Personal Injury in Brazil: A Guide for Foreign Citizens
If you were hurt in Brazil, or you are a family abroad coping with a serious accident or a death there, you are probably trying to answer one question: do I have a case, and is it worth pursuing from another country? This page explains, in plain terms, how personal-injury claims work in Brazil for foreign citizens, what you can realistically recover, and how a case is run when you are not in the country.
Reviewed by Luciano Oliveira, Esq., LL.M — licensed in Brazil, Texas, and California. Last reviewed June 2026.
One important note before we start: this is general information, not legal advice, and reading it tells you nothing definitive about your own situation. Only a formal consultation with a licensed Brazilian attorney, who can review your specific facts, can tell you whether you actually have a case.
Can a foreigner bring an injury claim in Brazil?
Yes. Foreign citizens have the same right as Brazilians to seek compensation for an injury suffered in Brazil, whether it happened on vacation, while living there, or to a family member. And you do not need to be in Brazil to pursue it. With a power of attorney, our firm can represent you entirely from abroad: filing the case, gathering police and medical records, and appearing at hearings, which Brazilian courts now routinely allow by videoconference. Where a medical evaluation is needed, it can usually be arranged with a provider in your home country.
What you can recover, and honest expectations
This is where foreign clients are most often surprised. Brazilian law compensates to make an injured person whole, not to punish a defendant or hand out a windfall. Courts award material damages (medical costs, lost income, and, where someone can no longer earn a living, future earnings) and, separately, moral damages for pain and suffering. But moral-damage awards in Brazil are modest by US standards and are generally reserved for conduct that goes beyond ordinary carelessness.
The scale is worth seeing plainly. We once saw a man in Brazil receive about R$50,000 for losing a leg in a car crash. In a California premises-liability case, a client of ours recovered USD 200,000 for the loss of a single toe. Brazil’s awards have grown over the years, but the gap is still large. We tell you this early because expectations set against US verdicts lead to disappointment.
Is your case worth pursuing?
We will never tell you to simply “drop” a claim, that is not our call to make. If your matter is not a good fit for us, we will say so honestly and point you toward someone who may serve you better. But we are candid about what makes a case worth the cost and the years it can take. The strongest cases share four features: clear liability, damages that are both serious and quantifiable, a real impact on your health or life, and conduct serious enough that a judge would also award moral damages.
Just as important is who you would be suing. A claim is only as good as the defendant’s ability to pay. A case against an individual with no assets and no insurance, a small operator who would disappear the moment a lawsuit is filed, is rarely worth pursuing, however clear the fault. The cases that work usually reach a solvent, insured, or institutional defendant: a company, a hospital, a transport carrier, an employer, or an insurer.
The points above are general orientation, not a verdict on your situation. Whether your specific case is viable can only be assessed by a licensed Brazilian attorney in a formal consultation.
Book a consultation with a Brazilian attorney
How long do I have to file an injury claim in Brazil?
It depends on the facts, and the safest assumption is that the shortest possible deadline applies. A personal-injury claim may fall under a three-year tort deadline or a five-year consumer-law deadline, and Brazil’s courts often apply the five-year period in consumer cases (transport, hospitals, tour operators). Injuries on international flights carry their own two-year limit. Because the window can be shorter than you expect, act early, evidence and witnesses fade fast.
| Type of claim | Typical deadline |
|---|---|
| General personal injury (tort) | 3 years |
| Consumer-related (transport, hospital, tour operator) | often 5 years |
| Injury on an international flight | 2 years |
How we handle your case from abroad
Running a Brazilian case for a client overseas has practical realities worth knowing before you commit:
- Your documents must be formalized. Papers from your country generally must be apostilled and translated by a sworn (official) translator before a Brazilian court will accept them.
- You fund the case as it proceeds. The defendant will not advance these costs, so the plaintiff carries the cost of pursuing the claim until any award. That is also why Brazilian firms do not use the pure “no win, no fee” contingency model common in the US.
- Court-awarded fees are separate from your compensation. When you win, the losing side is ordered to pay attorney fees, but in Brazil those go to your lawyers as additional compensation, not to you. You are made whole through the damages themselves.
- Cases take time. Brazilian litigation is slower and less predictable than many foreigners expect, and it asks for real involvement in gathering evidence.
None of this is meant to discourage you. It is meant to let you decide with clear eyes, which is exactly what a proper consultation is for.
The kinds of injury cases we handle in Brazil
We focus on serious matters connected to Brazil, including:
- Medical malpractice and cosmetic-surgery injuries — including procedures that went wrong during medical or surgery tourism.
- Wrongful death and repatriation — when a foreign visitor or resident dies in Brazil and the family needs both a claim and help bringing their loved one home.
- Traffic and transport accidents — car, motorcycle, bus, rideshare, and pedestrian injuries.
- Tourist and adventure accidents — hang-gliding, diving, tours, cruises, hotels, and resorts.
We also handle product-liability, workplace, and class-action matters where the facts support them.
Why foreign clients choose Oliveira Lawyers
We sit on both sides of the border. We understand how personal injury and litigation work in the United States, which means we can properly explain to a foreign client what to expect, and what not to expect, from a Brazilian claim. We are dual-qualified, work in genuinely fluent English, and representing foreign citizens in Brazil is the core of our practice, not a sideline. For someone navigating an unfamiliar legal system from far away, that combination matters.
Talk to us about your case
If you or a family member was seriously hurt in Brazil, the most useful next step is a formal consultation, where a licensed Brazilian attorney can review your facts and tell you honestly whether you have a viable claim and what it would involve.
Book a consultation with a Brazilian attorney
This article is general information only. It is not legal advice, it does not create an attorney–client relationship, and you should not act, or decide not to act, based on it. Whether you have a case in Brazil depends entirely on your specific circumstances, which only a licensed Brazilian attorney can assess in a formal consultation.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to travel to Brazil to pursue an injury claim?
No. With a power of attorney we can handle the case from start to finish on your behalf, and hearings are generally available by videoconference.
How much is a personal-injury claim worth in Brazil?
It depends on your losses, but expect figures well below comparable US awards. Brazilian compensation aims to restore what you lost, and moral damages are modest. Only a review of your facts can suggest a realistic range.
How long do I have to file?
Often three years, sometimes five for consumer-related cases, and two years for international flights, but it turns on the facts, so treat the clock as already running.
What does it cost to bring a case?
Brazil does not use pure US-style contingency. The plaintiff generally funds the case as it proceeds; we will explain the likely costs honestly before you commit.
Related: How Much Does a Lawsuit Cost in Brazil · How Lawsuits Work in Brazil · Paying Your Lawyer on Results (Contingency) · Your Chances of Recovering Losses in Brazil