Getting a Visa to Teach/Work :Come in on a Tourist Visa or Work Visa?

You cannot legally work on a Tourist Visa.

Jim

Okay, but if I come in on a tourist visa, do a lot of schools pay illegally? I was in Asia for 11 years teaching and traveling so I kind of know about the system but Brazil is different. If I come in on a tourist visa I heard that after the 90 days is up, well 30 days before the 90 days is up you can go to a police station to get your tourist visa extended. But can people live in Brazil on a tourist visa for many years and work illegally?

You can only stay in Brazil on a tourist visa for upto 180 which includes the extension of 1 90 days. After that 180 days, you must leave or stay here illegally.

Okay, I found out that information. But in the period of the 90 days or 180 days of being in Brazil on a tourist visa, if I find a school or university that will hire me, could I fly out to a neighbouring country like Colombia and get the work visa processed so to speak? Thank you ahead of time for responding to this. It's very helpful. I've done a lot of research. I also lived in Asia teaching and traveling for 12 years so I have experience that way getting overseas. But talking to people who are living there and living it is what matters.

You cannot do what you want to do legally. There is not a University or Language school that will hire you without the proper credentials.

You will need to get permanency for that.

Going to another South American Country and coming back will get you no more time. Once you use up your alloted Tourist Visa you have to stay out.

Jim

Okay, so basically, what is the best way to teach in Brazil?  There seem to be other teachers teaching and living there for many years.  I have an education degree and presently teach at a University here in Canada now.  Hope what I am asking makes sense.  I really want to live and work in Brazil.

I might not be of much help, but I will repeat an advice I got whenever I asked about job prospects in Brazil: You need to come and scope out the situation in person -- figuring it out remotely is close to impossible.

Unless you get a work visa permanent visa  you cannot work legally in Brazil.

Jim

Thanks for saying that. It really does help. My only worry is I am moving there with myself and my dog. I did Asia for 12 years teaching and traveling. So this isn't new to me so to speak. I still worry that if I come there to live on a tourist visa, how do I get work? Solid work that's legal? Do many people just work there illegally for many years at one time? Hope I'm not repeating myself.

You need to come here to explore your possibilities before moving here. You will not be able to bring your dog on a tourist visa.  Sorry but I do not advise anyone to stay illegally. If you come on a tourist visa you should talk to a University to see if they wil hire you and then you can possible get a work visa.

Jim

Hi Ryeguy

Greetings of the day!

Please note that the things mentioned above are pretty much accurate.  In simpler terms basically we all respect the fact that you have lived and worked in Asia for over 12 years, however what we are trying to explain is that the way things work in Brazil might not be the same as what you have experienced in the Asia. 

As far as work visas and all are concerned they take a bit more time to be processed unless the company/organization that is arranging your visa is thoroughly well versed in the process. 

After you being accepted by an organization the first step they will have to take is to goto the Ministry of Labour and initiate the application for you. 

Once that is approved then that approval will be sent to your country of origin or residence, where you will have to appear at the Embassy of Brazil for a basic interview, based on which your visa will be stamped onto your passport.

Please keep in mind that there is no surity of how much time it might take for the employment application to be approved or the number of weeks it might take for your visa to be approved from the Embassy. 

As far as bringing your pets is concerned please note that yes it is possible however the process and documentation could be a bit complicated and everything will need to be attested by the Brazilian embassy prior to the pet being allowed to fly out, citing the fact that you are unsure of how things might turn out or how much time it might take for the documents to be processed I would advise that it is better for your dog to stay with someone for the time being while you are looking for a job since that will include a lot of traveling for you, afterwards once you have your documents in order it will be put you and your dog in a comfy position to be in Brazil.

I wish you the best of luck on your decision and please remember that the views being expressed are based on our personal experiences, there is nothing set in stone that says this is the way things will go.

Wishing you the best of luck

Regards

Thank you so much for this. You are right, and I do understand. Asia is not Brazil. I have the experience of living and teaching overseas but now starting at a new spot. My little dog is a rescue from Taipei, Taiwan. I'm trying to find a way to come with her as I don't want to fly all the way back to Canada to get her. If posdible. I'm looking into a study Visa where I would learn Portuguese for the year. And hopefully, work on the side a ittle bit. I've read a few differing things about minimum hours you need to learn Portuguese per week and so on. Do you know any links or any information in this area? And thank you ahead of time.

Language schools in brazil really pay peanuts

International Language schools? Or are you talking basic language schools? After working in Taipei, Taiwan and other cities in Asia I could see that. Are you in Brazil now or looking to move to Brazil?

