All About POAPorto Alegre

Opening a MEI

Brazil’s smallest legal company. Fast to open, easy to outgrow, not a visa.

A MEI (Microempreendedor Individual) is the fastest way to freelance in Brazil. The process is all digital and light on bureaucracy.

What you get

  • A CNPJ
  • Permission to issue invoices
  • Access to a simplified monthly DAS
  • INSS contribution baked into that DAS
  • The right to have one employee

Limits

  • Capped revenue. The ceiling in 2026 is R$81,000 a year (gov.br). A bill to raise it did not become law. Check the number before you sign a large contract.
  • Not any occupation (the list is restricted)

How to open one

You need a gov.br login, the Portal do Empreendedor, some forms, a CPF and a residential address in Brazil. Registration is online, but account verification can delay things.

Then:

  1. Open a PJ bank account (or use your current digital bank’s CNPJ flow)
  2. Issue invoices the way Porto Alegre / RS requires (the city cares about ISS)
  3. Pay the DAS every month, even if you issued no invoice

When to stop being MEI

When a real company wants you full-time, when you hire a second person, when you go over the cap, or when an accountant points you to Simples Nacional as an LTDA.

Foreigners: you need a CPF and a residence situation that survives invoicing. Get advice if your visa is tourist or digital nomad. Invoicing Brazilian clients on a tourist stamp is how people get caught.