Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Portuguese Immigration Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Record
Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Portuguese Immigration Records

Record Description
This collection includes immigration records such as passenger lists. These records were meant to track the arrival, departure, and internal movement of Portuguese immigrants in Brazil. The original records were kept by the Serviços de Polícia Marítima, Aérea e de Fronteiras (Maritime Air and Border Police Services), and are currently housed at the Arquivo Nacional (National Archive) in Rio de Janeiro.

The records are in Portuguese; see the section "For Help Reading these Records" for access to translation helps.

Record Content
Immigration records may include the following information:
 * Complete name, age, and gender of the Immigrant
 * Other physical characteristics (general health, scars, etc.)
 * Date of immigration
 * Date and place of birth
 * Civil status
 * Occupation
 * Names, ages, and genders of children
 * Marital status/spouse’s name

How to Use the Record
These records may be used to document your immigrant ancestor's trip to Brazil, but do not overlook the possibility of finding ancestors that were merely vacationing, visiting relatives, or traveling on business.

Read this article to help you search names 5 Ways to Win the Name Game

Search the Collection
To search by image: To browse the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select the "Browse" link in the initial search page ⇒Select the "Arrival Year" category ⇒Select the "Arrival Month and Day" category which takes you to the images.

Search the collection by image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

When searching: As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor's given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence, age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

For Help Reading these Records
These records are in Portuguese. For help reading the records see the following guides:
 * Portuguese Genealogical Word List
 * Brazil Language and Languages

Using the Information
If just the country is given, use the last name to search for your ancestor and his/her family in his/her home country; this is called a surname search and helps to pinpoint what cities/provinces/states were the hometowns of families.

Also, use the last name to search for any possible relatives that may have traveled after or before your ancestor.

Tips to Keep in Mind
These type-written records may have been transcribed from hand-written lists. So errors may be found in the spellings of names.

When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

Remember that your ancestor's name may be spelled according to the new country's native language or the language of your ancestor's home country.

Clerks may have written/spelled the name of your ancestor as they heard it, not as it is spelled in your ancestor's native language. Learn about pronunciation of your ancestor's native language.

The port your ancestor departed from may have been miles away from his/her hometown.

Unable to Find your Ancestor?
If you think your ancestor may have immigrated to Brazil and you cannot find him/her in this collection, then check the records of other ports in Brazil. Information on these other ports can be found here, Brazil Emigration and Immigration.

Related Websites

 * Memorial do Imigrante
 * National Archives
 * Portuguese Migration to Rio de Janeiro
 * Brazil Research Outline
 * Brazil Research Help
 * National Archives of Brazil
 * Museum of Immigration

Related Wiki Articles

 * Brazil Immigration Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Brazil, São Paulo, Port of Santos, Passenger and Immigrant Lists (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Brazil Emigration and Immigration
 * Brazilian Research: Getting Started

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
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Keep track of records where you did not find information about your ancestor so you and others will not waste time looking through these records in the future.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the wiki article Help:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Record collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.