Digital FNRH: Brazil Guest Registration Guide for 2026
Digital FNRH is the mandatory electronic guest registration form for lodging businesses in Brazil. Since 20 April 2026, every property listed in Cadastur — hotels, guesthouses, hostels, resorts — must file guest data electronically with the Ministry of Tourism instead of on paper, under MTur Ordinance 41/2025. Adoption is still low: 3,406 of 19,231 registered properties. The fastest way to comply is a digital pre-check-in link sent before arrival.
By Equipe ViaHotel3 min read
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What is the Digital FNRH?
The FNRH — Ficha Nacional de Registro de Hóspedes, Brazil's National Guest Registry form — is the mandatory record of every guest that Brazilian lodging businesses have to keep and send to the Ministry of Tourism. Since 20 April 2026, the digital version has replaced the paper form: filing is now electronic and integrated with Cadastur (Brazil's official tourism business registry), under MTur Ordinance 41/2025 (Portaria MTur nº 41/2025), with the deadline extended by Ordinance 4/2026.
Is the Digital FNRH mandatory?
Yes. Since 20 April 2026, every lodging business registered in Cadastur has to adopt the Digital FNRH — hotels, guesthouses, hostels, resorts and similar operations. And adoption is still the minority: by the end of April 2026, only 3,406 of the 19,231 businesses in Cadastur had signed up (around 18%), according to Brazil's Ministry of Tourism. Put another way: 8 out of every 10 formal lodging businesses are still outside the rule.
Who has to file the FNRH?
| Type of lodging | Needs the Digital FNRH? |
|---|---|
| Hotel, guesthouse, resort, hostel (with Cadastur) | Yes |
| Apart-hotel / serviced flat with hotel operations | Yes |
| Short-term rental (individual host, no Cadastur) | Not mandatory — but organized guest records are still recommended |
If your operation has a lodging-business CNPJ (Brazil's company tax ID) and an active Cadastur registration, the obligation applies to you.
How does filing through Cadastur work?
The business collects the guest data (name, ID document, nationality, origin and destination, arrival and departure dates), records it on the digital platform and transmits it to the Ministry of Tourism system. The part that changes your routine is the collection: if you keep collecting on arrival with a clipboard, you create a queue — if you collect beforehand, by link, check-in takes seconds.
What happens if you do not comply?
Beyond the risk of administrative penalties set out in the sector rules, the real cost is operational: retyping the same data, stacks of paper and a queue at the front desk — which turns into a bad review. Hotels that respond well and speed up service perform up to 12% better on RevPAR, according to a study by TrustYou covering 25,000 hotels.
How do you collect the data without a queue at the front desk?
The answer is digital pre-check-in: the guest gets a link before arriving, fills in the data on their own phone, and the front desk only checks it. In ViaHotel, digital pre-check-in already collects the fields in the FNRH standard, with encryption and automatic data purging — LGPD by default. (LGPD is Brazil's data protection law, the local equivalent of the GDPR.) You can export in the required format whenever you need to.
Checklist: compliance in 5 steps
- Register in Cadastur (it is free) or check that your registration is active.
- Turn on a digital pre-check-in with the FNRH standard fields.
- Ask for the data before arrival — a WhatsApp link in the booking confirmation.
- Review everything in one dashboard on check-in day.
- Export in the FNRH standard whenever you need to transmit or audit.
An AI receptionist that serves your guests 24/7 through a QR code — with FNRH-standard pre-check-in included. Live in 10 minutes, from R$ 29/month (≈US$6). Try it free for 14 days, no card.