Help with visa app

[wailea4me]

We are taking an Oceania cruise in March 2013, Buenos Aires to Rio so of course, we need a Brazilian Visa. Oceania will charge us $399 per person to get the Visa and they work through CIBT. I checked online and called CIBT to see if we can work thru them directly and then the charge will only be $260 per person. The CIBT rep said I must use Oceania's account number on the application. I'm afraid if I do that I'm going to get charged the $399 rate. Does anyone have any experience getting a Visa on your own thru CIBT? Does this sound correct?

[pmacher61]

We are taking an Oceania cruise in March 2013, Buenos Aires to Rio so of course, we need a Brazilian Visa. Oceania will charge us $399 per person to get the Visa and they work through CIBT. I checked online and called CIBT to see if we can work thru them directly and then the charge will only be $260 per person. The CIBT rep said I must use Oceania's account number on the application. I'm afraid if I do that I'm going to get charged the $399 rate. Does anyone have any experience getting a Visa on your own thru CIBT? Does this sound correct?

You don't indicate where you live, but have you considered obtaining the visa directly from the Brasilian consulate that serves your geographical area. Google search for the appropriate office. I am not certain , but my guess is that you will save at least $100 pp. See http://www.brazil-help.com/visa-info-pop.htm

[Orlando Vic]

We used Visa HQ http://www.visahq.com/ and I think the cost was $250/pp last year. However, you do have time if you want to do it yourself, as pmacher61 suggests.

[Trainer]

I did my own visa application a few years ago. Yes, it is complex but if you follow the rules for your region, it can be done. We mailed all the requested information, being very careful with each step. My biggest concern was that you have to send them your passport; but all went well and it did not take too long. In those days you had to match the travel dates to the application, i.e. the number of days before you were traveling. I think that has changed, but, again, read all the directions. I just did not want to put that extra step in mailing the passport to an agency and then have them go to the Brazilian office. Not that it matters , but I did not like Rio as well as other places in Brazil.

[fcsharry]

We are taking an Oceania cruise in March 2013, Buenos Aires to Rio so of course, we need a Brazilian Visa. Oceania will charge us $399 per person to get the Visa and they work through CIBT. I checked online and called CIBT to see if we can work thru them directly and then the charge will only be $260 per person. The CIBT rep said I must use Oceania's account number on the application. I'm afraid if I do that I'm going to get charged the $399 rate. Does anyone have any experience getting a Visa on your own thru CIBT? Does this sound correct?

 

We are traveling to Brazil in March 2013. We applied for our visa's directly with the consulate. The instructions on their website were easy to follow and we got our visa's in 10 days including mail transit time. The cost is $180 per visa by mail (for a US citizen) plus the cost of postage to send your passports and get them sent back. Each consulate is slightly different so you have to determine which consulate has jurisdiction for you. Frankly, we went to a visa agency website (such as CIBT) and reviewed all their instructions just to make sure we were doing it correctly then sent them in ourselves.