So you have been reading my blog and became interested in applying for the Brazilian Working Holiday schema? You've come to the right place! Here you will find everything you need to know to apply for this visa. So, without further delay, let's get started!
As you probably already know, the Brazilian Working Holiday schema opens up every year in September 1st. The first thing you have to pay attention to is the date. It opens up in September 1st in the New Zealand time zone, that means August, 31st in Brazil. In 2011, it opened precisely at 7:00pm, BrasÃlia time zone, but it's always best to check if this time will continue to be the same in the next years.
With that in mind, there are some things you can already work on in advance:
1) Sign up in the Immigration website1 - In order to apply for any type of visa you need to sign up in the official immigration website2. So, why don't do it in advance?
2) Have an INTERNATIONAL credit card - After you submit the form, a little pop up will appear asking for your credit card number, so you can pay the application's fee. The credit card MUST be international and there is no other way to pay that fee. In 2011, I payed NZ$ 140,00. The holder of the credit card can be anyone, it doesn't need to be the person that is applying for the visa.
3) Check out your passport expiry date - I have seen some people that hadn't paid attention to this and were unable to complete their submissions. You passport must be valid for at least three months after your planned departure from New Zealand. If your passport will be or is already out of date, go to the nearest federal police department and check what you need to do in order to get a brand new passport (with a new expire date). If you have another nationality you cannot use the passport of that nationality to apply for the Brazilian Working Holiday Schema. You must use the Brazilian one.
Actually, there are quite a few more requirements than these, but those were the most relevant ones for me. You can find the complete list here3.
That's everything you need to have/do to be able to apply for the Brazilian Working Holiday schema. Now, let me give you some valuable tips for when the so expected day arrives:
1) Be ON TIME - Last Sepembet 1st, 2011, all the places have been filled up in about 20 minutes. How do I know that? Because I managed to fill out all the form in about 26 minutes after the schema opened and, in the last button (the submit one) this was the message I got:
"Scheme unavailable because: Unfortunately the available places for this
Working Holiday Scheme have been filled and there is no longer a place
available for you. You could check back on our website for details of
when places reopen."
This was kind of my fault, because I failed to quickly find the place to click on to apply. It took me about 10 minutes to find it. I was looking it up on the main Brazilian Working Holiday Schema webpage... The right place to go actually appears on the right of the webpage AFTER YOU LOG-IN INTO THE IMMIGRATION WEBSITE .
That information was very crisp in the Brazilian Working Holiday Schema page3 (but I completely missed it!):
"To apply online, go to the Online Services Login page,
where you can register for online services; if you have already
registered you can log in and access the Working Holiday Scheme online
application system."
Be advice, though, that the immigration website have changed now (at
least its layout is completely reformulated), and the exact places to
click on might have changed already.
So, don't make the same mistake I made and find the application link quickly! You are probably wondering: how were you able to submit your application if all the places had been taken? The answer to that question is in this post. =)
2) Have your data ready - Write all your information (passport number, last name, given name, credit card number) in a text editor and triple check all of them! That way, when the day comes, you will only need to copy and paste those information into the forms, which is way faster and error-saving than to type everything on-the-fly. A little piece of advice: do not use huge software editors like Word. Use small ones like Notepad. That way, you avoid having problems with different character encodings.
3) Check out your broadband Internet connection - I know this is very rare, but if I were you I would consider borrowing a 3G modem in addition to your ADSL/Cable/Wireless connection. You never know when your main connection might blackout, and, if it does, the 3G modem can save your application.
That's all! Hope you found the information useful. If you have questions, I'll be happy in helping you. Just use the comments session bellow.
In the next post, I'll tell you a little bit about what you need to do after your visa gets approved.
See ya!!
Sources:
1) https://www.immigration.govt.nz/registration/CreateAccount.aspx
2) http://www.immigration.govt.nz/
3) http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/work/workingholiday/brazilwhs.htm
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