We’re already here

Last Updated 26th Sept 26

The walk

Five walks through Brazilian London

Five walking routes, all free, each telling a different part of the story. Do them in your own time, alone, with someone, or with the whole crowd.

Off the route, but worth the trip

You cannot do these on foot on the same day, but each one is a stop in its own right.

Updated 26th Sept 26

Going out

A Brazilian week in London

A class, a room every week, or a match. The rest of the dates go up on Instagram.

Step 1 of 3: Build your social routine

Consider signing up to one of these two regular events

1 of 2 Regular dance classes Forró, zouk, samba and capoeira

2 of 2

Friday to Sunday

Church, live music, pastel and pagode.

The Brazilian year in London

Where to go from here

DanceLondon learned our steps Eat and shopEat in Portuguese, all the way across London HomeThe week, on one page.

Found something wrong or out of date? oi@brasillondres.com

Updated 26th Sept 26

History

How we got here

In 2001 the Census found fifteen thousand Brazilians in the whole UK. Today the consulate talks about more than two hundred thousand. Everything that exists now, the bakeries, the samba schools, the churches, the butchers, the Saturday Portuguese class, was built in that gap, by people who arrived and found none of it here.

Who we are here

Where we come from

There is no official data on state of origin: neither the British census nor the Brazilian foreign ministry asks. What exists is academic research with small samples, which gives the order of the states that send most people to London, not the percentage each one contributes. So that is what is here: the order, and not a chart with numbers we do not have. The list shows the largest groups in that research, not every state represented in London.

The areas the research names

Beyond the census numbers, these are the areas named repeatedly in studies of the community.

Twenty years in three numbers

People born in Brazil living in London, across the three censuses. It is worth looking at the two decades separately, because they say different things. Between 2001 and 2011 the counted community grew by 284%, close to quadrupling. Between 2011 and 2021 it grew by another 78%. So the explosion was in the first decade, and after that growth stayed strong but at a different pace.

Where it is growing now

How many times over the counted community multiplied between 2011 and 2021, looking only at boroughs above 500 people so small numbers do not distort it.

Where we have nothing listed

Boroughs with more than fourteen hundred Brazilians in the census and not one address on our list. It is not that nothing is there: it is that we did not find it.

Born in Brazil, by borough

People born in Brazil and resident in each borough, in the count published by the GLA from ONS data. It counts people born in Brazil, so a child born here is not included. The British census has no Latin American category, so country of birth is the breakdown that exists. Community organisations campaign for a category of their own. The table covers the 32 boroughs and the City of London.

Where the community is moving

Brazilians who left a mark here

This is not a celebrity list. It is people who came through here and left something, in both directions: those who built something in London and stayed, and those who came to study, learned, and went back to do it in Brazil. There is physics, law, literature, design, music, food and football. Some from two hundred years ago, some very recent. Where there is a source, it is at the end of the block.

Updated 26th Sept 26

First 90 days

The order to do things in

Thousands of Brazilians have done exactly this, and it has an order. Here it is: what to sort first, what to take with you, and the official link for each step.

Phrases to show at the counter

Situations where your right is written on an official page. The English is for showing; the Portuguese is so you know what you are showing. Tap Show to open it in large type, or Send to paste it into WhatsApp with the date and the link.

Here and in Brazil

Things that work one way here and another way in Brazil. Not that either is better: they are different systems, and nobody tells you which is which. Here we do.

The first winter

London gets wet more than it gets cold, and clothing sizes are a different system. The sum and the fitting-room line are here.

Where to buy

A neighbourhood shop on Harlesden High Street, and Brazilian brands with their own door in the centre. A bra fitting, which the size chart does not settle, is at the end. This is what we found, not every shop.

Updated 26th Sept 26

Housing

The rent, the council and the damp

In Brazil a fiador settles it, the IPTU belongs to the owner and the deposit sits with them. Here each of those has another name and another rule. This page gathers the order and the official link. If our sentence and the government page disagree, theirs is the one that counts.

The postcode is used to find the borough. We do not keep it.

The deposit sentence, to show the agency

The new renting law, since May 2026

The Renters’ Rights Act changed private renting in England. It applies to people renting from a landlord who does not live in the property. Renting a room in the owner’s home has other rules, set out in the fourth item.

Updated 26th Sept 26

Work

What you are entitled to be paid

Most of these rights apply from your first day, with no minimum service. Here are the official figures, the rules, and where to find people who understand them. Figures checked in Aug 26: they change every 1 April, and this is information, not legal advice.

What changed in April, and what is left for you

Every year the UK changes eight or nine numbers on separate GOV.UK pages, none referring to the others. Here they are together, with the sum nobody publishes.

Holiday, payslips and tax codes

Paid holiday applies from day one, zero-hours included. Here is the sum, what a payslip must show and where to complain. Checked in Sept 26, on Acas and GOV.UK.

