A portray on foreigners authorized to come to Brazil, from 2005 to 2011

Abstract

The main purpose of this article is to bring a descriptive analysis about foreigners who are authorized to stay in Brazil in a temporary or permanent term, from 2005 to 2011; and to highlight its relation to Brazilian migration policy. As such, we worked with microdata from Brazilian Migration General Coordination (CNIg), at the Work and Employ Ministry. Based on the presented bibliography, our aim is to identify the existence of a selectivity tendency regarding the authorization of foreigners who accomplish to come to Brazil. Although, we cannot test this selectivity fact, as the information regarding the migrant profile, who had his/her authorization declined, is not available; we can infer this point from the data collected. The results show that the majority of issued authorizations refers to professional workers and investors, men, highly skilled, from developed countries (in general Americans, Europeans and Asians), and towards Brazilian Southeast. This profile of authorized migrants could be partially explained by Brazilian migration policy which remains restrictive and selective. Although it is not possible to identify the source of this selectivity – whether the Brazilian government, the labor market (for origin and destination), or just the specificities of foreigners’ requests – Brazilian migration policy ensures this selectivity, regardless of whom could be the agent of this action.

DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-30982015000000003