AILA GMS Spotlight Interview Series

1. How is the practice of immigration regulated in your country? Do you have immigration specific law(s)?

   Immigration laws in Brazil were recently changed and as of November 21, 2017 are governed by Law No. 13,445/17, regulated by Decree No. 9,199/2017. Additional norms will be issued by different Ministries (Justice, Foreign Relations and Labor), as needed.

   The National Council of Immigration issued 12 new Normative Resolutions regulating the temporary visas and authorization of residence to work on December 8, 2017 and more are expected in the coming weeks.

2. Does your jurisdiction have any quotas or other general requirements, such as registrations of a company, to be able to send employees?

   Article 354 of the Brazilian Labor Code ("CLT") promulgated in 1943 requires at least 2/3 of the employees must be Brazilian (also known as the "Law of 2/3"). The Brazilian Federal Constitution promulgated in 1988 guarantees no discrimination between Brazilians and foreigners resident in Brazil.

   For purposes of the Law of 2/3, foreign nationals who have been living in Brazil for 10 years or more and are married to a Brazilian citizen or have a Brazilian child, Portuguese citizens irrespective of any other individual situation, and nationals of the MERCOSUL countries who live in Brazil with a residency granted under the MERCOSUL Agreement, are counted as Brazilians.

   When hiring foreign nationals, each company must respect the "Law of 2/3", i.e.:

   (i) the total sum of the salaries earned by the Brazilian workers must correspond to at least double the total sum of the salaries received by the foreign workers; and

   (ii) there must be at least two (2) Brazilian workers for every foreigner hired.

   Currently, there is no registration requirement for a company to hire any foreigners.

3. Please describe the basic immigration process for a business wanting to send an employee on an intracompany transfer.

   1. How does your jurisdiction define an intra-company transfer?

      There is no specific definition of an intra-company transfer. All transferred employees are subject to the local labor legislation depending on the type of visa which decides whether or not a local employment agreement will be required.

   2. Are there any pre-requisites?

      Normative Resolutions 1 and 2, of December 8, 2017 define the pre-requisites for visas.

      Foreign nationals applying for a temporary visa or a residence permit to work under an employment contract must prove that they have education...