What will Brazilian Experience (BE) do for me, my faculty and my students?
Brazilian Experience will organize everything for you and your students, from planning the trip until your group returns home. Once you get in contact with us, we will discuss your goals and expectations of the program. Then, we will suggest an itinerary and a service activity. You will be able to participate in this process as much as you want. You can add or exclude visits and trips to other places, the program will be customized at your discretion.
Once the itinerary is defined we will assist you with the documents to obtain a Brazilian visa. Once in Brazil, a BE staff member will always accompany you in your activities and trips, this will also help you with the language barrier.
Brazilian Experience leaders will also act as facilitators to engage students, promote reflection about values, feelings and skills, aiming to enhance their learning process through experiential activities and evolve the students’ abilities to add not only to the community visited but also to those back home.
So, from the planning stages to departure we will provide you full support.
What are the learning outcomes of the program?
Brazilian Experience will customize the program according to your institution learning objectives. Although, there are common outcomes for all itineraries. By completing the activities, the students will have learned to:
How long is the program?
The lenght of a Service Learning program is very flexible. We recommend 7-14 days, so that students will have enough time to perform all activities and get to see and enjoy a little bit of Brazil and its culture.
BE will customize the itinerary according to your goals. It could be one-week during Spring break, J-Term or longer.
What is the average cost of a program?
The program fee depends on the itinerary, how many students will join, the duration of the program and the locations which will be visted.
Send us an email and we will reply with detailed information about the costs.
Is there a minimum number of students?
Normally the trip is budgeted for a minimum group of 10 students.
Do the students have to be accompanied by a responsible faculty member?
Normally the students will be accompanied by a teacher or a representative from the University. Depending on the number of students, the person responsible for them will not have to pay to join the program. Once they get here, they will also be with a Brazilian Experience leader, who will assist during the whole trip.
Do I need to speak Portuguese to be able to be a part of the program?
No, it is not necessary to speak Portuguese. As soon as the group arrives in Brazil, there will be someone who speaks English to help and assist during the entire program.
Does Brazilian Experience provide visa support documentation?
American students and faculty, applying for a short stay program, should generally apply for a tourism visa. Some Europeans are exempt from the visa requirement as it is granted upon arrival in Brazil and they are allowed to stay in the country for 90 days.
Brazilian Experience will provide an invitation letter if requested by the consulate or embassy.
How soon can I get a proposal?
On average, we ask for 1-2 weeks to prepare a proposal, as we need to contact the local providers (hotel, transportation, university, etc.) for the most up-to-date costs, according to your expected travel dates.
After the schedule approval and adjustments we will write a detailed itinerary including information about the places to be visited, pictures, and a final budget.
Do you have people on the ground in the location?
Brazilian Experience head-office is located in Curitiba, six hours south of São Paulo. We also have local coordinators in Rio de Janeiro and Florianópolis. We are able to organize activities and visits in different Brazilian cities.
As locals, we believe we can assure you the best Brazilian Experience.
Do you offer insurance during our stay in Brazil?
Most universities prefer to offer their own travel insurance to their students, but if necessary we can include insurance in the program.
Do I need to bring another faculty member or an assistant?
This is up to the university, on our side it is not necessary to have more than one faculty chaperoning the group. If we have bigger groups we will also include additional B.E. staff members to ensure all the participants have the proper attention and support.
What is your student-staff ratio?
Brazilian Experience organizes the trips having one group leader for every 20 students confirmed. However, if your university requires a different number we can plan accordingly.
Do I need to speak Portuguese to lead this program?
No. We always encourage faculties and students to learn some Portuguese before coming, as this allows a deeper interaction during the visits and higher immersion in the culture. But it is not mandatory to have language ability to lead a group in Brazil.
Our group leaders are native Brazilians, and fluent English speakers. They will chaperone the group during all the cultural activities and visits. We aim to use all our expertise in Brazil to assure your students get the best from their experience in our country.
Do my students need to know Portuguese to participate?
Portuguese skills are not a program requirement. Still, we encourage students to learn the basics before coming, as this knowledge will allow them a deeper interaction during the visits. Language knowledge will be especially beneficial if there is a service component in the trip schedule and important when interacting with members of the community.
Do you provide visa support documentation?
American students and faculty, applying for short stay program, should generally apply for a tourism visa. Some Europeans are exempt from the visa requirement as it is granted upon arrival in Brazil and they are allowed to stay in the country for 90 days.
Brazilian Experience will provide an invitation letter if requested by the consulate or embassy.
Do you offer 24-hour support?
Brazilian Experience offers 24/7 support. Our staff is always available and can be reached via mobile phone should you need assistance in an emergency. Please note during the trip our staff will also chaperone your group in every activity and excursion.
Brazilian Experience has been organizing cultural Exchange experiences for foreigners since 2009.
The legal basis of the service provided by our agency used to be the Normative Resolution 111th of June 2014. Recently there was a change in the Brazilian legislation and the new Brazilian Immigration Law. The Law N. 13.445, which became effective on May of 2017, was interpreted by the Interministerial Ordinance N. 7 of 2018, regulating the granting of Temporary Visas.
According to article 12 of the new law, from now on students will be able to enter Brazil with the so-called Temporary Visa. In addition to that, article 14, paragraph 4, of the same law makes it clear that this possibility also applies to internship programs: “An immigrant who intends to come to Brazil to attend a regular course or to carry out an internship or exchange of study or research”, including the services provided by the Brazilian Experience.
The new legislation brought a lot of news, and especially, facilities for internship programs here in Brazil. An example of this is the possibility that in cases of internships shorter than 90 days, there is no longer a need for the Federal Police’s residency registration (RNE).
In addition to that, in case of need for visa renewal, such application may be held, without the visa recipient having to leave the national territory. The renewal can be granted for an extra ninety days, which adds up to a period of six months. In these cases, the RNE become necessary.
Brazilian Experience has a permanent partnership with the School of Engineering, from the Texas Tech University. The institution sends annually a group of students of the Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Production Engineering, Petroleum and also Computer Science courses, which are supported by the Brazilian Experience, and go through internship experiences with our various partners.
In these cases, there is another great news that will further facilitate the exchange of cultural experiences and knowledge targeted by Brazilian Experience. For cases involving exchange students from Australia, Canada, the United States and Japan, it is now available the “VIVIS – Visiting Visa”.
This type of electronic visa, or e-visa, allows holders of passports belonging to the countries of origin mentioned above, to enter Brazil using only their Civil Identity Card (Passport), thus dispensing the other visa requirements, for up to 90 days.
Applicants from these countries may apply for the visitor visa and obtain it remotely, through the VFS Global website (provider of the service), without having to travel to the corresponding consular post, since there is no longer a need for labeling.
Dear Be, you have forever changed my life and will forever be a part of my heart and soul! More than anything I want to come back to Brazil to live and to work! Thank you so much and please do not lose touch with us! In such a short time you have helped me fall in love with this country. I miss you all! The colors in life look more brilliant and beautiful than they ever have before thank to you! My life is forever more vibrant thanks to you and this amazing experience! I will hold on to these memories forever! Thank you for the bottom depths of my heart and soul!
Tel: +55 41 98889-7165
Skype: brazilianexperience
E-mail: info@brazilianexperience.com.br
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