Since its publication at the end of 2017, the new Brazilian migration policy (Law nº 13.445/17) presents a new context for immigration processes in the country, due to the changes and improvements presented in the new visa modalities; new procedures; new deadlines; normalization of concepts; among others.
The set of new immigration rules completed the first year in force in November 2018, with the Ministry of Labor as one of the main public agencies responsible for the normative restructuring of this issue, given its role in defining the modalities of visas involving labor activities in the country.
However, with the election of the new president of Brazil, Jair Messias Bolsonaro, on January 1st 2019, the immigration in Brazil received new guidelines through the publication of Decree n° 9.662/19 – changed by the Decree n° 9.701 published on February 8th 2019 , which establishes the new organization of the Presidency of the Republic and Ministries.
One of the main changes brought by the Decree n° 9.662/19 and Decree n° 9.701/19 was the extinction of the Ministry of Labor, which directly impacts at the labor immigration processes, once the General Labor Immigration Coordination and the National Immigration Council began to integrate the structure of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.
In addition, the new legal provisions provides that the competence, direction and leadership of the units of the Ministry of Labor, existing on the date of publication of this provision, are transferred until the entry into force of the new regimental structures, for the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, whose transition seeks to
maintain the stability and legal security of migration policy in Brazil.
It should be emphasized that the Ministry of Justice and Public Security assigns maximum priority to compliance with the migratory norms, through pecuniary sanctions that affect both the legal entity established in national territory, in the sense that:
– ” Infractions committed by a legal entity: a fine of at least R $ 1,000.00 (one thousand reais) and a maximum of one million reais (R $ 1,000,000.00), for an infraction. ”
Also, in order to guarantee ethics, transparency, order and security in complying with the legal requirements established by the new immigration regime, the Law 13.445 /17 was not limited to establishing a pecuniary sanction on noncompliance with its provisions, since it typified to promote illegal migration, adding this illicit to Article 232 of the Brazilian Penal Code.
In this regard, the practice of declaring false information to local authorities; falsify documents and other public papers; facilitate the processing of visa applications; to grant undue advantages to public agents in order to expedite the regularization of the stay of immigrants in the country; will be considered a crime to promote illegal migration, resulting in the author’s imprisonment for two (2) to five (5) years and a fine provided for in article 108 of the new migratory diploma.
For these reasons, we are facing a new panorama, where many changes can still happen in the national migration policy during the first year of Bolsonaro´s government, in order to ensure that the National Migration Policy complies with its provisions, coordinates and articulates Sectoral actions implemented by the Federal Executive Power in cooperation with the states, the Federal District and the municipalities, promoting the participation of civil society organizations, international organizations and private entities; thus boosting Brazilian economic development and growth, by stimulating the arrival of highly qualified professionals in strategic areas for the country and increasing foreign investments.