I'm in Brazil , been here for two years, teaching English at schools most of that time, which I am now about to get out of thank god
I have worked at 4 schools from the worst to the best.
....not sure what you mean by international language schools.
Basically Brazil has these Franchise Language schools....Generally they don't pay more than R$1500- R$2000 a month .....to give you some idea a box of corn flakes costs R$25. It's really nothing.

The best school is called Cultura Inglesa, there you can make about R$4500 a month
with benefits, but they are super demanding,the quality standard is very high, you are constantly monitored and assessed for retention rates etc, most teachers there find it quite stressful , but there's no way they will ever hire you without a residence  visa.

In SP capital you may find schools paying R$22- 25 per hour....where I live in a smaller city outside the average is R$19 per hour

Also Brazil is in crisis now and the Language schools are really starting to feel the impact right now.

It's not difficult to get work at a school if you have a residence visa and can teach
but without a visa it may be tricky as the schools are getting a lot stricter.

Anyhow I would not aspire to work at a language school in Brazil , it's a crappy life...
I gave my resignation notice a few weeks ago and finish working in early July and it can't come fast enough.

My wife is doing well teaching private English classes but it's taken her about 2 years to build up to it.

Apparently it was very different here before the crisis, people had more students than they knew what to do with, all paying top dollar, but I arrived here in full crisis mode.

Also it's really difficult to teach English at these schools if you don't speak Portuguese because the students don't respect you, teenagers will laugh and make fun of you, your accent, how you say there names etc and adults will be very wary of you and uncomfortable.
In my city the market is all teenagers.....it's definaetly toughened me up, if nothing else

Hello, thank you for this. Actually a certified teacher in Canada. I did teach in Asia for many years. But I know Asia is not Brazil. I have a degree in teaching. I'm looking to work at not language school so to speak but international schools. I did not know that it was in such a crisis. I've been getting mixed messages from many different people on this site so I'm just trying to figure things out. I'm also trying to see if I should come on a study Visa or get a job with an International School and come on a work visa. I do have a rescue Chihuahua that I want to bring with me as I cannot leave her. I have heard and read that on a tourist visa you cannot bring an animal with you. I guess I'm a little disheartened now because I really do want to live in Brazil. Thank you again for your information. Since you resigned, what are you going to do for work?

ryeguy29

What steven is telling you is spot on as well as everyone else. You cannot bring your Dog on a tourist visa. You need to take it a step at a time.  The ecomy here is not good.  Unless you get a Pemanent Visa or a work visa it`s not going to be easy to make a living here.

Jim

From my experiences it is very rare for a company of any size to do more than help a prospective employee (or even one they've already hired) with more than simply filling out the paperwork for a work visa. You'll have to pay all the fees yourself and they are quite expensive.

There are international schools here, they do pay a bit better and it seems you have the qualifications, but you'll never work at one without a visa.
It's quite rare to get a working visa in Brazil but not impossible....I did meet one Argentinian English teacher who got a working visa at Cultura Inglesa.

There is a chain of expensive Canadian private schools here called "Maple Bear"
I guess you could try them.

But yeah things are really bad in Brazil at the moment, we came here with family support and my wife been Brazilian and it still seemed near impossible to get Established the first 6 months.  The inflation is really bad and everything is so expensive.
I don't know how you would make it coming here as a foreigner with no working visa and little connections or support unless you had a big pile of cash to get you through, in which case you'd be wasting your time teaching English, in my opinion.

Also Brazil is not very traveller friendly, I've found that in  unlike Asia, things are expensive complicated and difficult. Something as similar as getting your laundry done, which in Thailand was so quick , cheap and simple is an incredibly expensive and hard to find service here.
I have friends who had much better luck in Chile and the other South American countries, for some reason it is easier than Brazil......I have my theories on why this is but thats another post.

That is exactly that Canada person  should do .
the school can invite him  legally.
Or He can sign up to study, and pay for that school here in brazil.
Then He can stay for the time of his studying.
( the school need to do the paperwork . I think .

I came here ona tourist visa, managed to find a job in a school and got a company in S.P to help me get a work visa. Yes it was expensive and yes I did have to stay a bit over my 90 day limit. ( I paid my fine). I  then went to Argentina to pick up my work visa and returned without any problems or difficulties. Pay is low in most schools but for me that was not an issue,  just wanted to stay longer and enjoy Brazil.

