Hi everyone!
My name is Jenna, I'm about to graduate from college in the United States with a degree in International Relations and Spanish. My long-term boyfriend is Brazilian, he is from a small city in Rio Grande do Sul, near Passo Fundo and Erechim. He is a student at the same university as me and he is also graduating soon. I am fluent in English (obviously) and Spanish, and my Portuguese is conversational, though I expect to pick it up quickly I've traveled abroad some before to Ecuador and Colombia, but I have never been to Brazil.
We are trying to make plans to spend some time in Brazil this year or next after we graduate. His plan was to leave the US in December of 2013, and stay in Brazil until August of 2014, then we would return to the US to work/attend graduate school. However, after looking into this, I've realized that if I got a tourist visa, I would not be able to stay that entire time, since it exceeds the 180 day limit.
I am trying to figure out what my options are and how to make this work the best possible. I would love to teach English, I will be getting my TEFL certification soon, and/or take formal Portuguese classes to really become fluent, since I hope to be able to work professionally in Brazil someday. However, it doesn't seem easy to obtain a work visa to teach English, and I am not sure about the possibility of getting a student visa. I imagine I would need to be pre-enrolled in a program and I am not sure how easy it would be to find one that coincides with our schedule.
Potentially, if I were somehow to obtain a work visa, I could begin working in Brazil as early as June or July of 2013, though I would be on my own for the first few months without any support or a place to stay. I also know that where I would be staying with my boyfriend, in RS, there are not likely to be as many jobs for someone like me as there would be in the cities. I am also not opposed to continuing as a student, though I would prefer to be earning at least some income and spend as little as possible.
Does anyone have any insight or ideas that I could look into to make this happen? Is it worth trying to pursue a work-visa or am I stuck with the 180 day limit?
Thank you 
Hoping to spend several months in Brazil, how can I make it happen?
Hi JennaLynn,
On behalf of the entire Expat-blog Team welcome on board.
As you point out a tourist visa, with an extension of your initial stay, will only allow you to remain in Brazil for 180 days in any "rolling" one year period. The only practical way for you to stay longer would be to enroll in some kind of course that would allow you to apply for a student visa. The educational institution would have to confirm your enrollment and course information and then the visa will then be issued for the duration of the course.
Hope this helps you a bit.
Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team
Would I be able to enter Brazil on a tourist visa, and once there, enroll in a course and apply for a student visa without leaving the country?
Marry you boyfriend...otherwise will be hard to stay longer...
Hi JennaLynn,
I'm not familiar with the process of converting a tourist visa into another kind of visa from within Brazil, but it should be possible. You will need to meet all the same requirements as you would if you were applying from abroad.
Extra paperwork, lots more bureaucracy and headaches. If your boyfriend is already here in Brazil it would probably be much easier for him to look around for a course that would interest you, with a long enough program and get you enrolled. Then you could apply just for the student visa and save lots of time, headaches and extra expenses.
Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team
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