questions about how student visas work?

3. The PUC PowerPoint seems to say that they'll facilitate getting your student visa, so presumably their courses qualify.
4. For the academic year, probably; once you have it and you're in Brazil, you should be able to keep enrolling in courses and extending it.
5. If you're enrolled at UFMG for the academic year, you should be able to stay in Brazil during the Summer and Winter Vacations.
6. Yes, you can get a CPF, and should do it ASAP - it's used everywhere.  Yes, you can use it to get a cellphone; you can get one with just your passport, but it's easier with a CPF.  No, only Brazilians and permanent residents can open an account at a Brazilian bank.  Ask your school if they have banking arrangements for foreign students.   You can get cash -in reais- from your US bank account, using your debit card at bank ATMs.
7&8.  For learning Portuguese, student housing with Brazilian students.  Don't worry - you won't be speaking a lot of English. A lot of Brazilian students I know speak a smattering of English (and are shy about using it) and quickly go back to Portuguese;  few are truly fluent, maybe one in ten.

PUC doesn't facilitate you getting a student visa.  they say that it's the student's job to get the visa.  i assume that they just send you an acceptance letter. 

"Ask your school if they have banking arrangements for foreign students."

what kind of banking arrangements do you mean?

thanks

p.s. by the way, in a prior thread, you mentioned that i my old college might be able to help me get into brazilian schools, but i emailed my college, and they won't help me get into a portuguese school or go to grad school in brazil.  thanks for the suggestion anyway.

"PUC doesn't facilitate you getting a student visa.  they say that it's the student's job to get the visa.  i assume that they just send you an acceptance letter.  "

That was all I meant:  sorry if it was unclear.

"what kind of banking arrangements do you mean?"

Since foreigners on temporary visas, including foreign students, can't open bank accounts, there's an outside chance that schools with a lot of foreign students may have reached an agreement with a bank to work around that.  It's not likely, but it's a question to ask.

Too bad that your Alma Mater can't be of any help.  It was a Hail Mary, but sometimes those come through.  Not this time, though.

is it a good idea to have a bank account in brazil?

if the money in my bank account in brazil hypothetically kept growing, then would the brazilian government realize that i am working illegally while on a student visa?  is this a valid concern? 

of course, this is a hypothetical question.

does the brazilian government monitor your bank account?

what would happen to me if the brazilian government realized that i was working while on a student visa?

Does the government monitor yours bank account? Yes. Also you have to file a FBAR with the US every year if US citizen.
You must have an RNE to get a bank account. As said you can use your US debit card (look at fees) and get a small amount if reals each 24 hours (excluding Sundays and if you take $R300 out at 3pm Friday you would not get more money until Monday 24 hours is 24 hours in bank time). You are only allowed $2000.00 U$D per month coming from US. Your account can grow by deposits. Not aware of any limit as to growth.
Follow the BR laws is all I can say. You can be deported for violations.
I recommend not having a large credit card balance which you cannot pay from a US bank. You could have a work stoppage. (Yes banks do have them)

"Does the government monitor yours bank account? Yes."

well if the brazilian government monitors my bank account, then it might be unwise to deposit any money if you're working illegally.

"Also you have to file a FBAR with the US every year if US citizen."

can you tell me more about the FBAR?

do you have to file the FBAR if you had no income in brazil?  i will be on a student visa (well, i still have to get my student visa this month), so i'm not supposed to have any income in brazil.

"You must have an RNE to get a bank account."

ok.  it seems like an RNE means that you have permanent residency.  i do not have permanent residency, so i guess i can't open a bank accoiunt.

hey texanbrazil,

i remember that you posted something about a mail forwarding service that you use.  can you tell me about the mail forwarding service you use and how much it costs? 
how often do they send your mail to you? 
and do they everything by fedex or ups or something like that? 
because i heard that it takes mail 2 months to go from the U.S. to brazil if you don't use fedex or ups or related mail services.