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Foreign Investment in Brazil: 2020 | A StartBrazil Research Report
The pandemic cut approvals by a third — but the real estate route tripled.
Brazil published 187 investor-residency approvals in 2020, down 38% from 2019 as consulates closed and processing slowed. Inside the decline, one number moved the other way: real-estate approvals tripled, from 9 to 27. This report analyzes every one of them — who invested, from where, and what it set up for the years that followed.
Published: July 15th, 2026
Research: Daniel Atz & Suzana Vilela Caetano Castro
Part of the yearly Foreign Investment in Brazil series — all editions & the 2018–2026 dashboard →Written By: Daniel Atz & Lauren Lowell
33
countries of origin
187
investor residency approvals in 2020
2
startup visa approvals — still a footnote in the totals
The Three Pathways
The pandemic year: real estate tripled while everything else fell.
Brazilian law offers foreign nationals three routes to residency by investment. They share an underlying legal framework but diverge sharply on cost, outcome — and who actually uses them.
Real Estate Investor
(RN 36/2018)
USD 190,000
≈BRL 1,000,000
Buy qualifying property in Brazil. Receive a 4-year temporary residency, then convert to permanent afterwords if you continue to meet the criteria.
27 approvals in 2020 — triple 2019's count: purchases begun before the pandemic closed despite the shutdown.
Company Investor
(RN 13/2017)
USD 95,000
≈BRL 500,000
Invest in a Brazilian company. Receive permanent residency immediately, provided capital stays active for three years.
158 approvals in 2020. Down from 293 as consulates closed — back to the 2018 baseline
Startup Investor
(RN 13/2017 ART 3)
USD 29,000
≈BRL 150,000
Invest in an innovative Brazilian startup. Receive permanent residency immediately — the same outcome as the BRL 500,000 company pathway, at less than a third the cost.
2 approvals in 2020 — the route's first year above one.
Nationalities - All 3 Pathways
187 total investors. France takes the top spot for the first time.
France leads with 20% of all approvals — a position it would hold through 2024, gained by simply falling less than everyone else. Italy's count collapsed from 80 to 17, the sharpest single-country drop in the record.
Europeans make up 59% of all approvals overall. The US accounts for 7%. China represents 11% — the start of the French era of the dataset.
France
38 investors
China
20
Italy
17
Germany
15
United States
14
United Kingdom
11
Portugal
10
+ 26 other countries
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