Bolsonaro elected president

IMPACT – MEDIUM

Jair Bolsonaro was elected president in Brazil’s runoff election Sunday. A former army captain who has heralded the era when Brazil was under military dictatorship, Bolsonaro won 54 percent of the vote ahead of Fernando Haddad of the left-wing Workers’ Party, who won 45 percent. Bolsonaro has been called the “Tropical Trump” because of his right-wing nationalist rhetoric, affinity for strong-arm policies and use of social media to rally supporters and insult detractors.

On immigration policy, Bolsonaro has not presented a formal agenda, with the exception of his indication that he is likely to enforce a strong border policy. The current policies on high-skilled migration have not been up for debate and Bolsonaro has not indicated any change.

Brazil is emerging from a deep recession and Bolsonaro campaigned on getting rid of corruption by reducing government waste and eliminating several ministries, but has sent mixed signals on state-owned industries. After vowing to privatize many state-owned companies, including selling a substantial portion of state-owned oil company Petrobras, Bolsonaro later said that the government should continue to control the company’s core. He has chosen free-market economist Paulo Guedes as finance minister.

Analysis & Comments: Brazil recently introduced an overhaul to its immigration system, and policies toward high-skilled immigration are unlikely to change under Bolsonaro. Employers should expect that the normative resolutions implementing the New Immigration Law will continue to be issued to clarify new and existing visa categories and residence permit procedures for foreign nationals. Brazilian authorities are still adapting themselves to the new migration law that has been in force since November 2017, and not all processes are entirely covered yet. Assignees may still experience some delays, especially on post-arrival procedures, such as issuance of Brazilian ID cards, Brazilian Work Booklets and other processes.

Source: Deloitte LLP. Deloitte LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC303675 and its registered office at 1 New Street Square, London EC4A 3HQ, United Kingdom.