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In the world · Migration · 24 May 2017

Migration Law: 9 years of the law that changed Brazil's view

Signed on May 24, 2017, Law 13,445 replaced the Foreigners Statute with a law of rights. What it guarantees newcomers, nine years later.

bairogonzalez.com team, drawing on Bairo's story · Published

Law 13,445, the Migration Law (Lei de Migração), turned nine on May 24, 2026. Signed into law in 2017, it repealed the 1980 Foreigners Statute (Estatuto do Estrangeiro) and swapped the logic of national security for that of human rights. Among its principles are the non-criminalization of migration, humanitarian reception and the social, labor and productive inclusion of migrants. It entered into force 180 days later, in November 2017.

What happened

The bill that gave rise to the law was introduced in the Senate by Aloysio Nunes Ferreira, with Tasso Jereissati as rapporteur. After passing both Houses, it was signed by then-president Michel Temer with 18 vetoes, among them the amnesty for migrants in irregular status. The implementing regulation came with Decree 9,199 of November 2017.

The fundamental change lies in the first articles. Article 3 lists the principles of Brazilian migration policy, among them:

  • the repudiation of xenophobia, racism and any form of discrimination;
  • the non-criminalization of migration: being in irregular status is an administrative matter, not a crime;
  • the promotion of regular entry and documentary regularization;
  • humanitarian reception;
  • equal treatment and opportunity for migrants and their families;
  • the social, labor and productive inclusion of migrants through public policies.

Article 4 guarantees migrants, on an equal footing with Brazilians, rights such as access to health care, education, justice, work and, expressly, the right to open a bank account. The law also wrote into statute the temporary visa for humanitarian reception, which previously depended on stand-alone resolutions and was later regulated for Afghans and Ukrainians, among others.

The old Statute, Law 6,815/1980, had been written during the military regime and treated the foreigner as a possible threat. Agência Senado noted at the time that the new law came to treat the migrant as a holder of rights.

Why it matters

Nine years later, the law is the basis of almost everything that works in Brazilian migration. It was under this law that the country regularized 199,600 immigrants in 2025 alone, according to OBMigra, and reached about 1.9 million active residence registrations. It was with the humanitarian visa that Brazil took in families fleeing wars and disasters.

The distance between the law and life, however, remains large. The same OBMigra shows that fewer than 5% of municipalities have formal agreements to serve migrants and that only 1.4% offer services in another language. The right to open an account is written down, but many bank branches still ask for what the migrant does not have. The law opened the door. The service counter has not always kept up.

In Bairo's view

Bairo Leandro Gonzalez Martinez arrived in Brazil in 2002, when the Foreigners Statute was still in force. Born in Colombia in 1982, he belongs to a generation of immigrants who knew both laws. The story of his arrival is in Capoeira was the bridge.

In his reading, the most important sentence in the 2017 law is the one that says migrating is not a crime. For Bairo, those who live in fear of a document do not take risks, do not open a business and do not show themselves, and a country that removes that fear gains people willing to build. He often says the sun is for everyone, but shade, in the heat, is for few. For Bairo, the Migration Law is an attempt to distribute that shade better.

In his reading, the word "productive", in Article 3, weighs as much as the others: the law does not ask only that the migrant be welcomed: it asks that they be able to produce. That is the point that links the law to the immigrant who starts a business.

Where this meets the ecosystem

The right to a bank account, provided for in Article 4, is where the law meets the vision of CEASA Bank, a financial platform for agribusiness that operates on the infrastructure of an authorized institution. The proposal is that those who produce and sell at the wholesale food markets have an account, a card and a card machine based on the real transaction, and not only on proof documents a newcomer does not yet have. Each account opening follows the authorized partner's identification rules.

SOSPROCESSOS, the legal analysis system Bairo founded, proposes connecting people to lawyers quickly. In his view, a migrant who does not know whether they are entitled to a document should be able to get human guidance without waiting weeks. Legal advice always comes from a lawyer; the system organizes and brings people closer.

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In the world: Migration