Temporary Work Visa - Brazil

Hello DH999,

That is correct, since you are not married to your partner you would not qualify to apply for a work permit (Carteira de Trabalho) if you were gaining a Temporary Visa based on her VITEM-V. Even under the "Stable Union" provisions it is not permitted for you to work.

You can look for a job here, but as you are already aware you'd have to meet all the requirements to apply for your own VITEM-V Work Visa here in Brazil should you find a job.

There's also a catch to this, while you certainly can apply for the VITEM-V Work Visa through the Ministério de Trabalho e Empregos - MTE while here in Brazil, you would still need to return to the UK in order to collect the visa IN PERSON at the Consulado-Geral do Brasil that has jurisdiction over the city where you reside in the UK. They definitely don't make this easy in any way, but it's just the way things are done here.

Hello wjwoodward,

Thanks very much for the below, and quick response! Nice to have some reliable first-hand information, and much appreciated.

Whilst we are very stable, we'd like not to feel pressured into marriage at this stage. I'm also guessing that as neither of us are Brazilian, that wouldn't make too much difference anyway?... or if we were married UK-French citizens, would that actually improve my ability to gain a temporary work visa?

Guess next step is research the probability of me getting work in my field.... slim from what I can see so far... I'll check the employment blog posts. And haven't the sort of money for other Visa types... Business Investment Visa etc.

Many thanks again.
Regards,

The way the legislation surrounding "Permanência definitiva" and the rights of foreign nationals coming here on Temporary Visas works is pretty complicated to say the least.

So let's look at some examples that maybe will help the average guy understand the technical crap!

John from the USA comes to Brazil on a VITUR Tourist Visa, meets, falls in love with and ultimately marries Bruna. He then applies for a VIPER Permanent Visa... the moment he applies for his VIPER based on marriage, that carries with it the automatic right to remain in Brazil, to obtain a Carteira de Trabalho e Previdência Social CTPS, and to work while the process takes place (no matter how long that may be).

Bruna goes to the USA where she meets John. They live together as a couple for a year, but without the benefit of marriage. They've got stacks of documentary proof of their stable relationship (União Estável) and both come to Brazil where John applys for his VIPER Permanent Visa, com base em União Estável. While it automatically carries the right for him to remain in the country while the visa is being processed... IT DOES NOT carry the automatic right to work as do applications based on marriage or on having a Brazilian child. So John would not be able to work for the two or three years it might take to process his permanency. He could ONLY obtain his CTPS after his visa had been granted.

The same thing happens with people coming here on VITEM-V Work Visas. If your spouse comes here on a VITEM-V Work Visa then you can apply for a job and your own VITEM-V Work Visa, CTPS and all that good stuff without much hassle. You'd still need to return home to collect the visa however.

Your partner (girlfriend/boyfriend) with whom you have a "stable union" comes here on a VITEM-V Work Visa, you're looking at a long uphill climb. You can't work, apply for your CTPS, study or anything else. You're just a tag-along in the eyes of the government. You can look for work even as a tourist, that's everybody's right. If you find a job that will qualify for the VITEM-V and the employer can satisfy the MTE that you're absolutely necessary and they can't find a Brazilian to fill the vacancy then you can apply for your own VITEM-V and you're off to the races! Still the necessity exists for you to return to your home country in order to personally collect the visa at the Consulado-Geral do Brasil there.

Is this logical? Clearly it is not! That's just the way that Brazilian bureaucracy works, unfortunately. Not much surrounding immigration to this country makes sense since the legislation dates back to 1980, it is outdated and virtually unchanged since it was enacted. It was brought into effect at the end of the Military Regime in Brazil and strongly reflects the overall political attitudes of the era. Even the current president of the Conselho Nacional de Imigração (CNIg) states publicly that complete revision of the law is long overdue. But, there is no political will to change things here.

Sure, any half wit can see that if you can apply for your VITEM-V here in Brazil you should also be able to collect it here as well. Surely the MTE should have the authority to put it into your passport and eliminate the need to have a Consulado do that back home. Sadly, until the laws are changed that is exactly what we have to do.

Hi wjwoodward,

Thanks very much for that info, and making things ALOT clearer.

Many thanks again and have a great day.

Cheers

Hi wjwoodward,

Hope all's well and thanks again for the info.

Are there any good sites for researching the possibilities of freelancing and/or consultancy?

I've just read that for the legal side, this needs a minimum investment of $50K to register - and a Business Plan (obviously) that commits to employing a certain number of local employees within a time period.

There's no such thing as a Sole Trader or similar - I've just read about Microempreendedor Individual etc but not sure what that fully means.

Any advice or points in the right direction for further reading would be a huge help.

Many thanks,

Actually there are no real firm guidelines as to what constitutes being a "microempreendedor individual" (individual business owner) in Brazil, in terms of the VIPER Permanent Visa for Investors. For example, until they recently closed the loophole in the legislation, one could use the investment to purchase real property (houses/apartments) with the intention to rent them out to generate income. Then they rented out one or more, used that income to pay rent (to themselves) on another property which was in fact their primary residence. Many actually did exactly this and the abuse of the system forced the government into changing the legislation surrounding such visa applications.

As it stands right now, other than this one example, your really can set up any kind of legitimate business endeavour at all, that will generate income and provide employment (not necessarily employ Brazilians, but rather create employment for yourself). While that is something they'd certainly like to see happen and truly hope will happen they're really more concerned about the investment, the tax revenues that your business will generate and the fact that you aren't a drain on the system in any way. So the government in that sense has taken really a "hands-off" sort of attitude toward the types of businesses that quailify for the visa.

If you've got a reasonably sound business plan, are pretty sure that it's going to generate a reliable and steady income, you have no plans to repatriate your initial investment (at least until after you've renewed your provisional VIPER visa to a full VIPER visa after the initial 2 or 3 years for which it's issued) then really the field is wide open and you can do pretty much whatever you want in terms of the business venture itself.

DH999, concerning microempreendedor individual status, you should look at SEBRAE site http://www.sebrae.com.br/sites/PortalSebrae. SEBRAE is a public organization in charge of helping/supporting small and medium business/entrepreneurs. This is a mine of information. Worth to explore. When your girlfriend obtains a CPF, she would have access to a lot more stuff like online training. There are branches in all brazilian towns and you meet consultants for free (accountants and other specialist job).
This is should be the first step for anyone expecting to start a business in Brazil. Really useful organization.