Anyone Want to Move to Brazil???

[Brazilophile]

I am trying to find a fuller story about this.  Brazil wants to increase its immigration rate, particularly of skilled workers.  The government believes that to sustain its recent economic growth, Brazil needs more skilled and educated workers but can't produce the number needed fast enough through its educational system.   So if anyone wants to become an ex-pat in Brazil and continue one's career there, the government is opening the doors.

They want 3 - 6 MILLION new immigrants over the next several years.

[benjio]

I am trying to find a fuller story about this.  Brazil wants to increase its immigration rate, particularly of skilled workers.  The government believes that to sustain its recent economic growth, Brazil needs more skilled and educated workers but can't produce the number needed fast enough through its educational system.   So if anyone wants to become an ex-pat in Brazil and continue one's career there, the government is opening the doors.

They want 3 - 6 MILLION new immigrants over the next several years.

Mmmmm....funny. With as much grief as they gave me about getting my 2 Year work visa you'd think they didn't want me anywhere near the place. From what seasoned expats have told me when you renew for your five year extension it's much easier. A word of advice to anyone exploring this option though, be patient. It is the usual combination of a ton of red tape and unpredictable timetables that any Latin American Bureaucracy is synonymous with. I miss Houston but I'm enjoying myself so far. 

[htown]

Chinese and indians.

[TheGreatAdventurer]

YES.  More than anything.  That's the goal, the plan, the dream.

It'll happen one way or another but if it can happen with less legal red tape for immigration, all the better.  I do have skills that are in demand.

Please keep me posted.

[benjio]

YES.  More than anything.  That's the goal, the plan, the dream.

It'll happen one way or another but if it can happen with less legal red tape for immigration, all the better.  I do have skills that are in demand.

Please keep me posted.

Electrical and Mechanical Engineers can pretty much name their price here. So can experienced architechs. If you are fluent in Portuguese you can demand at least 10% more than any number they initially offer you. The highest paid expats I meet are offshore rig safety and inspection guys. Some are easily breaking the $200K a year mark. The more certificates you have, the better. Brazilian Companies and Brazilian Immigration for that matter respect degrees and certifications a lot more than experience. Ruffnecks aren't doing too bad here either. Those that are willing to sit on a rig for extended periods of time are handsomely rewarded. No better paying ruffneck gig on Earth than the North Sea if you're tough enough though. I'm actually towards the bottom of the expat pay grade scale being an IT guy because I don't get all the hazard pay and extra incentives as the offshore guys. I still can't complain though. I'm making twice what I did in the states and the company pays for everything but booze. I'm just sitting here letting it all stack up. I'm also renting my house in the states as a little bonus to myself.  To be perfectly honest all this started when I met my ex at Jamie's. She never learned English so I became a fluent Spanish Speaker. That landed me a job supporting our Colombian Land Based Operations and the position eventually evolved to cover all of Latin America. One could easily see why I have no regrets in life. I loved her and was sad when it didn't work out but I've learned everything happens for a reason, and it eventually all falls right back in place. You just gotta keep on truckin'....
 
It's really a shame. A country with so many poor people would rather invest in foreigners that already know how to do the work instead of educating the people that are struggling and eventually improving upon their quality of life for generations to come. There is oil to be pulled out of the ground though, and it can't be done fast enough. Rich Brazilians that are profiting from the booming petroleum industry here couldn't care less about giving a poor Brazilian an opportunity. They want to count as much money as possible as fast as possible.

[TheGreatAdventurer]

Good input, thanks benjio.  Appreciate the sentiments about Brazilians also, I suppose guys like us need to do what we can to help bring everyone up around us...  it WILL become the society we call home, after all! 

By the time I go I should be fairly advanced level in both Portuguese and Spanish but won't become fluent until I am immersed for a bit, I'm sure.  I'm an IT guy with quite a bit of experience in desktop and network support and more recently high-volume application support for a company thousands of users large... it's a program similar to SAP but developed in-house for the specific industry, so always dealing with new builds and bugs, etc... wonder how marketable I'd be in-country.  Have an industry cert too but if needs be I'll teach English to get my foot in the Brazilian doorway until I can move more into what I want to do long term.

[A_Thomas]

 Yeah, one of the main reasons I wanna go and highly likely I will go.


 Actually, I have a few ideas for businesses. Yes Engineers and other high skilled labor are desired by many countries including Europe because of the aging population. They don't seem to target Americans but I think I know why.

 Its because of our typically jingoistic behavior. We're just only starting to admit we're not #1 in many things and number 1 in many dubious things. Because of this, Europeans who could easily target Americans to become expats, don't.


 Brazilians could target Americans too, but I belong the jingoistic behavior, usually unwilling to learn another language. I recently saw a post on a travel blog about how an American woman was in a Paris hotel in France and screamed "Does anybody speak English in this place???"


 I am willing to learn at least Spanish because tons of people speak it, where Portuguese is only spoken in a few places. But if learning it will widen my dating pool, I will do it.


 No more working for people though, I will find something that will make money down thur...


 

[TheGreatAdventurer]

Holy crap... was doing my daily listening of Band News in Rio and they started talking about this!  Understood most of it too....  Seven million people within the next 2 years for technical positions, other countries, etc etc.  SEVEN MILLION!  Was cool to be able to apply my Porto haha. 

I'll be ready at the earliest in early 2014, just have to finish paying off my credit cards and save up at least a few grand as a nestegg... depending on what I might be able to find and when, how long I'd be unemployed once I get in-country, etc.

[bcc_1_2]

Interesting... I think the problem for a lot of professionals here is that we have connections here and not down there. I'd be all for bidding on some green projects and bringing down the talent if the money is right.

[benjio]

Holy crap... was doing my daily listening of Band News in Rio and they started talking about this!  Understood most of it too....  Seven million people within the next 2 years for technical positions, other countries, etc etc.  SEVEN MILLION!  Was cool to be able to apply my Porto haha. 

I'll be ready at the earliest in early 2014, just have to finish paying off my credit cards and save up at least a few grand as a nestegg... depending on what I might be able to find and when, how long I'd be unemployed once I get in-country, etc.

GA,
 
If I were you I'd keep learning Portuguese and start applying with U.S. Outfits when you're ready. You can always finagle that into an independent thing after you get yourself established. Many companies are offering one year contracts with incentives, and most are willing to pay for you to move and most of your living expenses.

[V_Man]

I was interested in moving to Brazil for a few years. However
1. I don't have any Portuguese
2. I don't think I would earn enough even in Brazil to pay my Australian mortgage
3[size=78%]. I read that business in Brazil is all about your connections and thus very difficult for a foreigner plus [/size]
4 apparently the red tape to have your own business makes that option extremely unlikely.


If a big company offered me a job with an expat package then I'd take it, if my wife agreed.