How a foreign company registers in SICAF and bids in Brazil, step by…

Before you start

What you need:

Your company’s home-country documents. These are equivalents of Brazilian registration, tax and financial documents. If your country issues no equivalent for something, you declare that in the system.
A legal representative in Brazil with express powers to receive service of process and respond administratively and in court.
A tax identification number or other identifier, such as a D-U-N-S number or passport.
Time for translations. Free translations are enough to register and bid. Sworn translations and an apostille are needed before you sign.

You don’t need:

a CNPJ (Brazilian company number);
a CPF (individual tax number);
a gov.br account;
a Brazilian digital certificate.

All four apply only to Brazilian suppliers, or to foreign companies authorised to operate in Brazil.

Go to the SICAF login and choose “Fornecedor Estrangeiro” (foreign supplier).
Select “Cadastrar Novo Usuário” (register a new user) and fill in:
- name and email, plus a secondary email;
- a password (at least 8 characters, with a capital letter and a special character);
- a secret question;
- date of birth and country;
- the type and number of an identity document (a TIN, D-U-N-S number, passport or social-security number can be accepted);
- issue and expiry dates, and a phone number.
You can switch on two-factor login by email code.

Then go to Compras.gov.br, the federal bidding platform. Choose the foreign-supplier profile and register there too. It’s a separate step.

If someone does need a CPF, for example your Brazilian representative or a director who wants a gov.br account, it’s free for foreigners and non-residents. You apply online and complete the process at a Brazilian consulate, which takes about 2 business days on average.

Step 2: register in SICAF

SICAF has six levels:

Level	Covers
I. Credenciamento	Basic registration, and your representative in Brazil
II. Habilitação jurídica	Legal existence and powers
III. Federal tax and labour	Tax and labour compliance
IV. State and municipal tax	Local tax compliance
V. Technical qualification	Not required up front
VI. Economic and financial	Financial standing

To bid, you only need Level I. The full qualification documents (habilitação) are demanded only from the winner. The registration lasts one year, and each document keeps its own validity.

For a foreign company:

Identifier: you’re identified by a system-issued code, linked to your tax identification number or another number.
Equivalent documents: each level is met with home-country equivalents and a free translation into Portuguese. Where no equivalent exists, you declare it in the system.
Your representative must be entered and proven at Level I.
Professional registration: if the tender requires registration with a Brazilian professional council, such as CREA for engineering, you only need to show you’ve applied by the time you sign.

SICAF is still the register to use. A 2025 law created a unified supplier register in the national procurement portal (PNCP), but it hadn’t been regulated by October 2026, and the 2026 Sicx decree tells suppliers to keep their SICAF data up to date.

Step 3: prepare your translations and apostille

Stage	What’s needed
Registration and bidding	Free translation into Portuguese
Signing the contract or price-registration record	Sworn translation by a translator in Brazil, plus an apostille or consular legalisation

Brazil joined the Apostille Convention in 2016. Countries whose documents can be apostilled include:

the US, the UK, Germany, France, Japan and South Korea;
India, China (since 2023), Canada (since 2024) and Singapore;
Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh (2025), Algeria (2026) and Vietnam (September 2026).

Thailand joins in February 2027. Documents from the UAE, Qatar, Malaysia, Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt, which aren’t parties, need consular legalisation.

Start this early. Sworn translation and apostille often decide whether a foreign winner can sign in time. Private documents such as a power of attorney are normally notarised before being apostilled.

Step 4: find tenders and bid in a pregão eletrônico

Finding tenders. Every tender is on the PNCP (national procurement portal). Federal tenders run on Compras.gov.br. Deadlines are short, counted in working days from publication:

What’s being bought	Minimum time
Goods, by lowest price or highest discount	8 working days
Common services and common works	10 working days
Special services and works	25 working days
Semi-integrated / integrated contracts	35 / 60 working days

Bidding in a pregão eletrônico (electronic reverse auction):

Ask questions or challenge the notice up to 3 working days before the opening.
Submit your proposal (price and declarations) through the system before the opening. You can withdraw or replace it until then, and set an automatic minimum price.
The auction:
- Open mode: 10 minutes, then automatic 2-minute extensions while bids keep coming.
- Open-closed mode: 15 minutes, then a random close within 10 minutes. The best bidder and those within 10% then make one final closed bid.
All times are Brasília time.
Judging: the buyer checks the best bid, may negotiate, and gives you at least 2 hours to send your adjusted proposal. For works, a bid below 75% of the estimate is unfeasible. For goods and services, below 50% triggers checks.
Qualification: your documents are checked through SICAF, for the winner only.
Appeal: declare your intention to appeal in the system window, which lasts at least 10 minutes, or you lose the right. Your reasons are then due in 3 working days.

