Brazil Visas

[Red Hat Cruise Cat]

Did not know it can be done by mail. Thanks

 

Cheers

 

 

Ohio is in the Washington DC Brazilian Consulate’s jurisdiction and they definitely accept Visas by mail

http://cgwashington.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/visas_by_mail.xml

[Jalex63]

Just visited the Miami Consulates web page for Visa info and discovered that they have removed the statement regarding non-acceptance of mailed visa applications and requiring one to appear in person at the consulate to obtain a visa. However, they still remain the only Brazilian Consulate, to my knowledge, requiring three months of financial records be included with an application.

 

Of course I don't know why they backed off the "in person" requirement, but then it seemed to me to be unreasonable in the first place. This does temper my attitude towards obtaining a Brazil Visa (I still have a bit of a problem with the 90 day financial requirement), but it comes too late to change things for me as I have already booked a cruise with Seabourn in the same time period.

 

Maybe the Amazon Explorer next year if the Miami Consulate doesn't repeat their antics?:D

[Pearl64]

Not all the Consulates offer the mail in service. I just checked the New York Consulate. It states that they do not accept any passports received via USPS, UPS< FEDEX, DHL, or similar services. So I guess we must go the way of a service. Hopefully, it will be cheaper than what the cruiseline is charging--$400!

 

Pearl

[VidaNaPraia]

Not all the Consulates offer the mail in service. I just checked the New York Consulate. It states that they do not accept any passports received via USPS, UPS< FEDEX, DHL, or similar services. So I guess we must go the way of a service. Hopefully, it will be cheaper than what the cruiseline is charging--$400!

 

Pearl

 

I see you're in Pennsylvania. You don't know anyone who lives in NYC who would do you a favor? How about using this as a good excuse to take a long weekend vacation or two in the city? (Cost of a hotel is probably equal to the visa service fee for 2 passports.) ;-)

 

Best wishes for a great trip.

Edited July 29, 2013 by VidaNaPraia

[Jalex63]

There seems to be no standard policy among Brazilian Consulates with regard to Visa requirements. Each Consulate seems to do what-ever they want to do to handle visa requests. Some require financial records and letters of invitation, others not. Makes no sense!:confused:

[VidaNaPraia]

There seems to be no standard policy among Brazilian Consulates with regard to Visa requirements. Each Consulate seems to do what-ever they want to do to handle visa requests. Some require financial records and letters of invitation, others not. Makes no sense!:confused:

 

Well, now you are starting to learn how things operate in Brazil, including airlines, airports, tours, hotels, restaurants, taxi drivers, hospitals, police or any other government services, etc. :rolleyes: If you find it disconcerting, better reconsider once more your thought to reconsider a visit. Imagine how those foreign residents here feel trying to get through the burro-cracy daily!

 

Bem vindo (Welcome). :cool:

 

(But P.S. afaik no Brazilian Consulate requires a letter of invitation for a tourist visa; in fact, including one just complicates the application process further.)

Edited July 30, 2013 by VidaNaPraia

[Mapu]

There seems to be no standard policy among Brazilian Consulates with regard to Visa requirements. Each Consulate seems to do what-ever they want to do to handle visa requests. Some require financial records and letters of invitation, others not. Makes no sense!:confused:

 

I live in Florida as well and as a matter of fact we brought our Visa applications and supporting documents to Miami on Friday. We needed a letter stating why we were going to Brazil. I simply wrote (in our case ) we would be in Brazil on a cruise itinerary. I also provided a copy of my itinerary (cruise booking) a copy of my ticket receipt for our flight home. For financial info I provided a credit card statement showing my credit limit. Those documents plus the receipt for the online application with a passport picture attached and a USPO money order for $160 each, and our passports with at least two blank Visa pages completed the package. We provided one pre-paid express envelope for the return of our passports. The package of required documentation was reviewed to confirm all of the required docs were there and we were on our way. Not easy but the Visa is good for 10 tears so I guess to make it worthwhile we have to go back again! If you have any questions feel free to email me

silvermangail@hotmail.com

I bet the only US citizens going to the Olympics in Rio will be those that already have Visas!

[Mapu]

Just visited the Miami Consulates web page for Visa info and discovered that they have removed the statement regarding non-acceptance of mailed visa applications and requiring one to appear in person at the consulate to obtain a visa. However, they still remain the only Brazilian Consulate, to my knowledge, requiring three months of financial records be included with an application.

 

 

Maybe the Amazon Explorer next year if the Miami Consulate doesn't repeat their antics?:D

 

I had the same problem with the requirement of financial documents. I provided (and it was accepted) a credit card statement that showed my credit limit.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Mapu

[VidaNaPraia]

I bet the only US citizens going to the Olympics in Rio will be those that already have Visas!

