one of the most important documents for anyone residing in brazil, or hoping to conduct any sort of business in brazil, or even for visitors staying for a long-term vacation, is a cadastro de pessoa física - cpf.

necessary to conduct any type of business, open a bank account, or even to set-up utilities, a cpf number translated literally means 'registration of a physical person', and is brazil's way of keeping everyone's information in a central database. 

foreigners can get a cpf as long as they are on the country legally with a valid passport, meaning that anyone with a valid tourist or student visa can receive one - often in just a couple of days.