhere.

        04/22/24 Does one really have to take all four modules? I've taken classes previously, so I am not a beginner. I am probably just one level shy of where I need to be. On a good day I might even pass the Celpe-Bras.
   

    -@guerneca

The school may well let you test out of the lower levels.  How the PF would react to an academic record that consisted 50-75% of the notation "requirement waived" is anybody's guess.  Maybe the school might have an idea.  But that would certainly reduce your investment of money and time, and if you did have to take the CelpeBras, you'd be well prepared.

04/22/24 I looked and the only differences I could find was voting and the passport.  Citizens can vote, residents can not.  I suppose another passport would be nice, but for me personally, my USA passport is more than sufficient.  AFAIK there are no other differences.
   

    -@mikehunter

Those are the principal differences.  The other important one is that non-citizens cannot compete in "concursos", the examinations for the diplomatic service and the bulk of the salaried positions in the civil service, but that will only matter to a small subset of people with permanent residency. 

Judging from the questions we usually see here, the biggest attraction for a lot of people seems to be a second passport, and Brazil is a poor choice for that, since it seems to do everything it can avoid a reputation for issuing "passports of convenience".  In this hemisphere, that's more a small Caribbean island thing; the small islands in the Pacific used to be big in that business, but seem to have mostly exited it.

There's probably also an advantage with respect to extradition:  it's legally almost impossible for Brazil to extradite a native-born Brazilian, somewhat easier to extradite a naturalized citizen, and probably a little easier yet to extradite a resident.  But Brazil doesn't like to extradite anybody, and so anyone not currently engaged in a life of crime and staying clear of any involvement with drugs has little to fear.

One of my best friends has been living here as a permanent resident for almost fifty years, since the end of our Peace Corps days.  She has a Brazilian husband, Brazilian children, and because of her lifelong contributions to public health, is a big deal in her small state, big enough that a word in the ear of the governor or one of the senators would probably suffice to make her a citizen within days.  That word has never been spoken, and probably never will be:  she made the same calculation you did, came to the same conclusion, and it hasn't diminished her life in any way.