 

I'll take that bet in a heartbeat. Would you literally "bet the house"? I always wanted to hit the lottery. Just from the amount of online talk about people already booking accomodation, I know I'd win. ;-)

But I would guess that there will be a huge rush, as at pre-Carnaval or worse, to get visas, and some people will have waited too long. Now that there is no longer a requirement to use a new visa within 90 days of issue, it only makes sense to get one well ahead of the rush. Be forewarned.

[miaminautigal]

Politics. :rolleyes:

 

I agree the Holland America crowd is too old to jump ship.

[Taxguy77]

You can use a visa service to get the visa.

 

Brazil is spectacular.

 

We've visited Brazil several times and most recently on cruised the Amazon River earlier this year.

 

I would not let this change of policy stop me from going.

 

Keith

 

We too have been to Brazil, and I prefer many other countries.

Yes, I been to Iuazu (sp)would rather go to Yosemite.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It is a pain...

[Texoma]

Our visit to the Houston, TX. Brazil Consulate on September 11 was very similar to yours, Mapu. Our scheduled appointment was at 11:05.

We arrived 20 minutes early and at exactly 11:05 my name was called. We presented our passports, the completed online application with a passport picture attached and a USPO money order for $160 each and our cruise itinerary and our return airline flight booking receipts to Dallas.

We were also asked for our drivers licenses. No financial statements were required. It took about 15 minutes to review/process our applications before we were handed back our passports

I checked to see that the visa was included in each passport...it was...and we were on our way.

Very efficient process.

Edited September 16, 2013 by Texoma
Spelling

[4774Papa]

We love South America. We did a repo cruise on Celebrity Infinity in 2011 through the Panama Canal, down the west coast of SA to Chile. We didn't have to pay any fees, even in Chile (unless you arrive by air).

 

We are taking Infinity's Around the Horn cruise in January from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso. We will have to pay the reciprocity fees, but no visa is required.

 

The Brazilian requirement for a visa and now a face to face application is a bit much. Sure, any country has the right to set its entry requirements, however, this is ridiculous. If you don't live near a consulate, the costs and time to apply for a visa are significant.

 

I would love to go to Brazil, but frankly, Scarlet, I don't give a ----.

[VidaNaPraia]

We love South America. We did a repo cruise on Celebrity Infinity in 2011 through the Panama Canal, down the west coast of SA to Chile. We didn't have to pay any fees, even in Chile (unless you arrive by air).

 

We are taking Infinity's Around the Horn cruise in January from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso. We will have to pay the reciprocity fees, but no visa is required.

 

The Brazilian requirement for a visa and now a face to face application is a bit much. Sure, any country has the right to set its entry requirements, however, this is ridiculous. If you don't live near a consulate, the costs and time to apply for a visa are significant.

 

I would love to go to Brazil, but frankly, Scarlet, I don't give a ----.

 

I love it when people complain just to complain. It's getting to be fall in some parts, so I guess the hot air might be welcomed by some.

 

In fact, the Brazilian Consulate is pretty close to where you purport to live. According to their site (http://atlanta.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/visas.xml) this particular consulate accepts visa applications in person and states that the applicant can pick up the visa the same day !

The Atlanta Brazilian Consulate also accepts applications by mail.

 

And Brazil, Scarlet dear, doesn't give a ---- if you visit or not. It is simply your great loss if you don't.

 

Ridiculous is when a Brazilian adult son with an established career in medicine, who has visited his US citizen mother several times previously and returned on time to his life in Brazil, is denied, after an expensive overnight journey to the faraway US Consulate, a new visa for fear he will stay to live illegally. (only one example of the US government's absurd thinking on visas for Brazilians)

Edited September 17, 2013 by VidaNaPraia

[4774Papa]

I love it when people complain just to complain. It's getting to be fall in some parts, so I guess the hot air might be welcomed by some.

 

In fact, the Brazilian Consulate is pretty close to where you purport to live. According to their site (http://atlanta.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/visas.xml) this particular consulate accepts visa applications in person and states that the applicant can pick up the visa the same day !

The Atlanta Brazilian Consulate also accepts applications by mail.

 

And Brazil, Scarlet dear, doesn't give a ---- if you visit or not. It is simply your great loss if you don't.

 

Ridiculous is when a Brazilian adult son with an established career in medicine, who has visited his US citizen mother several times previously and returned on time to his life in Brazil, is denied, after an expensive overnight journey to the faraway US Consulate, a new visa for fear he will stay to live illegally. (only one example of the US government's absurd thinking on visas for Brazilians)

Atlanta is 300 miles from where we live. It is no small effort to obtain a Brazilian visa.

