Brazil’s Lower-Cost Driver’s License Overhaul Clears First Legislative Hurdle

Overview

• The Chamber of Deputies approved automatic CNH renewal for drivers with clean records, which now awaits Senate review and presidential sign-off to become permanent law.
• Under the automatic renewal, eligible drivers skip in-person visits, medical checks and fees, provided they have no recent infractions on their record.
• The wider overhaul ends the requirement to attend a driving school, offers a free online theory course, cuts mandatory practice to two hours and keeps theory and road tests in place.
• Federal rules also cap medical and psychological exam charges and move most steps to the CNH do Brasil app, where candidates can enroll, study and track their process.
• In Acre, 12,774 people completed the free theory course, saving more than R$10.5 million, and the state’s CNH Social program logged 29,345 applications for up to 5,000 free licenses, with 250 reserved for women with active protective orders.