Visa

Applying for the Brazilian Student Visa and CPF

In order to study in Brazil, you must be granted a student visa from within your home country, or the US (if different). The first step is registering you at your chosen university in Brazil, which you’ve done or will soon do.

Next, the university issues your contrato de estudios. This takes time. Only upon receipt of this very official looking paper can you begin to apply for your student visa for Brazil. The letter will be available on your student portal—the same place where you uploaded documents at the Brazilian university (not the Middlebury portal where you applied to go to Brazil). You should print this to a pdf and upload it to the application site. Also take a hard copy with you to Brazil.

In the meantime, you should look at your consulate’s website and make sure that you understand all of their requirements and begin gathering documentation. You may not apply at any consulate you wish, but only at one whose jurisdiction covers either your home or your school address. Check here to see which one(s) applies: https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/consulado-washington/jurisdicao

Here are the links to your consulates’ requirements. Follow the directions for “Vitem IV Students or Interns”:

Atlanta: www.portalconsular.mre.gov.br
Boston: https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/consulado-boston/visa | Study visa requirements here
Chicago: http://chicago.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/visas.xml | Study visa requirements here
Hartford: http://hartford.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/visas_-_general_requirements.xml 
Houston: http://houston.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/vitem_iv_%28student_and_intern%29.xml  
Los Angeles: http://losangeles.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/other_types_of_visa.xml
Miami: http://miami.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/visas_general_information.xml
New York: http://novayork.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/other_types_of_visa.xml#Temporary
Orlando: https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/vice-consulado-orlando
San Francisco: http://saofrancisco.itamaraty.gov.br
Washington DC: http://www.consbrasdc.org

**Ask your consulate if you can apply for your CPF at the same time you apply for your visa. If you can get this done before going to Brazil, you’ll have the number (it’s like a Brazilian social security number) that you’ll need for your bus pass, student card, dining hall pass, buying tickets on-line, and signing up for sports programs. 

Here are a few of the standard requirements (you’ll need the general as well as the study exchange requirements) and tips on procuring them:

  • Passport—take a moment to make sure that your passport is valid for at least six months after your intended return from Brazil and that it has at least two consecutive, blank visa pages (the ones that say “visa” at the top).  The passport also needs to be in good shape—it can’t look as though it’s been put through the washing machine, etc. You must send/take the consulate your original passport, as the visa is a fancy sticker that they’ll affix inside.         

  • Application: The Brazilian student visa application is on-line and you should only complete it after you’ve gathered your materials (because you need to upload them to this application site).
    -When asked for your parents’ names, include their full legal names as they appear on your birth certificate.
    -Under “Profession,” write “student” then this contact info.:
    Middlebury College
    356 College Street
    Middlebury, VT  05753
    Phone: 802.443.5745
    Email: nchance@middlebury.edu

    Under “Contact in Brazil” use your director’s information
    Director in Brazil: Sean McIntyre
    +55-21-99477-2010 
    smcintyre@middlebury.edu

    Address:
    Rua das Laranjeiras 210, Apto. 806
    Laranjeiras, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 22240-003

    YOU MUST TAKE A COPY OF THE VISA APPLICATION FORM ITSELF WITH YOU TO BRAZIL. This means you need to make a second copy of it for yourself and keep it with your travel documents. 

  • Passport-sized photo (jpeg to upload)
  • Proof within the consulate’s jurisdiction (student ID, utility bill, driver’s license—Chicago requires it be a year or more old, bank statement, etc.) If you live in Connecticut and go to school in Vermont, this means you can use your Middlebury student ID if applying in Boston, but should use your driver’s license if applying in New York—you’re showing proof that you reside within the consulate’s jurisdiction. Your mailing address for them to return it will need to be within this same consulate’s jurisdiction.

  • Evidence of income: either from a parent or from your home institution’s financial aid office.
    -If Parent: notarized letter from a parent stating they will support you in the amount of at least 2,000 reis/month that you’ll be there (and list the months you’ll be in Brazil in the letter) AND bank statements with this much money in them.
    Date
    To the consulate of Brazil in X:
    I, [full name], am the [mother/father/parent/legal guardian] of [student’s full name]. I will support my child in the amount of at least 2,000 reis/month from [entering month of study] to [ending month of study] [year]. In addition, I am financially responsible for any emergency that may arise. 

    Sign the letter before a notary public, who should notarize the document for you. 

    -If University: letter from the financial aid office listing your grant/scholarship amount for the semester/year you’ll be abroad on letterhead with an original signature—it can’t just be a copy of your aid award.

