Before arriving in Brazil...
I worked at Rolls Royce Motor Cars where I was working as a CNC Engineer (Computer Numerical Centre, its basically a machine run by a computer, a program is written to command the machine to create whatever component is required). I have had various jobs working in similar roles and also jobs working with boats and sailing.
I studied Mechanical Engineering at college and also have trained to be a professional sailor. Sailing, boats, the sea and anything to do with the water is a passion of mine and I'm sure at some point in my blog I will talk more about it.
I have taken a long time to finally make the big decision of making a move to try make a life in Brazil, 13 years to be precise. There is no real reason why it has taken me so long to make this decision apart from the fact that I was afraid to make this leap of faith. Having a girlfriend here in Salvador and friends here and else where in Brazil also helped a lot in making the final decision.
The only real way to come to Brazil with the intention of living like I am is to do it the legal way, otherwise you are making a hard process of events even harder if not impossible for yourself. As far as visas are concerned, the Brazilian government works on a reciprocal basis. Brazilian's don't need a travel visa to visit the UK, they can stay here for the standard 90 days without having to apply for any visa and so its the same for British citizens in Brazil, we require no visa to travel for up to 90 days.
There are really only 3 options to live in Brazil, either marrying a Brazilian citizen (even then there are a lot of requirements as in the UK) finding a work placement that will sponsor you a work visa or if your wealthy enough and can invest in business's then Brazil might give you residency.
The option I'm trying to go for is finding a work placement that will sponsor me with a work visa and the first step I have taken in this is by getting a student visa which allows me to stay for a year and can be extended for up to two years.
The easiest way to do this is by studying Portuguese at a Federal University. I am going to be studying at UFBA the Federal University of Bahia, I'm not sure if all Federal Universities run these Portuguese courses but I know for sure its not just UFBA that does run it.
Below is the details of what you will need to get your visa and the process:
The first thing you need is to have a correspondent in Brazil whom you trust. This person will deal with your money, so try not to find some random Brazilian on the internet! In order to get the one year visa, you will need to pay for three semesters of the course. The reason for this simply is because the amount of hours of the course does not meet the Brazilian consulates requirements, so they give you a document saying that you'll be studying for the amount of hours referring to three semesters of the Portuguese course. You can also pay just for two semesters, but then your visa will last only for eight months.
Your correspondent will need to go to UFBA or whichever Federal University you choose that runs the course a several times. The first time will be to get the application form for the course. They will obviously have to fill the form out on your behalf and with a picture of your photo page of your passport return them to the University with the course fees which they only accept in cash (see below for costs). It takes around a week for the University to process your application and then your correspondent will have to return a third time to collect your receipt for the course and the letter from the University to the Brazilian Consulate that is stating that you require a student Visa to study in Brazil.
Once your correspondent has obtained these things they will need to get the letter from the University notarised, this is very easy and cheap to do (less than £1) and if you intend on going to UFBA then the Notary office is close to the University.
Once this is all done the only thing left for your correspondent to do is it to get the documents delivered to you in England. Its advised to use a courier to do this, if you send by regular post it may never arrive!
Once you have received your documents from Brazil you will need to look at the following requirements and costs:
What are the requirements?
- Valid Passport
- Application form (you'll find it in the consulate website)
- Letter of invitation (the university will provide after you pay for the course)
- Clean criminal records, there are a couple options to get hold of your criminal record which you can find in the link to the Brazilian consulate below.
- Minors (under 18) must submit notarized copy of the birth certificate and Letter of Consent signed by each parent listed on the birth certificate (or legal guardian)
- Financial requirements (see below)
- Check for more information here at the Brazilian Consulate website
- Each semester costs R$ 450 for a 4 month, part time course (4 hours a week) so, for a year visa, it will cost around R$ 1.350 which is roughly £250.
- To send the university documents from Brazil to the UK, cost about £50 via Fedex but I think its possible to do it cheaper than this with some research.
