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

Brazil

What is in the Collection?
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.

Collection 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 Do I Search the Collection?
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.

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.

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

To search this collection by name: 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.

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

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.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For, Now What?
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.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image. Collection Citation:  Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):  Image Citation