Technical Visa Rules Relaxed

The situation

The Ministry of Labor has announced several enhancements to the Short-Term Technical Visa, allowing foreign nationals performing short-term technical work more flexibility during their stay.

A closer look

• Maximum validity. The Short-Term Technical Visa is now valid for 180 cumulative days in one year, counted from the foreign national’s first arrival date in Brazil. Previously, the Short-Term Technical Visa was issued for 180 consecutive days, and time spent outside of Brazil counted toward the visa’s total validity.
  • Impact. Time spent outside of Brazil will no longer count toward the visa validity period, which should allow foreign nationals more flexibility to travel outside of Brazil under the Technical Visa.  

• Providing technical assistance for multiple companies. Foreign nationals can now travel to Brazil to provide technical assistance to multiple companies by filing individual Short-Term Technical Visa applications under each company’s sponsorship. The combined validity will still be a total of 180 cumulative days in one year counted from the day of first entry.
  • Impact. Foreign nationals can now provide technical assistance to multiple companies. Requesting the visas for the validity of each project simplifies the validity tracking for the foreign national, and may relieve some employer costs since the company is responsible for the foreign national during the stay.

Background

The Short-Term Technical Visa allows foreign nationals to provide technical assistance to a company in Brazil for a period up to 180 cumulative days, as long as no transfer of knowledge or training of local personnel is involved.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected]. Fragomen in Brazil is Fragomen Brasil Serviços de Imigração Ltda., operating exclusively as an immigration consultancy and not as a law firm in Brazil.