Brazil’s single sign-on platform Gov.br suffered a major outage on Monday, 28 September, leaving millions unable to access more than 4,000 federal services—including critical mobility applications such as pre-arrival migration forms, e-consular scheduling and work-permit renewal. The web portal became unreachable shortly after noon; Downdetector logged over 6,000 failure reports at the peak. While the mobile app remained partially functional, users reported that QR-codes needed for airport e-gates and the Receita Federal’s online traveller declaration failed to load. The Ministry of Management and Innovation (MGI) confirmed “periods of instability” and said teams from SERPRO were “working without a timetable for full restoration.” Airlines at São Paulo-Guarulhos and Brasília advised passengers to print boarding passes and arrive earlier, warning that manual immigration queues were building because officers could not validate Gov.br credentials linked to the digital pre-registration system. Corporate mobility managers immediately felt the impact. Several relocation firms told Global Mobility News that foreign assignees due to register with the Federal Police were forced to reschedule appointments because proof-of-residence uploads require a functioning Gov.br login. Employers using the MigranteWeb portal to request Tech Visa endorsements also reported time-outs that could delay start dates for critical hires. The incident spotlights Brazil’s rapid—but vulnerable—digitalisation drive. Since 2021, entry/exit cards, CPF issuance, social-security registration and the new e-Visa platform for U.S., Canadian and Australian nationals have all moved onto Gov.br. Experts urge companies to establish contingency plans, such as keeping scans of key documents and monitoring the government’s API status page. MGI said it will publish a root-cause analysis within ten days and is accelerating plans for a secondary data centre to safeguard high-availability services.
Source: Diário do Nordeste
