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Integration between digital documents and public services advances in Mercosur while the National Identity Card gains space on GOV.BR, creating new forms of identification for Brazilians on official platforms inside and outside the country.
Last Monday (29), during a meeting in Asunción, Paraguay, the Mercosur countries approved the mutual recognition of digital authentication and identification means among the member states.
The measure should allow GOV.BR to be used in digital public services in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, but it still depends on legislative approval in each country to take effect.
At the same time, in Brazil, the National Identity Card, the CIN, is expanding its presence on digital channels, with a version available on the GOV.BR app after the completion of the issuance and validation process.
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Digital identity in Mercosur
With the rule approved in the bloc, Brazilians living or needing to access services in neighboring countries will be able to use GOV.BR on foreign platforms, while Paraguayans, Argentinians, and Uruguayans will have an equivalent path to access Brazilian services.
This recognition does not eliminate the security requirements adopted by each government, as the digital identity needs to be linked to more robust authentication levels to reduce fraud risks and protect online transactions.
In Brazil’s case, the requirement is the GOV.BR account at the Gold level, a mode associated with a more secure validation of the user’s identity within the federal platform.
According to the Secretary of Digital Government, Rogério Mascarenhas, the initiative should facilitate both citizens’ access to public services abroad and the interest of entrepreneurs in doing business in Mercosur countries.
“It is another step in this journey of bringing Digital Government to every person,” said Mascarenhas, commenting on the approval of the measure and the expansion of the use of digital identities among public administrations in the bloc.
What changes for Brazilians
In practice, the main change expected is to allow the same digital credential to be used to interact with governments of other Mercosur countries, without the need for completely isolated registrations on each foreign public platform.
This advancement tends to benefit Brazilians who live, study, work, or maintain business activities in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, provided that the measure is approved by national legislatures and implemented by each country’s systems.
Behind this integration, digital identity gathers attributes, services, and authentication mechanisms that allow for securely confirming that the person responsible for an online transaction is truly who they claim to be.
In digital public services, this secure identification is necessary for consultations, requests, signatures, protocols, and monitoring of administrative processes, especially when personal data or actions with legal effects are involved.
The regional experience also continues the rapprochement between Brazil and Uruguay, as GOV.BR can be used, since October 2024, to access more than 350 services on the Uruguayan platform.
Since September 2025, Uruguayan users can also use local authentication data to access GOV.BR, an experience that served as a basis for expanding the model to other Mercosur countries.
New Digital ID in the GOV.BR App
While regional integration advances, the CIN consolidates in Brazil a model of identification that uses the CPF as the unique number of the National General Registry, aiming to reduce duplications and hinder document fraud.
In São Paulo, for example, requesting the CIN requires scheduling through the Poupatempo SP.GOV.BR app, the Poupatempo portal, self-service kiosks, or the WhatsApp provided by the state government.
Although scheduling can be done through digital channels, issuance does not occur entirely via mobile, as the citizen must appear at the chosen location on the scheduled date and present a birth or marriage certificate.
Once the issuance process is completed and the document passes validation, the digital version of the National Identity Card becomes available in the GOV.BR app, within the Document Wallet menu.
The document also includes a QR Code for authenticity verification and consultation on any theft or loss report, a feature that can be accessed by smartphone and reinforces the use of digital tools in civil identification.
How to Request the National Identity Card
To request the CIN in São Paulo, the citizen needs to have a GOV.BR account, have their data in regular status with the Federal Revenue, and not have another National Identity Card request in progress.
The first issue of the CIN is free, while the ID issued by the State of São Paulo remains valid until February 28, 2032, a deadline that avoids immediate exchange for those who already have a state document.
With the simultaneous expansion of digital CIN and the recognition of identities in Mercosur, governments are starting to connect online services and public databases with greater demand for secure authentication for citizens and companies.
With the requirement of a Gold account and the advancement of GOV.BR as an international credential, are citizens prepared to use digital identity as a gateway to public services inside and outside Brazil?
