Foreign higher education and postgraduate students will be able to work legally in Brazil. The rule, published in the Official Gazette of the Union, also applies to those who have already completed their courses and intend to remain in the country.
The president of the National Immigration Council, Paulo Sergio de Almeida, explains that, before the resolution, foreign students could not work and had to return to their country and apply for a new visa for that purpose.
“The measure makes Brazil consistent with good international practices while ensuring a qualified workforce for the country,” he stated.
Paulo Sergio believes that the measure will reduce the number of students living informally, as many face difficulties supporting themselves in Brazil without working.
“We are talking about qualified people, as they were taking undergraduate and postgraduate courses, working informally or abandoning their studies and staying here because they could not afford the university,” he says.
The change from student visa to work visa will not be automatic. Students will have to submit the request to the General Coordination of Immigration (CGIG, in Portuguese) of the Ministry of Labor, which will analyze the cases and issue the authorizations.
One of the conditions to obtain the permit is that the position held by the student in their employment contract is related to the curriculum of their course.
Source: brazilgovnews