To work legally in Brazil, a Chinese citizen normally takes three steps: get a labour residence authorisation, apply for a VITEM V work visa through Brazil’s missions in China, and register with the Federal Police after arrival. The 30-day visa exemption that runs from 11 May to 31 December 2026 covers tourism, business, transit and arts or sports activities. It does not cover work, so you cannot arrive on it, start a job and sort out the paperwork later.
Unemployment is low, at 5.2% in the third quarter of 2026, the lowest for that period since 2012. Pay is modest, though: the national average is about R$3,790 a month (around ¥4,600). For Chinese job seekers the openings are mainly on Chinese projects in cars, power and mining, plus roles that need both Chinese and Portuguese. One new change to watch: a constitutional amendment passed in October 2026 is cutting the legal working week from 44 to 40 hours.
RMB amounts use R$1≈¥1.2146, a cross rate from European Central Bank reference rates of 3 November 2026.
The Brazilian job market: low unemployment, modest formal pay
IBGE counted about 103.6 million people in work in July-September 2026, including about 39.4 million private-sector employees with a signed work card (carteira assinada). In the second quarter 74.4% of private-sector employees had one, so about a quarter lacked that protection.
The labour ministry’s Caged data shows a net gain of 1.134 million formal jobs in January-August 2026, mostly in services (about 698,000), construction (200,000) and industry (170,000). São Paulo state added the most, about 307,000.
Chinese-language openings and Chinese companies in Brazil
A report by the Brazil-China Business Council (CEBC) put Chinese corporate investment in Brazil at US$6.1 billion in 2025, up 45%, making Brazil the top destination that year. Electricity took about US$1.79 billion, mining about US$1.76 billion and cars about US$965 million.
| Company | Location and business | What is on record |
|---|---|---|
| BYD | Camaçari, Bahia; vehicles | First car off the line in July 2025; Xinhua reported nearly 3,000 Brazilian and Chinese staff in December 2025 and planned capacity of 600,000 vehicles |
| GWM (Great Wall Motor) | Iracemápolis, São Paulo state; vehicles | Opened 15 August 2025; more than 1,800 staff by August 2026; capacity of 50,000 vehicles a year |
| State Grid | Power transmission | Built two lines of over 2,000 km from Belo Monte to the Southeast (as described by a CEBC executive) |
| Huawei | Telecom equipment | Began setting up in Brazil around 1998 (Teletime report from that year) |
We found no official count of Chinese-speaking jobs. The clearest demand in listings is Chinese-Portuguese translation. One Adecco listing in São Paulo from September 2025 asked for advanced fluency in both languages, a degree and simultaneous interpreting, and preferred technical translation experience in engineering. Procurement, production coordination and finance liaison often call for both languages too, but that is our reading, not a statistic.
The share of foreign staff also matters. Articles 352 and 354 of the CLT labour code say industrial and commercial firms with three or more staff must keep Brazilians at two-thirds of employees, and the same ratio applies to the total payroll; ask your employer or a lawyer how this is applied in practice. For the wider picture, start with our Brazil overview.
Work permits: choose your route first
The legal basis is the Migration Law (Lei 13.445/2017) and Decree 9.199/2017. The General Coordination for Labour Immigration at the Ministry of Justice and Public Security handles cases, and applications run online through the MigranteWeb system. Detailed conditions are set by resolutions of the National Immigration Council (CNIg).
| Route | For whom | Main conditions | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local employment (RN 2/2017) | People signing an employment contract with a Brazilian company | On local payroll; education and experience meet the thresholds | Up to 2 years, renewable |
| Company officer | Managers and directors of foreign-invested firms | Registered appointment; foreign investment of R$600,000, or R$150,000 with a plan to create 10 jobs in two years | 3-5 years, renewable |
| Technical assistance and technology transfer | Technicians sent by a Chinese parent company | Stay on the foreign payroll; technical assistance agreement; at least 3 years’ relevant experience | Up to 1 year |
| Brazilian graduates (CNIg 50/2024) | People who finished a degree or stricto sensu postgraduate course in Brazil | Job related to the field of study | Up to 2 years, can become indefinite |
For local employment you need one of these: a master’s or higher; a postgraduate course of at least 360 hours plus 1 year’s experience; a bachelor’s degree plus 2 years; technical training plus 3 years; or 12 years of schooling plus 4 years. Entry rules and other visas are in our Brazil visa guide.