Hi, thank you for this post.  So you were in Sao Paulo, on a tourist visa, and even though it was expensive you were able to fly out of Brazil(to Argentina) and come back with a work visa?  This is very interesting as everyone else has told me it is impossible to be in Brazil on a Tourist visa and then get work/work visa.  Can I ask what kind of company you work for?

Barneyitis wrote:

I came here ona tourist visa, managed to find a job in a school and got a company in S.P to help me get a work visa. Yes it was expensive and yes I did have to stay a bit over my 90 day limit. (.

You got lucky. Every school I went to in SP told me I as on my own.

Well it was up to me to pay for everything and sort out all the documents but it actually wasn't that hard.

But apparently you got a school to sign the requisite documents to request the working visa. That's rare.

Ah yes indeed. Didn't know that part was rare!!!

its easy. im working on this.. message me ****(Elias)

Hello, very sorry about that. I apologize.

Rye guy

I don't think anyone was implying it was impossible.  You were told it was difficult. Of course if you get someone to hire and sponsor it is possible. 

Good Luck
Jim

Thanks so much and that is good to know.  I want to be legal, so I am doing a lot of searching and connecting through LinkedIn and other communications to make it work.  It's nice to have this forum and again, I apologize ahead of time if I said something wrong to have my message blocked.

Hi! I was wondering how much the whole process cost you to get your working visa to teach English?

If you don't mind me asking, I was wondering how much they paid you at your job? and if it was a private English school that hired you?

Hope to get your answers on this!

Hello! Your answer was super helpful for me, thank you very much. A  colleague of mine is thinking about opening an English language school in Brazil so this information will really help how he will think this idea through. I was wondering how many hours you worked a week for the salaries you mentioned the schools paid?

Did the schools you work at sponsor your work visa and do you know why it is difficult for private English schools to sponsor employees? Were most teachers not native English speakers then?

Lastly, do you know how much the students paid for their classes at the 4 companies you worked at?

Would be great to get this bit of information, and if anyone wants to chime in, it would be very much appreciated!

First of all let's post the correct wages for language schools in SP. You can expect to make R40-R100 not R22. If you are making R22 you are being taken advantage of and need to get another school immediately. If you teach privately you can set your own rates and I have heard others are making higher. Ocassionally you will find a school willing to offer a work visa which I was able to find which is not a English School( elementary type school).

I think it's about doing your homework. You can make a living here as an English Teacher. Yes Frosted Flakes are R25 a box but you just don't buy them... lol. You eat like a Brazilian and your money goes much further.

Good luck and I am sure you'll find what you are looking for.

R$40 per hour in SP ok some of the top schools do pay that, but I've spoken to literally about a hundred   teachers in SP over the last few years and nobody makes R$100 an hour, I've never heard of a Private Brazilian Language school paying even R$50, maybe to their longer term employees, so I don't know what Brazil you lived in Bill

Which is why it's best to answer post you have direct knowledge of from your own experience. I currently make R60 an hour. So to tell prospective people they will make R19 is patently false. I have never seen that. Google Native English Teaching Jobs in São Paulo and do your research if you want to provide this information.

I am sorry to direct it at you. Before I came I got information from this board that scared the crap out of me because people didn't know what they were taking about. Thankfully I contacted some schools who gave me information about what they paid.

Teaching is a viable way to live for many in São Paulo. You do not need to work 90 hours a week to make a decent living. Will you be rich in U.S.A. standards? Certainly not. However, you can be comfortable and live in a foreign country.

Ultimately you need to make the decision which is right for you. Teaching can give you the income to live and do the things you want. Sorry if you don't like my answer but take a look sometime on Craig's list São Paulo for teaching jobs they do list usually what they will pay. Good luck and happy teaching.

I made R$22 an hour Bill. Aim High School of English in Pinheiros. United Institute of English in Lapa (but with other locations) paid me R$1500 a month and I worked close to 50 hours a week.

Bill, maybe we should say that rarely you will make over R$22 an hour as a teacher. You are the exception and the majority will not land a job like that at a school. I've see places where I live that pay R$12 an hour and only when you actually teach.

Thanks guys ......R$19 per hour is not for São Paulo Capital, but in other cities in the São Paulo state that  and below is definitely the standard.... I'm talking about "PRIVATE LANGUAGE SCHOOL FRANCHISES" (I take it you know what that is) , not schools as in elementary and high schools etc which obviously pay more......What is this own experience nonsense you keep talking about, I've taught English throughout the state over two years, including immersions, private classes, online platforms and at 4 of the biggest language franchises