I was browsing through my daily list of language websites I visit every day and, in one of them, I found a interesting post1 written by a Brazilian that had just arrived from Auckland, New Zealand. On the comments session of that post, I came across an amazing kind of visa called "Working Holiday Visa" (WHV):
"Mais uma coisa que eu gostaria de citar é que todo ano a NZ disponibiliza 300 oportunidades para Brasileiros trabalharem legalmente aqui. Um visto chamado Working Holiday Visa. Todo ano, 1o de Setembro a você pode ir no site da imigracao e aplicar esse visto. Nao é dificil de consegui-lo, basta ser rapido e aplicar cedo. Pois so sao 300 vistos."
Mind you, I had no idea that type of visa existed! I said "Wow! That's just the opportunity I have been looking for for years!". The bad thing about it is that the post was published in October 17th, 2010, that is, September had just passed! =(
During the rest of that year, and in most of 2011, I kept looking for some opportunity like that in almost all English-speaking countries. Turns out, however, that I wasn't able to find anything similar. The closest thing I found was a program in Canada that allows you to study for a certain period (usually 6 months) and work for another period (also usually 6 months). The problem was its cost and that you don't have permission to work while studying. Once I planned to stay in the country from 6 months to 1 year, being able to work from the beginning was essential for me in order to pay all the expenses I would have in a foreign nation.
One thing I find interesting (and that really upsets me at the same time), however, is that Working Holiday Visas are available in most English speakers countries. For instance, Australia also has a Working Holiday Visa, as well as Canada. However, they only allow a small set of nations to participate in such a program. And Brazil, unfortunately, wasn't on their lists. In this day and age, the only English speaker nation that have Brazil in their Working Holiday "list of allowed countries" is New Zealand.
Currently New Zealand's Working Holiday Schema only allows up to 300 Brazilians to go to their land per year2. Argentinians have 1000 places available3. Countries such as Canada, US, Japan and the main ones in Europe have unlimited places available all over the year.
In exchange for those 300 visas provided to Brazilians, Kiwis are also provided with 300 visas that allow them to visit and to work in Brazil, under pretty much the same conditions4.
I'd like to take the opportunity and thank the New Zealand government for being the first one to have this Working Holiday interchange program held with Brazil. Those 300 places are really just a itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny fraction of the Brazilian population (currently going to 191 million people5), but it's definitely a start.
In the next post of this series, I'll tell you everything you need to know to apply for the WHV. See you there!
Sources:
- http://www.englishexperts.com.br/2010/10/17/intercambio-na-nova-zelandia-investimento-cursos-e-mais/comment-page-1/#comments
- http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/work/workingholiday/brazilwhs.htm
- http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/work/workingholiday/argentinaworkingholidayscheme.htm
- http://www.itamaraty.gov.br/sala-de-imprensa/notas-a-imprensa/2008/08/29/atos-assinados-por-ocasiao-da-visita-do-ministro
- http://www.ibge.gov.br/paisesat/main.php
No comments:
Post a Comment