Sites, apps and whoever pays you

Sites and apps pay another way. Here is the official name of each deduction, and the page that publishes today’s rate.

Working for yourself

In Brazil the MEI folds tax and social security into one bill. Here they are two conversations with HMRC, on different dates. The deadlines below are the ones on the government page the day we checked. The link is the year that is in force.

What your job is called here

A job title does not translate word for word. The literal translation is a name a British employer does not use, and a search for it comes back empty.

Updated 26th Sept 26

Money

Money between the two countries

Sending it home, what that really costs, and what happens to what you already paid here.

Sending money home

Pensions, INSS and qualifications

Updated 26th Sept 26

Health

How healthcare works here

Mostly the things that work completely differently from Brazil.

English phrases to show at the GP and the pharmacy

Updated 26th Sept 26

Children

School, and registration in both countries

In Brazil you enrol at the neighbourhood school, and a child of a Brazilian is Brazilian. Here a place is applied for, with a date, and being born here does not by itself answer either the British passport or the Brazilian one. The order is below. Each deadline lives on the official page, with the date we read it.

Saturday Portuguese, on the Community page

Updated 26th Sept 26

Documents

Paperwork between the two countries

This is the part that appears in no expat guide, because it only exists if you are Brazilian. Apostille, sworn translation, consular registration, power of attorney, and pensions on both sides. Every mistake here costs money and time.

What you still owe Brazil

Living here does not switch everything off there. Tax, voter registration, military enlistment, CPF, registering a child and your driving licence all still exist, and three of them can block your passport. No British guide will tell you this because it is not their subject. Position as at Aug 26: confirm with the Brazilian body before acting, because these rules change.

The year in both countries

The deadlines that come round every year, from both governments, in one place. No guide puts the two together because each one only handles its own side. Dates checked in Aug 26: each has its source in the corresponding section of the site.

Regulated professions: the route for each one

This part is about your Brazilian qualification counting here. If what you want is the reverse, a British qualification counting in Brazil, that is just below, under A degree from here, valid in Brazil. Nine professions, with the body that decides, whether your qualification is assessed directly or there is an exam, the English required and the published cost. Position as at Aug 26: fees and timelines change often, so check the link before spending.

The official cost, side by side

Regulator fees only, so you can see the difference in scale before choosing a route. It excludes the English test, sworn translation, preparation courses, travel and course fees, which in pharmacy and law are the larger expense. Figures checked in Aug and Sept 26.

The time, side by side

A planning estimate, not anyone’s promise. It counts from the point where you already have documents, translations and English in hand. Exam availability, incomplete paperwork and resits all stretch it.

The week of leaving

The exit declaration, INSS and what you already paid here are further up and on the Money page. This is the rest of the week: FGTS, who to tell on this side, and the visa for whoever is going with you. We do not pick a visa. The consulate publishes the list.

If someone dies

Consular registration is one line of the paperwork, further up. The week itself has another order, and it is written on GOV.UK and at the consulate. This page points at both. It recommends no funeral director and gives no repatriation price.

A degree from here, valid in Brazil

If you came here to study and intend to go back, a British degree is not automatically valid in Brazil: depending on what you plan to do, it has to go through revalidação or reconhecimento. If your case is the reverse, a Brazilian qualification for working here, that is just above, under Regulated professions. Position as at Aug 26, with the official link on each item.

Updated 26th Sept 26

Links

The official sources behind this site, in one place

Every official link cited on this site, gathered here with the date we checked it. The idea is simple: rules and figures can change at any time, and it is always the official body that decides, not us. If it matters to you, open the source and check today’s version.

Glossary

The words in the letter and the interview

NI number, council tax, GP, UTR, AST. Words that turn up in every letter and every job interview. Here is what each one means.

Updated 26th Sept 26

Where to get help

People who can actually help

There is a whole network built for this, much of it by Latin American women, and several of them work in Portuguese. These are the right doors to knock on.

What does not depend on your visa

Rights that already exist in law, each with its official source. This site gives no immigration advice and says nothing about anyone’s situation: what is here is only what the rule already guarantees to any person.

Scams: how to spot them and where to report

The scams that most often catch people who have just arrived: rooms, jobs with a visa, agencies, fake messages and borrowed accounts. Each item says what the official body says, and who to call.

Where to look

If I leave, can I support myself?

Control of money is among the factors in abuse most often named by organisations serving Brazilian women in London, and the argument is always the same: you cannot manage without me. This does not answer whether you should leave. It only answers what the state pays a woman living on her own, with or without children, so you have a real number instead of his.

Checking a Brazilian professional

We do not keep a list of professionals and we recommend nobody. What we can do, and it is worth more, is show you where to check the person you have already found. Every one of these registers is public, free, and takes under a minute.

Updated 26th Sept 26

Beauty and aesthetics

Beauty and aesthetics in London

We take nothing to be listed.

What are you booking?

Updated 26th Sept 26