Sorry to hear about the individual denied a visa. But such decisions don't justify such policy.

 

Visas are required by the USA from nearly every country in the World, because our country is the top country of choice for illegal entry. We have to be vigilant.

 

Interesting that out of all the countries in SA (not sure about Marxist Venezuela) that Brazil is the only country with such bureaucratic policies. I am sure Brazil is a wonderful country, perhaps they will change the policy some day.

[VidaNaPraia]

Atlanta is 300 miles from where we live. It is no small effort to obtain a Brazilian visa.

Sorry to hear about the individual denied a visa. But such decisions don't justify such policy.

 

Visas are required by the USA from nearly every country in the World, because our country is the top country of choice for illegal entry. We have to be vigilant.

 

Interesting that out of all the countries in SA (not sure about Marxist Venezuela) that Brazil is the only country with such bureaucratic policies. I am sure Brazil is a wonderful country, perhaps they will change the policy some day.

 

Is your post office or mail box 300 miles away too?

 

Yes indeed, such decisions, multiplied by thousands, do justify reciprocity IMO. Ever hear of "Do unto others..."? Argentina's reciprocity fee is also in that category.

Vigilant? The same US Consulate made the poor decisions to let in hundreds of thousands of people who overstayed their visas; now they are making poor decisions in the other extreme. Reality check: The poor economy in the US and the good economy at home has done more to make the US unattractive (except for extensive tourism and shopping trips) than all the "vigilance" and all the border fences the US can muster.

 

Note that "Marxist Venezuela" (and its oil company) is the only country supplying free oil to get the poor in the US northeast through freezing winters. For that, regardless of their motives, they deserve some respect IMO; no other country in the world has stepped up to the plate to help.

 

Brazil will indeed change the policy some day--the day after the US changes its policy for Brazilian citizens.

 

And as I said, it's your great loss not to experience Brazil.

[BlackJack2]

Just returned from the Brazilian Consulate in Houston, Texas. Extremely easy to get our visas. Went online, made an appointment, printed all the docs, attached our photos, and got the USPS money orders. We arrived 30 minutes before our appointment time and they took us right away. Ten minutes later, we were finished and out the door. It was a three hour drive from San Antonio to Houston, but well worth the peace of mind of having the visa and passports in hand.

[2ashevillesailors]

Did not realize this was a case of following suit with regard to US policy. Still, is this policy relegated just to Brazil or apply to other South American citizens as well? If not, then there still seems to me to be a problem with US-Brazil relations? I do know that from my research Brazil is the only country in South America with these requirements. IMHO, if this situation stands it will hurt the attendance at the Olympic games next year? Could be a major loss of revenue for them.

 

We are going to Buenos Aires and must pay a reciprocal fee. Due, to US charging a high fee to Argentina citizens. Tit for tat, that is how politicians work. We will have to pay online and have a printed copy with passport to get into Argentina when flying into the country. THANK YOU CRUISE CRITIC, WOULD NOT HAVE KNOW WITHOUT CRUISE CRITIC. Same scenario, we are now charging Argentina and Chile citizens, so now we have to pay $180 ea, plus flights are high at a total of $3700 for the two of us. We have had people canceling on our cruise with these extra costs. I got onto this site, my daughter is here, planned a trip to Rio and we just found out about this. She had no idea! They have hotel reservations but luckily no flights. She had no idea of this. If you live in South Carolina or North Carolina do you have to go to Miami??

[VidaNaPraia]

. If you live in South Carolina or North Carolina do you have to go to Miami??

North Carolina is the Washington, DC Consulate

South Carolina is the Atlanta, Ga Consulate

Washington accepts applications in person or by mail.

Atlanta's new site is still partially under construction and not all info is currently there, or in English, so hard to advise.

[LaCroisiereS'amuse]

And Brasil is not the only country to do this either......try Turkey......

 

Whilst you can buy your tourist visa on arrival it will cost you $100 whereas a British citizen will pay £10...less than a sixth of that paid by an American. Likewise those from Eurozone countries only pay €10.

[haskinskj]

Just visited the Miami Consulates web page for Visa info and discovered that they have removed the statement regarding non-acceptance of mailed visa applications and requiring one to appear in person at the consulate to obtain a visa. However, they still remain the only Brazilian Consulate, to my knowledge, requiring three months of financial records be included with an application.

 

Of course I don't know why they backed off the "in person" requirement, but then it seemed to me to be unreasonable in the first place. This does temper my attitude towards obtaining a Brazil Visa (I still have a bit of a problem with the 90 day financial requirement), but it comes too late to change things for me as I have already booked a cruise with Seabourn in the same time period.