  • Itinerary—round trip flight
  • Proof of health insurance—provided by Middlebury
  • FBI Background check
    • First, make an appointment to get fingerprinted. In Middlebury, make an appointment on-line (very limited availability—do not wait to book an appointment) and pay the processing fee. You may also decide to get digital prints (if available in your area). This is a much faster solution, and only marginally (~$20) more expensive.
    • Next, complete your on-line request with the FBI.  You’ll submit your email, then receive an email back with a link that says “Click here to access your request” and a PIN that you’ll input. Then you’ll complete the on-line request (be sure to request the results are sent to you by email). After you pay, you get another email that is from the same email as before (Criminal Justice Information Services) with the subject line: Identity History Summary Request Confirmation. This email is a receipt that has your order number, the payment verification code, the preference (e.g. you indicated your fingerprints would be delivered by mail OR digitally—depending on your time frame), and instructions to mail your fingerprints here:
      • FBI CJIS Division
        ATTN: ELECTRONIC SUMMARY REQUEST
        1000 Custer Hollow Road
        Clarksburg, WV 26306
    • Next, go to the post office/UPS/FedEx and buy a prepaid mailing envelope, which you should address to the above, unless you went the digital route, in which case, you won’t physically mail your fingerprints.
    • Finally, take the following with you to your appointment to be fingerprinted:
      • Government-issued (passport or drivers’ license) photo ID
      • Email receipt from the on-line background check application
      • Prepaid trackable mailing envelope (UPS, FedEx or USPS all okay), addressed to the FBI at the address above.
  • Original birth certificate—the consulate will return it to you and you’ll take it to Brazil. You may need to have it translated in Brazil if you do not get the CPF before leaving the US.
  • Proof of enrollment in a Middlebury program—provided by Middlebury.
  • Proof of enrollment in the university—this will be issued once you have completed your university registration and you can access it on your university portal.
  • The hard copy of the visa application—you will not get it back, so make two copies—send one to the consulate and take one with you to Brazil. This is as important as the visa that will be affixed inside your passport. Please upload a copy of this visa application to your Middlebury portal.
  • USPS (from the post office only—not from Western Union, nor from banks) money order for the visa fee (currently $160 for US citizens, but it varies by nationality, so click that link)—go to the post office to get this when you’re going there anyway to mail your materials and/or to buy the return mail priority envelope required if the consulate will mail your passport back to you. You need to make it payable to “Consulate General of Brazil in [city, e.g. Boston]” and in the lower right put your name and an address within that consulate’s jurisdiction.
  • USPS mailing envelope (this is only if your consulate will mail the visa/passport back to you). Go to the post office and purchase a “priority mail envelope” and make sure they put a tracking number on it—it’s a sticker—the bar code on the envelope itself if not enough. This address MUST be within the consulate’s jurisdiction, so if you’re using Boston, you can have it sent to me: Your name c/o Nicole Chance; 356 College Street; Middlebury, VT 05753. Fold this return envelope and add it to the envelope that you’re putting all of your materials into (if sending by mail to the consulate for processing). Do not use FedEx or UPS unless instructed to do so by your consulate—they generally prefer regular mail because then they don’t have to make a phone call for pick up.

You do not need any requirements for “minors.”

If you need to list an address, use the international office address at your university:

Florianópolis (UFSC)
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
ESAI – UFSC
Campus Universitário
Florianópolis, SC
Brasil Prédio da FAPEU - 3º Andar
Caixa Postal 476
CEP 88040-900

Niterói (UFF)                                                              
Universidade Federal Fluminense                               
c/o Assessor/a para Assuntos Internacionais 
Rua Miguel de Fria, 9/70                               
andar, Icaria, Niteroi, RJ                                             
CEP 24220-000 BRASIL                                

Please upload a copy of your visa, the visa application, and your birth certificate to your portal.

Registering your visa in Brazil
Once you arrive in Brazil, you will have to register at the Federal Police during the first 30 days of your stay so you can get your Foreigner ID (“Registro Nacional de Estrangeiro” or “RNE”). If you fail to do so, you may face problems like not being allowed to return to Brazil in the future, or being asked to pay a penalty fee.

The Policia Federal stations are located in:

  • FLORIANÓPOLIS: Av. Governador Irineu Bornhausen 4744, Agronômica (Av. Beira Mar Norte)
  • NITERÓI: Praça Fonseca Ramos s/n, Centro (open from 10:00am to 4:00pm).

When you go to the Federal Police, you must remember to take the following documents:

  • Original passport
  • Photocopy of all pages of your passport that were used, written on, or stamped
  • Original visa application (this gets returned to you along with your passport/visa). Take application receipt and ALL papers given back to you at the consulate to Brazil with you. You will need the originals to register your visa upon arrival.
  • Copy of your birth certificate
  • Entrance registration (you will receive this document at the airport, upon arrival to Brazil)
  • Two recent color photos, 3cm x 4cm, white background
  • Two completed forms and payment receipts. The forms (codes 140082 and 140120) are at “GRU-FUNAPOL –Emissao do guia para pessoas e entidades estrangeiras” Once there, where it says “Unidade Arrecadadora”, you’ll have to choose the one that operates in your area: “MG (015-9) SUPERINTENDENCIA REGIONAL NO ESTADO DE MINAS GERAIS” for Belo Horizonte students; “RJ (056-6) DELEGACIA DE POLICIA FEDERAL EM NITERÓI” for Niterói students; or “SC (026-4) SUPERINTENDENCIA REGIONAL NO ESTADO DE SANTA CATARINA” for Florianopolis students. Then, on the field named “Codigo da Receita STN” you have to click on the magnifying glass icon and choose the code 140082 (“Registro de Estrangeiros / Restabelecimento de Registro”). Once you have completed the form, print it and repeat the steps choosing the code 140120 (“Carteira de Estrangeiro de Primeira Via”). Then you will have to take these printed forms to any bank, pay the fees, and take the receipts to the Policia Federal for the registration procedure.

Be aware that you could have to wait up to 90 days for your Foreigner ID to be ready, so please keep with you the Protocol RNE that will be given to you. Also, it would be advisable to ask the Federal Police, on the same day you apply for your ID, for the SINCRE Report (SINCRE = Sistema Nacional de Cadastramento e Registro de Estrangeiros) that includes your personal data. These two documents can replace a Foreigner ID while you are waiting for it.