STUDENT VISA IN BRAZIL

January 19, 2017

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Marie Doremus

Entering in Brazil as a student can be a good solution before achieving a long term visa, our Talent recruiter Marie Doremus tells you why:

The time I arrived in Brazil back in 2008, I came as an exchange student at the University of São Paulo. When I returned years later in 2014, I came with a student visa even though I was already working in France as an HR specialist. The student visa can be a good option to enter Brazil and search for a long-term job. It could help you find an internship that your employer can turn into a long-term contract and a work visa. As a school registered with the Ministry of Education, Speak Portuguese Brazil can help you out.

The student visa is called the VITEM IV, and there are several ways of obtaining it:

Internship – less than 120 days (can change according to nationalities)
Exchange Program
Enrollment in local University

Due to some legislation changes, the student can apply to a Working Visa according to these two conditions:

At the end of a graduation or post-graduation coursed entirely or partially in Brazil
At the end of a graduation or post-graduation curse in Brazil

Internships

Since June 2014, laws have become more flexible with foreigners willing to take an internship in Brazil. It is now easy for most students to obtain a 4-month (120 days) internship visa (note: we advise you to first check with the Brazilian consulate in your country). You must however first find an internship before arriving in Brazil, as you will need the contract before beginning the visa application process.

Exchange programs

A common solution is to be an exchange student in Brazil. This means you must be an enrolled in a University back in your home country and your school (or university) must have a partner school in Brazil. Your status will be referred as “estudante intercambista.”

Learning Portuguese

Another possibility is to study Portuguese at a registered school in Brazil. This will help you acquire a student VISA for 6 months, but only if you study a total of 360h during this period (it can change according to your nationality), which corresponds to 15h a week. We provide courses at our school which help you obtain this Visa. However, you will not be able to work or receive an internship with this status.

Enrolling in a local university

Another option is to register in a Brazilian university on your own. There are different options for this, depending on whether or not you already have a master’s degree.

If you do, you can either take courses in local universities (although this does not give you a diploma at the end), and be considered a “estudante especial.” Or you can enroll in an MBA course (or in an “especialização” course), which grants you a new diploma at the end of the course. Both of these solutions enable you to have an internship in the same time.

This is a good option, as these courses are open to foreigners and classes are in English (some may be in Portuguese). Although these courses are usually very expensive (especially MBA programs), they do allow you to participate in internships.

If you do not already have a master´s degree, you can still register in a Brazilian university just as any Brazilian would do, however you must either take the “Vestibular exam” – that is, the test to enter in local universities – or an internal test, proper to each university and course.

Therefore, except in the case you are a student at a language school, you can complete internships during your stay in Brazil with your Student visa (it can change depending on the university’s policy).

I understand that it might feel strange, if you are not a student anymore, to register as such just to enter in Brazil. But this might be your entrance opportunity: taking courses at a university can help you reorient yourself professionally or to specialize in a particular domain. Furthermore, you will be able to network and find a job or internship to stay longer in this amazing country.