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I'm just posting my experiences of obtaining a Brazilian Driving Licence (CNH) in case it is of help to others. 

I have a full UK driving licence and wanted to obtain a Brazilian licence as I am here permanently.  In order to obtain a Brazil licence you must first have your RNE (permanent visa).  If you have that then the process I went through (in Paraná) was as follows. 

The documents required by DETRAN are (1) RNE (original and copy), (2) CPF (original and copy), (3) UK licence (original and copy), (4) official translation of UK licence (plastic card and counterpart paper licence) by an official tractor juramentado (original), (5) proof of residence, e.g. utility bill  (original or certified copy).  The translation of the licence must identify (1) Date permission to drive in home country first obtained, (2) date permission in home country ceases, and (3) categories of vehicles allowed to drive in home country.  If your licence does not show this then you have to have this information verified by Brazil consulate in home country.  Luckily my licence showed all this information.

With these documents I went to DETRAN (without a prior appointment) and was seen within 10 minutes.  First my documents were checked and the originals were handed back to me, with DETRAN retaining the copies plus original of translation and proof of address (the translation cost me R$400).  This took about half an hour because they spent a long time poring over the official translation of my licence (which was long because of the UK paper part of the licence which contains a lot of information).  I then had to pay R$258.24 (which I paid in cash at the DETRAN office).  Then I was immediately fingerprinted (electronic) and had my photo taken (electronic) by DETRAN.  I then immediately was booked in at DETRAN for later appointments at a separate DETRAN office (10 minutes away) for (a) medical/eye sight test and (b) psychological test (both included in fee I had already paid).  I had thought these tests were unnecessary if I had a full UK licence, but these tests are mandatory.

The medical/eye sight test lasted 10 minutes.  It was conducted in Portuguese (the doctor spoke no English).  The medical test consisted of blood pressure test, recording my height and weight, and a few non-invasive questions about my state of health (epilepsy, drugs etc).  The eye sight test consisted of looking into a telescope type machine, reading 6 smallish letters with left and right eyes separately, identifying different colours of light, identifying which of 3 separate lights was nearest to me and farthest from me, and then finally being blinded by quite a bright light on 3 separate occasions and then immediately having to identify 3 separate letters (quite large) - apparently this was to simulate vision whilst night driving!

The psychological test lasted one and a half hours.  It was all in Portuguese and there were just two candidates, me and one other person.  My Portuguese is not at all good, and I was not allowed a translator in the exam.  However, my partner and I saw the examiner before the test to explain my poor Portuguese and she was very helpful (although spoke no English and would not let me use my phone dictionary).  You don't need a lot of Portuguese as the test is mainly logic and picture orientated.  But you do need sufficient Portuguese for the first part of the test which consists of explaining about your health (again!), personality, driving experience etc.  That lasted 10 minutes (including questions about my own character strengths and weaknesses, how much I drank and what I thought of other Brazilian drivers on the road).  Then the written part of the test was in at least 6 parts of 10 minutes each.  Each part began with an explanation of what was required in Portuguese (quite tricky if your Portuguese is not good).  The first test was filling in on a large sheet of paper 3 symbols which were given at the outset.  There were about 500 symbols on the page and the 3 relevant ones came up randomly.  It is designed to test concentration.  There were two other similar tests to this, but all slightly different.  Then there was the logic part of the test which consisted of 40 questions in a booklet (10 minutes to complete).  It was one of those MENSA/IQ type tests. Each question showed 5 pictures and then you had to choose the 6th picture from a choice of 6 other pictures.  Apparently it tests mental agility.  Some were dead easy, some quite tricky if you are not a MENSA type (I'm not).  Then there was a memory test - this consisted of a sheet of paper with about 20 different pictures on it - e.g. a car, a boat, a house, a golf ball, a bird, a tree etc etc) which you had to look at for one minute to memorise.  Then I had to write down (in Portuguese - although I wrote some in English and translated it at the end with the examiner) - all the symbols I could remember.  Finally I had to draw short vertical lines on a piece of paper for 3 minutes, the idea being to draw as many as possible as quickly as possible and as uniformly as possible.  This apparently tests your personality (I was told I was anxious!).

When you turn up for the tests your fingerprints are checked to make sure it is you.  After being checked I went to the loo and had to be fingerprinted again as I was out of their sight for 2 minutes!  So they are very tough on identity.

Anyway, at the end of all that I was told immediately that I had passed the test!  There was no indication as to what the pass mark was or anything like that, it's either just pass or fail (the other guy failed!).  But I got many things wrong, so I guess the passmark is about 50% but don't quote me on that.  But I think you have to pass each of the 6 segments of the test.

Apparently I will now receive my CNH (Brazil driving licence) through the post in 14 days.

I hope this is of help to others.  Safe Driving.