Decree 12.657 of October 2025 lets visitors carry out up to 90 days of technical assistance under an agreement between companies. That is not an employment permit, and it does not mean the visa exemption covers this work, so get written confirmation from the Brazilian side before you travel.
The process for Chinese citizens
- Settle the job and routeThe employer provides a CLT-compliant contract; check your education and experience evidence
- Prepare Chinese documentsA police certificate and proof of parentage; foreign documents need an apostille and translation into Portuguese by a Brazilian sworn translator
- Apply on MigranteWebThe employer or the applicant files; the fee is R$168.13 (about ¥204); the official estimate is up to 30 days, or up to 60 if corrections are needed, and both can be extended
- Apply for the VITEM VSubmit to the mission for your area (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou or Chengdu): passport, photo, apostilled police certificate issued within 90 days, birth certificate or hukou with Portuguese or English translation, and a sponsor company letter
- Register after arrivalWith prior authorisation, go to the Federal Police within 90 days of arrival to get your national migration registration
- Get a CPF and start workThe CPF tax number is needed for civil and financial matters; the work card is electronic and employers report through eSocial
Visa fees follow the mission’s fee schedule; we could not verify the current amount. For your salary account, see our guide to banking in Brazil.
Salaries in Brazil
The engineer figure is about ¥9,720 and the software engineer figure about ¥18,780. Regional gaps are wide: in the second quarter of 2026 the average was R$2,645 in the Northeast, R$4,238 in the South and R$4,362 in the Centre-West. Bahia, home to the BYD plant, is in the Northeast.
Two deductions come out of pay. Employee INSS social security runs from 7.5% to 14%, up to a contribution ceiling of R$8,475.55. Under Lei 15.270/2025, from 2026 monthly taxable income up to R$5,000 pays no income tax, relief tapers off between R$5,000 and R$7,350, and the top rate is 27.5%. By our calculation, a R$5,000 salary loses about R$502 to INSS and no income tax, leaving about R$4,498 (around ¥5,460) before benefits or union dues.
When negotiating, think in annual terms: 12 monthly salaries, a 13th salary and a holiday bonus of a third of a month add up to about 13.33 months. The employer also pays 8% of salary into an FGTS account.
Be careful with the “legal engineer’s floor of R$13,778” quoted online. The Supreme Court froze the calculation base in 2022, and a bill to reset it had not passed as of September 2026.
Contracts and legal rights
| Item | Brazilian rule (as of November 2026) |
|---|---|
| Hours | Currently 44 hours a week and 8 a day; see Constitutional Amendment 141 below |
| Overtime | Up to 2 hours a day, paid at a premium of at least 50% |
| Annual leave | 30 calendar days after 12 months’ service, plus a bonus of a third of monthly pay |
| 13th salary | One extra month’s pay a year, normally in two parts by 30 November and 20 December |
| Probation | Experience contract of up to 90 days, extendable once; going over converts it to an open-ended contract |
| Dismissal | Notice from 30 days, plus 3 days per completed year, up to 90; dismissal without cause adds a penalty of 40% of the FGTS balance, or 20% by mutual agreement |
| Maternity and paternity leave | 120 days’ maternity leave; paternity leave is 5 days now, rising to 10 in 2027, 15 in 2028 and 20 in 2029 under Lei 15.371/2026 |
The biggest contrast with China is leave. In China, 1 to under 10 years of total service gives 5 days and it takes 20 years to reach 15, while Brazil gives 30 calendar days after one year. Probation is shorter too: up to 6 months on a Chinese contract of three years or more, and no more than 90 days in Brazil.
