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Permanent

residence visas

for foreign

investors HOW TO ESTABLISH

become individual autonomous investors in Brazil MARRIAGE TO OR CIVIL A BUSINESS IN
Only holders of permanent residence visas can
or be appointed administrators, managers or offi- UNION WITH A BRAZILIAN
cers of local companies.
Permanent residence visas allow the bearer
to remain in Brazil indefinitely, conditional upon NATIONAL (FAMILY
compliance with Brazilian laws and meeting the BRAZIL
conditions attached to receiving the permanent REUNION)
residence visa.
There are three types of permanent resi- Non-Brazilian nationals married to or in a
dence visa: common law marriage with a Brazilian citizen
(including same-sex couples) are eligible to apply
for permanent residency in Brazil, provided they
INVESTOR VISAS intend to move to and live in Brazil. Applications
for permanent residency based on family reunion
Investors who plan to invest at least $75,000 in should be made to the Brazilian Consulate in the
country in which you live. You will need to have
any productive investment in Brazil are eligible to your marriage or civil union certificate translated
apply for an investor visa (Visto de Investidor Pes- into Portuguese by a sworn translator and have
soa Fisica). In some cases, the National Monetary this notarized by the Brazilian Consulate.
Council may reduce the minimum capital invest-
ment provided the foreign investor commits to
Work visas lish companies in Brazil rather than setting up
creating 10 new jobs within a 5-year period. Tax experts advise foreign investors to estab-
PARTNERS, MANAGERS AND branches, as in the latter case non-residents must
file an application to the Ministry of Develop-
ment, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC) to ob-
ADMINISTRATORS OF A Non-Brazilian nationals who wish to take up em- tain authorization to operate in the country. This
explains why very few branches of foreign entities
ployment in Brazil should apply for a work visa.
BRAZILIAN COMPANY In this case the Brazil-based company that seeks are operating in Brazil and are most commonly
used by foreign banks and airline companies.
to hire the individual concerned should apply for
a work visa to the Ministry of Labor and Employ- We will therefore focus on the procedure for
Permanent visas may be issued to foreign ment. Work visas are valid for up to two years, re- opening a subsidiary, which can be a Single Hold-
nationals designated by a Brazilian company newable for a further two years upon request and er Limited Liability Company (Empresa Individual
as a partner, administrator or manager when may be converted into a permanent visa. de Responsabilidade Limitada - EIRELI), a Limited
the appointment depends on receiving a Answers to frequently asked questions on Liability Company (Limitada – Ltda.) or a Corpora-
permanent visa. Such requests should be made applying for a Brazilian visa can be found here: tion (Sociedade por Acoes - S. A.). The latter two
by the Brazilian company seeking to make the
appointment, directly to the Ministry of Labor http://sistemas.mre.gov.br/kitweb/datafiles/ are the most common types of company in Brazil.
in Brazil . Miami/en-us/file/FAQ%20Visas.pdf Partnerships and joint ventures between for-
21
eign firms and Brazilian companies can take the
form of a corporate entity – either a Ltda. or an S.A.

21 http://portal.mte.gov.br/trab_estrang_ing/
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