The Brazilian student visa is the preferred option for foreigners who want to stay legally in Brazil for extended amounts of time. Student visas are typically issued for 6-12 months and can be renewed for as long as you are taking classes. If you’re looking for information about extending your Brazilian student visa, you can find that here.
Given the stability that this visa provides, it is commonly sought out by foreigners who want to stay in Brazil longer but don’t want to overstay their tourist visa, who aren’t quite ready to get married and aren’t willing or able to invest R$500,000 in order to get permanent residency.
The process for obtaining the visa is relatively straightforward but does require a number of steps. We’ve covered this process previously in this guide to the Brazilian student visa.
Of course, in order to actually apply for a Brazilian student visa you have to be enrolled as a student at a qualifying school in Brazil. While there are a lot of schools that offer Portuguese for foreigners classes in Brazil, not all of them are recognized by the MEC and are able to give you a student visa. The schools on the list below can all grant you a student visa.
Each of these schools has their own process and cost structure and you’ll need to contact them for more information. Give yourself plenty of time as they’re not always super responsive. Make sure you understand what is required to apply for the student visa by reading the previous articles about how to apply for one.
When contacting a school make sure you ask when their classes are, how many hours you have to attend to maintain your visa, how much the course is, if there are any additional costs for books or other materials, how far in advance you have to apply, and if a deposit is required to get your enrollment letter or if you have to pay for the full amount up front.
Rio de Janeiro
São Paulo
PUCSP – R$1.850,00 for 60 hour course.
FAAP –
Belo Horizonte
UFMG – I’ve written about their process here.
English Language Solutions offers a student visa with their Portuguese classes.
Florianópolis
Salvador
Porto Alegre
UFRGS – Instructions on how to request your matriculation letter from abroad here.
Any others I missed?
This list is by no means conclusive and could be improved. If you know of other schools in Brazil that offer a student visa please let us know by leaving a comment.