The hours reform is the biggest change of 2026. Constitutional Amendment 141, promulgated on 16 October, ends the six-days-on, one-day-off schedule. About two months later (mid-December 2026) the limit falls to 42 hours with two weekly rest days guaranteed. About 14 months after promulgation (around December 2027) it falls to 40 hours, with no pay cuts. Graduates earning at least 2.5 times the social security ceiling (R$21,188.88, about ¥25,740) fall outside the hours rules but keep the two rest days. Check that your contract reflects the new hours.
The BYD site case: what Chinese workers should note
In December 2024, Brazilian labour inspectors and the Labour Prosecutor’s Office (MPT) said that 163 Chinese workers hired through contractors at the BYD plant construction site in Camaçari were in what officials classed as conditions analogous to slavery. The problems they reported included withheld passports, poor dormitories, shifts of at least ten hours with no days off, illegal contract clauses, and specialised-service visas that did not match the work done.
On 27 December, Brazil suspended VITEM V work visas for the company. In January 2026 it was reported that the MPT had reached a R$40 million settlement with contractors Jinjiang and Tecmonta, with the contractors paying and BYD as guarantor. No party admits fault, and the deal still needed approval at that time. BYD says it did not know of the irregularities, that responsibility lay with the contractor and that it ended the contract; Jinjiang denies the forced-labour allegations. In April 2026 BYD was added to the labour ministry’s “dirty list”, and about two days later a judge removed it by provisional order, finding that a direct link between BYD and the workers had not been established. That is not a final ruling, and the case is not closed.
Confirm five things before you start: your visa type matches the job; the contract is under Brazilian law and you can read the Portuguese text; you keep your own passport; hours and rest days are written down; pay reaches your own account on time. Turn down anyone who recruits on the basis of “go visa-free and sort it out there”. For labour rights problems, you can complain to the MPT or contact the Chinese missions in Brazil.
Job sites and Portuguese requirements
- General job boards: LinkedIn, Catho, InfoJobs, Vagas.com and Indeed Brazil; many companies take applications through Gupy.
- Official platform: Emprega Brasil, with a gov.br login.
- Search terms: mandarim, chinês, tradutor chinês, bilíngue.
The official service page does not list a language certificate among the work permit documents, but employers commonly expect Portuguese, as the translator listing above shows. With Chinese alone, your options are largely inside Chinese companies. To compare other South American countries, see our guide to working in Argentina.
Regulated professions add a licensing hurdle: public universities revalidate bachelor’s degrees through the Carolina Bori platform, and medicine also needs the Revalida exam.
Gather your degree certificate, transcript and authenticated copies before negotiating an offer. After a MigranteWeb correction notice you generally have 30 days, with one extension of up to 30 days for good reason (RN 1/2017).
FAQ
Can I look for work in Brazil after entering visa-free?
The exemption allows up to 30 days in total, cannot be extended and does not cover work. A short business trip is fine, but starting a job requires a work visa. Whether an interview counts as business is not clearly stated, so ask a Brazilian mission before you go.
Can I get a work permit without a bachelor’s degree?
Yes. Technical training plus 3 years’ experience, or 12 years of schooling plus 4 years’ experience (for occupations that do not need higher education), are both within the rules. The employer must prove them and the authorities decide.
Does the income tax relief up to R$5,000 apply to foreigners?
It applies to tax residents. A temporary visa holder stops being treated as a non-resident on getting an employment contract, or otherwise after 184 days in a 12-month period. Ask an accountant about your own case.
Does Brazilian labour law protect me at a Chinese company?
Staff hired locally in Brazil are covered by the CLT, must be on the local payroll and get the same benefits as local employees. Technicians who stay on a Chinese payroll are on a different route, so ask about this before you leave.
