Public Shelters
If you arrive in the country and have no place to stay, you may look for a shelter (led by the public system or civil society). Go to the nearest Specialised Reference Centre of Social Assistance (CREAS) to find information about shelters (Monday to Friday, 08-18h). It is free to stay in those places.
Although there are some shelters that are specifically designed to receive asylum seekers and refugees, they have limited vacancies (as in São Paulo). Most shelter’s vacancies are open for both Brazilians and foreigners who are at a vulnerable situation. Shelters have diverse stay limits, ranging from one night only up to those where it is possible to stay for various months.
São Paulo
If you do not have a place to sleep, you can seek one of the following institutions:
- Centro de Referência Especializado de Assistência Social (CREAS) – Bela Vista
Address: Rua Santo Antonio, 800
Telephones: (11) 3129-9216 / 3129-9235 - Centro de Referência e Atendimento para Imigrantes (CRAI)
Email: [email protected]
Address: Rua Major Diogo, 834, Bela Vista
Telephone: +55 11 3598-7200
Website: http://www.prefeitura.sp.gov.br/cidade/secretarias/direitos_humanos/migrantes/crai/ - Caritas Arquidiocesana de São Paulo
Email: [email protected]
Address: Rua José Bonifácio, 107 – Sé
Telephone: +55 11 4873-6363
Website: http://www.caritassp.org.br - Missão Paz
Email: [email protected]
Address: Rua Glicério, 225 – Liberdade
Telephone: +55 11 3340-6950
Website: http://www.missaonspaz.org/
Rio de Janeiro
In Rio de Janeiro, you can contact the UNHCR partner organization for information on shelters.
- Caritas Arquidiocesana do Rio de Janeiro
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: +55 21 2567-4105 /2567-4177
- Website: http://www.caritas-rj.org.br/
Manaus
In Manaus, you can contact the UNHCR partner organization for information on shelters.
- Caritas Arquidiocesana de Manaus
- Endereço: Av. Joaquim Nabuco, 1023 – Centro
- E-mail: [email protected]
- Telefone: +55 92 3212-9000
Curitiba
In Curitiba, you can contact the UNHCR partner organization for information on shelters.
- Caritas Brasileira Regional do Paraná
- E-mail: [email protected]
- Phone: +55 41 3023-9907
- Website: http://pr.caritas.org.br/
Brasília
In Brasília, you can contact UNISUAS for information on shelters.
- UNISUAS
- Endereço: Av. L 2 Sul, Quadra 614/615, Lote 104 (atrás do CREAS)
- Telefone: +55 61 3223-2656 e 3224-0257
Rental
There are no limitations for asylum seekers or refugees to rent a house or an apartment in Brazil. Rent must be made through a rent agreement, in which all rights and duties of owners and tenants need to be included.
There are various real estates agencies that operate through the country. Nevertheless, a contract done directly with the owner is usually less expensive.
Note that rent agreements frequently determine one of those warranty forms:
- Indication of a Guarantor: someone that commits to pay the rent in case you do not fulfill the payment
- Lease insurance: you can hire an insurance company as your guarantor
- Security deposit: it consists in offering the lessor an amount of money to be kept as a guarantee until the termination of the contract