Entering Brazil pregnant in 2026: what is and isn’t known

What is known as of October 3, 2026

• The police position. In a RIA Novosti article of August 12, 2026, Brazil’s Federal Police (Polícia Federal, PF) replied that there is no special directive prohibiting the entry of foreigners because of pregnancy. Pregnancy alone is neither a ground for admission nor a ground for refusal, and decisions on denying entry are made individually (quoted below).
• What is checked. According to the police, immigration control looks at the documents, whether the stated purpose of the trip matches them, and whether the person has the means to stay in the country.
• The Russian embassy. As RIA Novosti reported, the embassy had received no appeals about the deportation of Russian women.
• Florianópolis data. According to the city’s municipal health department, reported to RIA Novosti, the number of pregnant Russian women who received care in public hospitals rose from 34 in 2023 to 45 in 2024 and 75 in 2025.
• New statements. We looked through the headlines in the PF news feed from July 30 to October 3 and in the notes of Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs from July to September: there are no statements on this topic.

What is not confirmed

• The number of refusals. The report that more than ten families were turned away in two days came from an unnamed agency employee via the Telegram channel Baza. There are no official data.
• Entry bans “forever”. For four of these families, who were supposedly banned from entering forever, the claim rests on the same employee’s words. We found no confirmation from any agency.
• Courts and lawyers. Claims about an urgent court that hears a case within hours, and about the sums charged by lawyers, appear only in media publications, with no documents.
• A question about giving birth in the CPF questionnaire. A peterburg2.ru publication of August 4, 2026 says that in the questionnaire for obtaining a CPF tax number a pregnant woman must confirm that she does not plan to give birth in Brazil. The publication gives no primary source, and we found no confirmation.

Timeline

• July 30, 2026. The Telegram channel Baza reported that Brazil had “started deporting” pregnant Russian women because of “birth tourism” (as the media call it). According to the channel, women in late pregnancy are turned back at the border especially often. The report was retold by other outlets, for example amic.ru. The publications contain no links to documents or statements by Brazilian agencies; what exactly remains unconfirmed is stated above.
• August 12. RIA Novosti published the reply of the Federal Police (quoted below), a statement from the Russian embassy and data from the Florianópolis health department (see above).
• August 26. Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs updated its table of visa regimes (see the section on the law below).
• October 3. Check of this page: we found no new official statements.

“There is no special Federal Police directive prohibiting the entry of foreign citizens in connection with pregnancy. Pregnancy in itself is not a ground for entry into, or refusal of entry to, Brazil.” “Any decisions on inadmissibility are made individually, on the basis of an analysis of the specific circumstances of each case and the legal provisions, and they have no connection with pregnancy.”

The reply of Brazil’s Federal Police in a RIA Novosti article of August 12, 2026; the English text is translated from the Russian wording given by the publication.

What does the law say about entry?

Visa and length of stay. Russian citizens with an ordinary passport do not need a visa and may stay up to 90 days: this is stated in the table of regimes of Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Extending the stay under PF rules is not possible for all countries, and the conditions depend on the country of citizenship: see the table and the PF page on extensions. The general limit under Decreto 9.199/2017 (art. 20): 90 days plus up to 90 days of extension, but no more than 180 days a year.

Purpose of the trip. The law describes entry as a visitor as a short stay “without the intention to settle”: tourism, business trips, transit and other cases (Lei 13.445/2017, art. 13). Working on this basis is not allowed (art. 13, § 1). The rules on length of stay may also apply to citizens of countries with visa-exempt entry (Decreto 9.199, art. 23).

Who decides and how. Border control is carried out by the PF (art. 38). Refusal of entry is permitted “after an individual interview and by a reasoned act” (art. 45). Refusal on the basis of nationality is prohibited (art. 45, parágrafo único).

The grounds for refusal include an invalid or expired document and the case where “the reason for the trip does not match the visa or the ground declared for entry without a visa” (art. 45, V and VII). For a visitor visa, the regulation allows additional documents and an in-person interview to be requested to confirm the purpose of the trip (Decreto 9.199/2017, art. 29, § 12).

Pregnancy. In the texts of Lei 13.445/2017 and Decreto 9.199/2017 as of October 3, 2026, pregnancy is named neither as a ground for refusal nor as a ground for admission. The word appears only in a list of persons (people with disabilities, older people, pregnant and breastfeeding women and others) who may apply for migration registration at the PF office closest to home (Decreto 9.199, art. 67, § 1). The acts we checked contain no separate rules for pregnant women.

This does not cancel the check of the purpose of the trip: according to the police, it is part of immigration control alongside the check of documents and means of stay.

If entry is not allowed. The measure is called repatriação: an administrative return to the country of departure or citizenship (art. 49). The carrier and the consulate are told of the decision (art. 49, § 1).

The decision can be challenged through a Brazilian lawyer. If funds are lacking, free legal aid may be available: the migration law establishes access to it (Lei 13.445/2017, art. 4, IX), and in a number of cases the Defensoria Pública da União, the federal free legal aid service, is notified about repatriation (art. 49, § 2). We do not handle such cases and do not provide legal assistance on them.

What we don’t do

• We do not help hide the purpose of a trip and do not advise saying anything untrue at the border.
• We do not give legal opinions, do not represent clients before government bodies and are not connected with them: we are not a law firm.
• We do not present retellings from chats and channels as fact: such reports are given only marked “not confirmed” and with a link to the source.

What we don’t guarantee

• admission to the country and any outcome of the border check: the decision is made by PF border control;
• that the rules, practice and statements of agencies will not change: the data are given as of October 3, 2026;
• that what is described here fits your situation: the page is general and does not replace advice.

When you need a lawyer

You need a Brazilian lawyer (advogado) if you have already been refused entry, have previous overstays or a criminal record, or want to challenge a decision. If your flight is close and you are not sure how to read the news in your own case, do not rely on retellings in chats; turn to a specialist.

How the page is updated

The page is updated when new official statements appear or the rules change. The scheduled re-check is by November 2, 2026. The log of changes, with dates and links, is kept on this page. Found an inaccuracy? Read how we work with sources and how to report a mistake.

If you would like to talk through your situation, you can write to Katerina.