Sources
- Obtain residence authorisation for labour purposes (gov.br, Ministry of Justice) (accessed November 2026)
- CNIg Normative Resolution 1/2017 (full-text PDF, Poder360 copy) (accessed November 2026)
- Residence authorisation for work: how the system works (Jus.com.br, commentary on RN 2/2017) (accessed November 2026)
- CNIg/MJSP Resolution 50/2024 (accessed November 2026)
- Brazil: Employment assignments (Baker McKenzie) (accessed November 2026)
- Brazil expands the scope of business visitor activities (EY) (accessed November 2026)
- VITEM V Work checklist (VFS Global China, January 2026 edition) (accessed November 2026)
- Report on Brazil’s visa exemption for Chinese citizens (Guangming Online, 10 May 2026) (accessed November 2026)
- PNAD Contínua, July-September 2026 (IBGE, Poder360 copy) (accessed November 2026)
- Desemprego cai a 5,2% (Correio, 30 October 2026) (accessed November 2026)
- PNAD Contínua, second quarter 2026 (IBGE, Poder360 copy) (accessed November 2026)
- Novo Caged, August 2026 (Agência Gov) (accessed November 2026)
- Decree 12.797/2025 (minimum wage) (accessed November 2026)
- Interministerial Ordinance MPS/MF 13/2026: INSS table (Senior) (accessed November 2026)
- Law 15.270/2025: income tax reform (Senior) (accessed November 2026)
- Who counts as a non-resident (Portal Tributário) (accessed November 2026)
- Brazilian Congress approves the end of the 6×1 work schedule (Mayer Brown, 16 October 2026) (accessed November 2026)
- Congresso promulga PEC do fim da escala 6×1 (ES Hoje) (accessed November 2026)
- Fim da escala 6×1 é oficializado pelo Congresso (Diário do Nordeste) (accessed November 2026)
- Contrato de experiência (Guia Trabalhista) (accessed November 2026)
- Brazilian labor laws: what companies need to know (H&CO, updated October 2026) (accessed November 2026)
- Brazil termination and severance guide (RemotePass) (accessed November 2026)
- CLT articles 352-358, annotated (Aurum) (accessed November 2026)
- Law 15.371/2026 (Chamber of Deputies) (accessed November 2026)
- Lula sanciona lei que amplia licença-paternidade (Diário de Pernambuco) (accessed November 2026)
- BYD e empreiteiras fazem acordo de R$ 40 milhões (Diário do Comércio) (accessed November 2026)
- Brasil suspende emissão de vistos de trabalho temporário para BYD (Diário do Comércio) (accessed November 2026)
- BYD entra na lista suja (Bahia Notícias, 7 April 2026) (accessed November 2026)
- Justiça retira BYD de lista de trabalho escravo (Vrum, 10 April 2026) (accessed November 2026)
- Report on BYD’s Camaçari plant (Xinhua, December 2025) (accessed November 2026)
- GWM Iracemápolis plant one year on (GWM press release, 18 August 2026) (accessed November 2026)
- China domina investimentos no setor elétrico brasileiro (Times Brasil, November 2025) (accessed November 2026)
- Brasil liderou investimentos chineses em 2025 (Itatiaia, citing CEBC report) (accessed November 2026)
- Huawei Tech procura parceiros brasileiros (Teletime, November 1998) (accessed November 2026)
- Software engineer salary in Brazil (Levels.fyi, updated 2 November 2026) (accessed November 2026)
- Os salários dos engenheiros em 2026 (Engenharia 360) (accessed November 2026)
- Senador propõe piso de R$ 13,7 mil para engenheiros (Congresso em Foco, September 2026) (accessed November 2026)
- Tradutor Chinês (Adecco on Vagas.com, September 2025 listing) (accessed November 2026)
- Os melhores sites de emprego (Guia da Carreira, July 2024) (accessed November 2026)
- Saiba como revalidar diploma estrangeiro no Brasil (Agência Gov, September 2026) (accessed November 2026)
- Euro reference rates (European Central Bank, 3 November 2026) (accessed November 2026)
- PRC Labor Contract Law, Article 19 (CECC text) (accessed November 2026)
- China’s paid annual leave rules (WageIndicator) (accessed November 2026)
- Congresso promulga o fim da escala 6×1 (Senado Notícias, 16 October 2026) (accessed November 2026)
- BYD entered and left the Lista Suja (Brasil de Fato, 13 April 2026) (accessed November 2026)