- At the consulate, it's necessary to prove that you have US$ 1.000 dollars for each month you want to stay in the country, so it means US$ 12.000 which is around £8000 for the whole year. This is a requirement by the consulate but in reality you can probably live quite comfortably for around £6000. When they ask you to present your documents at the consulate the thing they take the least notice of is your bank statement, but I guess if you had dramatically less than £8000 there in your account they will question your finances.
- Your tickets to Brazil will vary a lot depending on the time of year that you come, the most expensive times are probably from November to March, usually the cheapest time I have found is April/May time after Carnival and then from June the flights gradually get more expensive towards the end of the year.
- The cost of the visa its self is £32 but then on top of that they add about £124 administration fee and then £8 bank fee so in total the visa cost me £164.
Brazilian consulate location, showing nearest underground stations in London
When you arrive at the consulate for your interview its a very simple process and the interview probably lasts no more than 20 minutes max. They will ask for all your documents, one thing that the consulate doesn't say is mandatory but I included in my documents was a letter from my girlfriend saying that initially I would stay with her and her family until I found somewhere to rent of my own. Obviously your situation might not be the same as mine but I think some proof of living arrangements is important as it was the thing they looked at the most in my interview. If they have no concerns they will ask you to go make the payments at the Brazilian Bank they have at the consulate and then they will make photocopies of your documents and keep your passport, which they will return after a couple weeks.
If you are interested in getting a visa and want some help or advice feel free to contact me here :)
Leia também em português:
Eu trabalhei na Rolls Royce Motor Cars como Engenheiro CNC (Computer Numerical Center, basicamente um máquina controlada por computador, um programa é escrito para programar a máquina e criar quaisquer componentes necessários). Eu já tive vários empregos trabalhando na mesma área e também outros trabalhando com barcos e velejando.
Estudei na faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica e também tenho treinamento pra ser velejador profissional.. Velejar, barcos, o mar - e qualquer coisa que tenha a ver com água - são mnhas paixões e eu tenho certeza que, em algum canto do meu blog, eu vou acabar falando mais sobre isso.
Eu demorei um tempão pra finalmente tomar a grande decisão de tentar vir viver no Brasil. Treze anos, pra ser mais exato. Não existe um motivo exato pra que eu tenha demorado tanto pra tomar essa decisão, além do fato de que eu tinha medo de dar esse passo de fé. Ter uma namorada em Salvador e amigos aqui e em outras partes do Brasil, também são coisas que ajudaram muito na decisão final.
O único jeito de vir pro Brasil com a intenção de morar aqui é fazer isso da maneira legal, senão você vai acabar criando uma onda de coisas que vão tornar essa mudança muito complicada e até impossível. No que diz respeito a vistos, o governo brasileiro trabalha com o princípio da reciprocidade. Brasileiros não precisam de um visto de viagem para o Reino Unido, eles podem ficar por lá até 90 sem ter que se registrar pra visto nenhum, então é isso que os britânicos também podem fazer no Brasil. Nós não precisamos de visto nenhum se viermos por até 90 dias.
Há apenas três opções de como vir morar no Brasil: casar com uma cidadã brasileira (e mesmo assim tem um monte de requerimento, assim como no Reino Unido); encontrar um emprego que te ofereça um visto de trabalho ou, se você tiver dinheiro suficiente, pode investir em algum negócio e daí o Brasil pode te dar o visto permanente.
A opção que eu estou buscando é tentar encontrar um emprego que me ofereça visto de trabalho e o primeiro passo que eu dei foi arranjar um visto de estudante, que me permite ficar no país por um ano, com permissão de estender a permanência por até dois anos.
O jeito mais fácil de fazer isso é estudando português numa universidade federal. Eu vou estudar na UFBA (Universidade Federal da Bahia). Não tenho certeza se todas as universidades federais têm esse curso, mas sei com certeza que a UFBA não é a única a oferecer essa opção.
No texto original em inglês, eu explico como conseguir um visto para estudar no Brasil. Como quem lê em português geralmente é brasileiro, vou terminar este texto em português aqui. Se você quiser explicar pra algum amigo ou conhecido como é possível conseguir este mesmo visto, envie esse link para ele e diga que a explicação aparece apenas em inglês. Espero ter ajudado!