Can a foreigner open an MEI in Brazil?

Yes. Foreigners who live in Brazil legally can be individual microentrepreneurs (MEIs). And there are more and more of them: according to Sebrae, the country reached about 106,000 foreign MEIs in June 2026, up 24% in one year. Venezuelans lead (25%), followed by Bolivians (14.5%) and Colombians (10%). For many, the MEI is the door to starting life over in the country on a formal footing.

The practical path

1. Get your documents in order first. To open an MEI, a foreigner generally needs a CPF and a residence authorization in Brazil, with the National Migration Registry Card (CRNM). Requirements can change and there are specific situations (refugee status, humanitarian reception, provisional residence); confirm the current conditions on the Entrepreneur Portal or with Sebrae before you start.
2. Know your rights. The Migration Law (Law 13,445/2017) guarantees migrants, among other things, the right to work and access to public services on equal terms with Brazilians. If someone says "foreigners can't," ask for the legal basis.
3. Check whether your activity is allowed under the MEI. The MEI has a closed list of activities and an annual revenue limit. If your activity isn't on the list, the path is another type of company.
4. Register in the right place. Registration is free on the Entrepreneur Portal, on gov.br, with a gov.br account. Websites that charge to open an MEI are not official.
5. Meet your monthly and annual obligations. Pay the DAS every month and file the annual return (DASN-SIMEI). That keeps your company registration in good standing and counts toward your INSS social security contributions.
6. Open an account and organize your cash. With a CNPJ, open a business account. Separate business money from personal money from the start.
7. Use the support network. Sebrae, organizations that support migrants and refugees, the Federal Public Defender's Office and immigrant groups in your city offer free guidance, in many places in Spanish too.

This page offers general guidance. Migration and registration rules change; confirm with the official source.

How Bairo went through it

Bairo Leandro Gonzalez Martinez is Colombian, the nationality of one in ten foreign MEIs in the country. He says he came to Brazil in 2002, with an education company, in a management position. When he decided to leave that company, he found himself without documents in hand, far from home and afraid.

He lived through hard years, with no direction and no network, like so many immigrants before and after him. He often says, about that phase, that the sun is for everyone, but shade, in the heat, is for the few. The new start came small and close to home: a salon, opened with his partner when their daughter was born.

The Method step

For those building a business far from home, step 1 of the Seventh Attempt Method: say the dream out loud counts double. Bairo said, while still a boy, that he would live in Brazil. Write your sentence, "I will build ___ for , because ," and say it to three people in the community where you live now. That's how the network begins.

Discover the Seventh Attempt Method

Read also

• How to open a company in Brazil as a foreigner
• How to start a business in another country
• Capoeira was the bridge