The Brazilian criminal record certificate (certidão de antecedentes criminais) is issued by the Federal Police and by the state Civil Police forces, and you can request it yourself. Antecedentes Criminais Brasil is a private service, not a government agency: we explain the route and help when it gets complicated, with the Hague apostille, sworn translation and issuance for people living abroad.
Quick answer: São Paulo's Serviços SP portal confirms a service that validates the authenticity of the information in a state criminal record certificate (atestado de antecedentes criminais), and validation is free for citizens. Full step-by-step instructions for issuing the São Paulo certificate were not found in the official content we consulted, so confirm issuance directly on the responsible authority's website.
People searching for a São Paulo criminal record certificate usually need either to obtain a document linked to the state of São Paulo or to check whether a state certificate is genuine. Although these needs are related, issuing and validating are different procedures.
The information confirmed on the Serviços SP portal is that there is a service for validating the authenticity of the information in the state criminal record certificate. This validation has no fee for the citizen.
Complete instructions on issuing the document, however, were not found in the content consulted. That is why it matters to separate what is confirmed from what must be checked directly on the website of the responsible authority.
The São Paulo state service
The São Paulo state service related to validating criminal records lets you check the authenticity of the information in a certificate.
According to the Serviços SP portal, validating the state certificate has no fee for the citizen.
What does validating a São Paulo criminal record certificate mean?
Validating a certificate means checking that the information shown in the document is genuine.
This is a different purpose from requesting a new certificate.
The distinction matters because a person may need one of these actions, or both, depending on the request they received.
Are a state criminal record certificate and the federal certificate the same thing?
The criminal record certificate can be issued by the Federal Police or by the state Civil Police forces.
So, when looking for a document, you need to identify which issuing authority matches the requirement you were given.
If the request specifically mentions criminal records from São Paulo, check whether the document requested is a state one.
If it mentions the Federal Police, the identification of the issuing authority should likewise guide your search.
It is not advisable to assume that any document called "antecedentes criminais" automatically serves the same purpose.
Before starting the request, check the description of the document required and look for the matching guidance.
To understand this difference better, see our page on the state criminal record certificate.
Is validation in São Paulo free?
Yes. The confirmed information is that validating the authenticity of the information in the São Paulo state certificate has no fee for the citizen.
It helps to separate three situations:
- State validation: checking the authenticity of the information in the certificate, with no fee for the citizen.
- State issuance: a procedure whose complete instructions were not found in the content consulted.
- Complementary private services: assistance, Hague apostille and sworn translation, when needed.
| Situation | What is confirmed |
|---|---|
| Validating a São Paulo state certificate | Service on Serviços SP; no fee for the citizen |
| Issuing a São Paulo state certificate | Complete instructions not found in the content consulted |
| Private assistance (ours) | Assisted issuance from R$ 30; Hague apostille from R$ 95; sworn translation from R$ 110 per page |
How to find issuance and validation
The first step is to identify whether you need to issue a document or validate a certificate you already have.
For state validation in São Paulo, there is a reference on the Serviços SP portal.
You can visit the page directly:
The description shown by the state service says its purpose is to validate the authenticity of the information in the criminal record certificate.
How to find state validation
When you open the state service page, look at the description of the activity provided.
The confirmed point is its purpose of checking the authenticity of the information.
Before taking any action, make sure you are looking for validation and not for the issuance of a new document.
It is also important to read the guidance presented by the responsible authority itself.
Based on the facts available, we cannot state which specific data must be entered during validation or which steps appear in the interface.
The information was not found in the official content consulted; please confirm directly on the website of the responsible authority.
How do you issue a criminal record certificate in São Paulo?
Issuing a state certificate and validating its information should not be treated as a single procedure.
Although the state Civil Police is among the bodies that issue criminal record documents, complete official issuance instructions for São Paulo were not found in the content consulted.
So we cannot safely present a step-by-step guide with all the fields, documents, requirements or stages of the request.
The information was not found in the official content consulted; please confirm directly on the website of the responsible authority.
To continue, identify the issuing authority required and look for the matching issuance service.
What the source confirms
The reference used on this page is the São Paulo state service provided on the Serviços SP portal.
The central information is:
Validating the São Paulo state criminal record certificate checks the authenticity of the information and has no fee for the citizen.
This statement clarifies the purpose and the free nature of validation, but it does not support conclusions on every aspect of issuing the document.
Confirmed information
The state source supports two specific statements.
The first is that there is a service meant to validate the authenticity of the information in the criminal record certificate.
The second is that this validation has no fee for the citizen.
Information that still needs confirmation
The content consulted gave no complete instructions on state issuance in São Paulo.
For that reason, this page does not set out specific procedures for obtaining the document, and does not state requirements, required documents or issuance times.
Nor can we conclude that the conditions of validation automatically apply to any other service related to criminal records.
When a question arises about a procedure not described in the source, the guidance remains:
The information was not found in the official content consulted; please confirm directly on the website of the responsible authority.
What to do when the portal does not answer your question
If you did not find the information you need to issue or validate a criminal record in São Paulo, start by identifying exactly which question remains.
The difficulty may lie in choosing the document, identifying the responsible authority, or the difference between issuing and validating.
In each situation, the next step depends on the missing information.
When you still need to issue the document
If your goal is to request a new São Paulo state certificate, look for the issuance guidance directly on the website of the responsible authority.
Do not treat a description that covers only validation as a sufficient reference.
The official content consulted did not allow us to confirm a complete route for issuance in São Paulo.
The information was not found in the official content consulted; please confirm directly on the website of the responsible authority.
It is also advisable to check whether the receiving institution specified which authority must issue the document.
That check can save you from looking for a different certificate from the one requested.
When you already have the certificate
If the document has already been issued and you need to check the authenticity of its information, the São Paulo validation service is the relevant reference.
The state page says this validation has no fee for the citizen.
However, we cannot detail here the fields to fill in, technical requirements or all the operational steps without confirmed instructions.
Use the description provided by the state service and confirm the guidance directly on the responsible page.
When the request involves another state
The information confirmed for São Paulo should not be applied automatically to other states.
A search for state criminal records may show services with similar names, but that does not show that the procedures are identical.
If your need relates to Minas Gerais, see our page on the Minas Gerais criminal record certificate.
There are also specific pages on the Rio Grande do Sul criminal record certificate and the Paraná criminal record certificate. For Rio de Janeiro, see the Rio de Janeiro criminal record certificate.
For Bahia, the facts presented on this page are not enough to establish a procedure of its own.
In all these cases, the reference to free validation of the São Paulo certificate should not be taken as confirmation of conditions for other states.
When the document will be used abroad
If you plan to present a criminal record certificate outside Brazil, it is important to identify which requirements the receiving institution has communicated.
Issuing the document and preparing it for presentation abroad are separate needs.
Antecedentes Criminais Brasil offers private support related to the Hague apostille, sworn translation and assisted issuance, including for people who are abroad.
You can read our page on the Hague apostille for criminal records to understand this assistance better.
Whether you need to hire complementary services should be assessed case by case, according to the requirements set by the recipient.