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find a job in tourism and get a visa in Brasil

Last activity 10 May 2015 by James

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Didilee

Hello!

I'm thinking about looking for a job in tourism in Brasil. I have heard that it is hard to get a working visa, but I would like to know if anyone has experienced arriving with nothing and finding a job and getting the work permit.
I speak Spanish, English, Japanese and French (I need to work on my Portuguese) and I have experience in tourism, event planning and Purchasing.
Do you think it is possible? Any advice?

Thanks a lot!

James

While you are permitted to look for a job when in Brazil as a tourist, you are not permitted to work or study. You can apply for a VITEM-V Work Visa through the Ministry of Labor here in Brazil if you do find work, but you would still have to return home in order to receive the visa at the Consulado-Geral do Brasil in person.

Cheers,
James   Expat-blog Experts Team

Didilee

Thanks James for that information!!!

James

Regarding actually finding a job here, it's going to be a long uphill battle for you for a number of reasons.

First, Brazilian immigrations regulations require that all employers prove that they have been unable to fill any job vacancy with a qualified Brazilian, before they can hire a foreign national to fill the vacancy. Depending on exactly what type of work in the tourism industry you're actually looking for, especially in entry level positions, that's going to be almost impossible to overcome. Only if you have some special skills or qualifications like being a Master Chef at a 5 star hotel, etc., are you going to be able to break into tourism. All the low end jobs go directly to Brazilian citizens.

Second, while your other language may help you to a slight degree Brazil is almost strictly a Portuguese language only nation when it comes to the workplace. English is not widely spoken in this country, not even in major multinational companies. Your Spanish will help you much more than English ever would, but still not a heck of a lot. Japanese and French, well you can pretty much forget them for being much of an advantage to you here. In the workplace without an extremely good command of Portuguese you're really behind the Eight Ball.

It is not at all likely that any employer is going to offer assistance in terms of helping you with the VITEM-V Work Visa process. Generally speaking they'd likely only do that for the really high-end positions they're trying to fill. For any entry and mid-level positions they usually seek people that already have permanency or a VITEM-V.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that's just the way things are in this country.

Cheers,
James    Expat-blog Experts Team

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