Other platforms

States, municipalities and other buyers often use other platforms integrated with the PNCP, each with its own registration:

Portal de Compras Públicas has a route for international companies. You send authenticated documents by email, and your Brazilian representative provides ID, a CPF or driving licence, a power of attorney and proof of address. A paid subscription is needed to see tenders.
BLL charges suppliers R$630 a quarter, or 1.5% per lot won, capped at R$600.
Licitações-e, run by Banco do Brasil, and state platforms such as BEC/SP have their own procedures.

After you win

Documents: swap your free translations for sworn translations with an apostille, and keep your Brazilian representative in place.
Jurisdiction: contracts are subject to the courts where the buyer is based. Exceptions include contracts financed by multilateral or foreign agencies.
Currency: in international tenders, foreign bidders may quote in foreign currency if the notice allows. The notice must state the tax burdens.
Taxes: tax treaties can reduce the withholding taxes, and Brazil’s tax reform is changing import contributions. Get tax advice before pricing.
- Payments abroad for services are generally subject to withholding income tax of 25%, or 15% for technical services plus a 10% CIDE contribution.
- Imports of services carry PIS/COFINS contributions of 1.65% + 7.6%, and imports of goods 2.1% + 9.65%.
Operating in Brazil: if performing the contract amounts to operating in Brazil, you may need government authorisation, and in practice a Brazilian entity.
Payment: federal buyers have 10 working days to certify your invoice and 10 more to pay. Payments follow a strict chronological order.

Common mistakes

Assuming you need a gov.br account or CPF. Foreign suppliers don’t.
Forgetting to register on Compras.gov.br as well as SICAF.
Appointing a representative without express powers to receive service and respond in court.
Leaving sworn translations and the apostille until after you win.
Letting home-country documents expire during the year.
Missing the 10-minute window to declare an appeal, or the 2-hour deadline for your adjusted proposal. Watch the time difference.
Following old guidance written for the repealed law (Lei 8.666).
Pricing without allowing for withholding taxes.

What changed in 2025–2026

November 2025: Lei 15.266 required a unified supplier register in the national portal, which isn’t regulated yet. It also created Sicx and opened procurement to integrated private platforms.
2025–2026: Bangladesh, Algeria and Vietnam joined the Apostille Convention. Thailand follows in 2027.
1 May 2026: Brazil began applying the EU–Mercosur interim agreement, giving EU companies treaty access to federal and most state procurement.
8 September 2026: Sicx, the express purchasing system, came into operation. Its decree keeps SICAF in use.
2026: SICAF offers foreign-supplier self-registration with optional two-factor login.

Questions

Does a foreign company need a CNPJ or CPF to register in SICAF?

No. A foreign company not operating in Brazil registers with a system-issued code, identified by its tax identification number or another number such as a D-U-N-S number or passport. SICAF and Compras.gov.br have a ‘Fornecedor Estrangeiro’ login with a username and password, so you don’t need a gov.br account, which requires a CPF. Companies authorised to operate in Brazil register with their CNPJ instead.

Do I need a representative in Brazil to bid?

Yes. A foreign supplier must appoint a legal representative in Brazil with express powers to receive service of process and to respond administratively and in court, declared and proven at the first SICAF level. In practice this is done with a notarised and apostilled power of attorney.

Do my documents need a sworn translation and apostille?

Not to register or bid: a free translation into Portuguese is enough. To sign the contract or price-registration record, you need a sworn translation made by a translator in Brazil and an apostille (or consular legalisation if your country isn’t in the Apostille Convention). Leaving this until after you win is a common reason foreign winners can’t sign in time.

Which SICAF level do I need to bid?

Only Level I (credenciamento). Full qualification documents are demanded only from the winning bidder. The registration is valid for a year, and each document keeps its own validity.

Has the new unified PNCP supplier register replaced SICAF?

Not yet. Lei 15.266/2025 requires a unified supplier register in the national procurement portal, but only ‘as set by regulation’, and no regulation creating it had been issued by October 2026. The Sicx decree of 2026 tells suppliers to keep their SICAF data up to date where there’s no integration, so SICAF remains the federal register.

What taxes apply when a foreign company is paid by a Brazilian buyer?

Payments abroad for services are generally subject to withholding income tax of 25%, or 15% for technical services and assistance plus a 10% CIDE contribution, and imports of services and goods carry PIS/COFINS import contributions; tax treaties can reduce withholding. Check the tender notice, which must state the tax burdens, and get tax advice before pricing.

Sources

This guide explains the rules in plain English; it isn’t legal advice. Procurement rules change, and each tender document sets its own conditions — it always prevails.

SICAF for foreign companies, step by step.