Bank Accounts – The Brazilian banking system is one of the most complex and bureaucratic in the civilized world. You cannot hold a bank account in this country unless you have permanency (i.e. your RNE and CPF), you will need to produce proof of residence, proof of income and other documents in order to open an account.
NOTE: When you apply for your permanent visa and Carteira de Identidade Estrangeiro you will be issued a document called a Protocolo, this bears your photograph and all your personal information and is stamped by the Federal Police. If you examine the document you will find that on the right hand side, below the barcode there is a box entitled Tipo de Pedido. This MUST say "Permanente - Valido como documento oficial de identidade". This is the document you need in order to open a bank account if you don't already have the plastic ID card. If your status is anything less than permanent you're out of luck.
It is a frustrating process and may not be instantly successful. It may take several tries to get it right. I personally recommend opening an account with an international bank such as Citibank, HSBC or others that may also operate in your home country. This may facilitate transfers of funds you may have in your country of origin. If you are coming to Brazil and can't open an account here then your best bet is open an HSBC account in your home country. If you have an HSBC account then you can perform international ATM transactions at any HSBC or affiliated network machine in the country. Otherwise, you can only perform international transactions at Banco do Brasil's main branches and only at specific ATMs at that location. Trust me, this one is a real pain in the butt.
If you want to know just how complicated it really is to open a bank account read the article at this link........ it was written rather tongue in cheek, but it is TRUE
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