Brasília – The Federal Supreme Court (STF) decided this Thursday (20) that foreigners with permanent residency in Brazil have the rights to receive a minimum wage per month if they can prove that they don’t have the means to survival. Unanimously, the ministers believe that foreigners can not be treated differently against citizens that were born in the country and that they also have the rights to the benefit, which is in the Constitution.
Following the vote of judge minister Marco Aurélio, who is presiding over the case, the Court decided that the Constitution doesn’t make a distinction between foreigners and Brazilians when establishing the payment of the benefit, which is paid by the National Institute of Social Security (INSS). According to Article 205 of the Constitution, elderly people or people with disabilities have the right to a minimum wage per month if they can prove the lack of financial means to survive. The Court took the decision in the case of Felícia Mazzitello Albanes, an Italian immigrant living in Brazil since 1952.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