 

Maybe the Amazon Explorer next year if the Miami Consulate doesn't repeat their antics?:D

 

My husband and I went to the Brazilian consulate in Miami this week (10/2/2013) to submit our applications for visas. We live in Jacksonville, FL and must use the Miami consulate. We flew to Miami (I had business there and my husband accompanied me). The consulate accepts applications between 10 AM and 12 Noon Monday through Friday. You must be in the consulate room at 12:00 or you will not be able to submit your application. No appointments are necessary and, as a matter of fact, I could not find a way to make the appointment. Make sure you understand the paperwork requirements; it is quite tedious but the website is clear about what is required. It is amazing when you get there. You can only pay by cash (through a bank ATM--more about that in a second) or a US Postal Service money order. We had cash; there is a Bank of Brazil ATM in the room and we were able to deposit our money and get our receipt with our name on the receipt. This is what we gave to the person processing visas.

 

We arrived about 10:45 and were called to the window at 12:45. By the way, we saw many people turned away because they did not have the proper paperwork or couldn't use the ATM to pay in cash. I had spent time understanding the requirements through the website and had all of the required paperwork. We spent about 7-10 minutes at the window and completed the process. We left our passports for "processing" (getting the visas into the passports) which would take 10 business days. They would mail us our passports provided that we gave them a US Post Office overnight delivery envelope so they could mail them to us.

 

I agree the process is tedious. I sweated the details and I am glad I did as I saw so many people turned away in order to complete the paperwork or to have the right amount of cash to pay for the visas. I recognize that other Brazilian consulates are not so demanding; it is the luck of the draw which one you are assigned to (geography) and what their requirements are. Fortunately, we had all of the paperwork, had filled out all of the forms required and will have our passports back in 10 business days (fingers crossed!).

 

You no longer have to go in person to the Miami Consulate. However, they are very clear that in person applications are processed more rapidly than mailed applications. Since I had business in Miami any way and my husband didn't complain about making the trip we made it in person.

 

And now I can look forward to our trip once we go to the Argentinian website to pay our reciprocity fee! At least that one can be done online!

 

I would not give up this trip because I don't like the visa process. There is some justice in their requiring the same detail we require from Brazilian citizens. I am just glad I can visit Brazil and all of the other South American countries in December!

[FloatSomeMore]

We live in North Carolina and are traveling to Brazil in December. I applied by mail to the Washington D.C. embassy. I spent a lot of time reviewing their requirements to make sure I got it right (we used a visa service for our China trip). I had questions on two separate issues and emailed the embassy twice for information. They responded within 24 hours both times and were lovely in their response. You have to complete their visa questionnaire on line regardless of whether you use a visa service agency so it just seemed silly to pay extra when I could do it myself. We received our visa within two weeks of our application. We are very excited to visit this exotic country!

[travelplus]

My Father and I booked a cruise from Santos(Sao Paulo) to Barcelona for April 2014. I read online about the application process for a Visa to Brazil.

 

Let me say while it does sound hard it wasn't that bad. As we live close to the San Francisco Consulate it was a piece of cake.

 

We filled out the forms online and printed it out. Then we made two separate appointments but they do accept the earliest appointment and date .

 

Before we went to the Brazilian Consulate we got a money order and a USPS Priority Express Envelope(note this is the only envelope they accept as its trackable and has $ 100 insurance).

 

Then we made sure we had the proper passport sized photo and attached it to the application form.

 

I went and printed out our Airline Confirmation and Cruise Reservation along with the itinerary of the cruise. Note don't just come with your SetSail Passes they need the Confirmation and copy of the itinerary of the ship.

 

When we arrived for our 11:00 Appointment we waited all of 5 minutes and were called by the officer who was easy to deal with and was very nice. We did not have the proper envelope to mail our passports back so he told my Father to go to the post office and he returned and the officer said we should have our Visas within a week and to track the status online.

 

Today is a week and its ready to be mailed or you could pick it up but its easier to have it mailed back. I will check the Visa to confirm the date is correct on it etc.

 

All in all a very painless process. Just be prepared with all of your documents and its very easy. The entire process took all of 45 minutes and we saved the hefty fees of a Visa expediter.

[4774Papa]

And Brasil is not the only country to do this either......try Turkey......

 

Whilst you can buy your tourist visa on arrival it will cost you $100 whereas a British citizen will pay £10...less than a sixth of that paid by an American. Likewise those from Eurozone countries only pay €10.

We just visited Turkey and did a Black Sea cruise. The Turkish Visa was not $100. It cost us $20 pp.