Brazil simplifies visas to attract researchers from other countries

The National Immigration Council has passed several resolutions that will reduce the stumbling blocks for granting work visas and should help attract researchers, professors and foreign students, say specialists.

By José Tadeu Arantes

Agência FAPESP – The ongoing process of cultural exchange and internationalization of research underway in Brazil gained a major advantage with the simplification of the work visa application process for foreigners. Researchers, university professors and graduate students will have to face fewer bureaucratic stumbling blocks to work in Brazil.

Published in the Diário Oficial da União (Brazil’s Federal Register) on May 17, the resolution of the National Immigration Council (CNIg), an organization linked to the Ministry of Labor and Employment, adopted three simplifying measures: it reduced the number of documents required for visas, authorized the submission of documents via the Internet, and allowed visa requests to be analyzed before the presentation of legal translations.

According to communiqués released by the Labor and Employment Minister, Manoel Dias, the new rules will allow a “reduction in the current processing time for work visas by two thirds.” Furthermore, the government created an electronic register of companies and individuals who hire foreigners, and registered entities will no longer have to re-submit application information for each new request.

Another CNIg resolution, published on the same data, grants temporary visas of up to 90 days for graduate students registered abroad who come to work in Brazil during breaks at their institutions of origin.

The two initiatives were well received by members of the Universidade de São Paulo (USP) community. According to Ambassador Osmar Chohfi, vice-president of the International Council of the USP International Program, the CNIg resolutions “represent a major step toward easing the exchange [program] and simplifying administrative measures to attract researchers and foreign professors.”

“In the same manner, they [the resolutions] represent an additional attraction for foreign college and graduate students to develop interest in coming to Brazil for specific research activities or to participate in short- and medium-term events,” he affirmed.

According to the Ambassador, “These measures contribute to the more effective implementation of existing agreements in educational and cultural areas, within formal partnerships both between countries and between universities and research institutions.”

The USP International Program was created by the USP Dean’s Office in March this year to support the internationalization process that had been conducted by the executive vice-chancellor’s office of International Relations and afforded the signature of approximately 600 partnerships.

The creation of the program comes at a time when USP is consolidating its position as one of the world’s leading universities. Confirming the positive evaluations of recent years, USP was named among the 50 best universities in five areas of study in the 2013 QS World Ranking of Universities by Subject.

“International exchange and the internationalization of research are worldwide trends and imperative for the current Brazilian moment,” observed Celso Lafer, president of FAPESP, who is also the president of the USP International Program’s International Council.

Lafer noted that FAPESP, in particular, has been actively working in this area. In addition to strengthening previous initiatives that focused on this strategic area, such as the Young Investigators in Emerging Centers and Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers (CEPID), the newest program, São Paulo Excellence Chairs (SPEC), which seeks to establish collaboration among institutions in São Paulo State and high level researchers living abroad, falls squarely within this directive.

The internationalization process is a two-way street, as Ambassador Chohfi emphasized in relation to the USP International Program: “We have a lot to gain, but we cannot forget that we also have a lot to offer in the sectors where we stand out”.

“Reciprocity is fundamental, and our exchanges should seek cooperation with both the developed world and emerging countries. Latin America and Africa are, for example, regions with which we can cooperate very significantly,” commented Chohfi.