Rio de Janeiro became home to 104 Venezuelans and 88 Colombians last year. The state became the first in number of previous and fixed residences granted to immigrants from these two countries for work purposes.
Of the 104 Venezuelans, 95 are of previous residence and nine of permanent residence. Prior residence is an authorization issued by the Ministry of Labor for the purpose of obtaining a temporary work visa at the consulate. The issuance of the visa is subsequent to the prior residence authorization and is carried out by the consulate.
In addition to immigrants from Venezuela, Colombians also prefer the Marvelous City. There were 88 residences granted by the Brazilian government to them, 53 of which were previous residences and 35 were permanent residences.
In total, 377 Colombians and Venezuelans received residency in Brazil in 2022. In the previous year, there were 335. The survey was carried out by CNN based on numbers from the Observatory of International Migrations (OBMigra), of the Ministry of Justice.
Behind Rio de Janeiro is São Paulo as the state most sought after by immigrants from Colombia. There were 86 Colombians who obtained residency, 78 prior and eight permanent last year.
Venezuelans are second. There were 33 authorizations to live and work in São Paulo, with 27 previous residences and six fixed.
2021 data
In the previous year, the numbers were similar: 112 Venezuelans sought Rio de Janeiro for previous residence and 20 for permanent residence, a total of 132 immigrants from Venezuela who went to live in the state.
In the same period, there were 78 Colombians, 64 of whom were former residents and 14 permanent.
In São Paulo, there were 47 Colombians for previous residence and eight fixed. Of Venezuelans, there were 17 of fixed residence and 11 of previous ones.
why the river
“What I like most about Rio are the people. They always opened doors for me, welcomed me. Rio embraces you like Christ the Redeemer. With an open heart. And from the first moment I got here it was good. I came with little clothes and they helped me with clothes, deodorant etc. People are very human here”, he tells CNN Venezuelan Frank Olmos, 33 years old.
The refugee, who now has a permanent residence in the Marvelous City, visited Rio for the first time in 2013, during the World Youth Games. According to him, “I always wanted to come back”. And he returned, in 2016, as a volunteer for the Olympic Games, but he says it wasn’t easy and he received help from the locals.
“In 2016, I had the opportunity to return as a volunteer, then I got in touch with some people who helped me during the world journey, who collected money for me and I got accommodation in the house of a family I didn’t know”, he details.
Olmos tells about the situation in Venezuela at the time he decided to leave the country. “From this family that received me during the games, I already had the mentality of staying here. In 2016, many things were already happening in Venezuela, and unfortunately I couldn’t stay there for long. I was a high school teacher. So I decided to live a new life in Rio,” he recalled.
In Rio, Frank Olmos was a supervisor at a tourism company until this week, but he was fired. “It was an incredible experience for three years. I already did marketing as an undergraduate, now I’m finishing another college. It’s a very good thing for a refugee known in the country.”
And the Venezuelan is not alone, as the numbers show. “I have friends from Venezuela here. My brother lives here too. There is a group that everyone talks about here. We keep in touch always. Brazil is a country that has welcomed me with open arms since I was a volunteer”.
see the numbers
Residences in 2022
- Venezuelans in Rio de Janeiro: 104 (95 previews, and nine fixed)
- Colombians in Rio de Janeiro: 88 (53 previews and 35 fixed)
- Colombians in São Paulo: 86 (78 previews and eight fixed)
- Venezuelans in São Paulo: 33 (27 previews and six fixed)
Residences in 2021
- Venezuelans in Rio de Janeiro: 132 (112 previews and 20 fixed)
- Colombians in Rio de Janeiro: 78 (64 previews and 14 fixed)
- Colombians in São Paulo: 55 (47 previews and eight fixed)
- Venezuelans in São Paulo: 28 (17 fixed and 11 previews)
(Source: OBMigra/MJSP)
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.