BRAZILIAN VISA process at Los Angeles Consulate

[imrthr]

After many delays, today I finally took the time to go to the Brazilian Consulate in Los Angeles (Beverly Hills) to obtain a VISA for my Brazil trip. Prior to arrival, I completed the application form and dutifully attached my photograph as instructed on the form. Upon my arrival, I noticed a “take a number” system in place. I took a number and a seat and proceeded to wait to be called. The room had about twenty-five people waiting for VISA processing.

 

I could not help but be amused because most of the people in the waiting room were older single men who were obviously of our persuasion. I wonder how many of them learned of Brazil from this board. Most were more than fifty years of age and three of those were obvious screamers.

 

While in the waiting room I could hear the conversations between the applicants and the person behind the window at the Consular office. Firstly, an applicant is not given a receipt for the $100.00 cash payment that must be paid for a Brazilian VISA. The lack of a receipt for the payment made some of the applicants unhappy.

 

Secondly, the applicant must surrender the American passport and leave it with the person behind the window at the Consular office while a receipt for the American passport is not given to the applicant leaving the passport. If the passport gets lost, I wonder how this would be resolved with no proof of leaving the passport there.

 

Thirdly, because of a “heavy volume” of applicants, it takes more than one week for the issuance of a Brazilian VISA and for the concomitant return of the American passport. Those of us who often travel out of the country on short notice find this delay system disconcerting. As I have a foreign trip scheduled next week, I had to defer leaving my passport today.

 

In short, I found the Brazilian VISA process system to be an unpleasant task. However, if I want to go to Brazil, I must go along with their requirements, as silly and stupid as they are.

[bigguyinpasadena]

Imrthr,THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!! for your very informative post.It really sounds like a banana republic buerocratic nightmare.Why will they not accept a photocopy of your passport?And no reciepts given -cash only-that is ridiculous.There MUST be another way of procuring the necessery papers.If they "loose"your pasport I am sure it will be a hassle to get another,and with credit card-identity fraud rampant in the world today this just seems too far out there to be real.

OK all of you savvy travelers-How do you get a visa without taking these stupid risks?

[imrthr]

There MUST be another way of procuring the

>necessery papers.If they "loose"your pasport I am sure it will

>be a hassle to get another,

 

Sorry Big Guy, besides cash, they will take a money order but not a personal or company check. Even then, the only receipt you will have is the money order once it is cashed. While I was there, sitting right near the only open window taking VISA applications, only cash was given.

[Guest BottomBoyRandy8]

This is pretty much the same thing I experienced --- HOWEVER I got my visa with no problem and I am now safely in Rio as of noon today!

Hooray!

No, receipt, no problem. They gave me a receipt when I piced up my passport. they did give me a claim check and explained that that was to verify that I did leave my passpórt. Again no problem whatsoever ---- I overheard someone asking for an immediate visa due to an emergency trip and think they were going to help her out.

When I was there same thing...I thought most of the guys were going for the same reason! I wouldnt worry.

[imrthr]

> They gave me a receipt when I picked

>up my passport. they did give me a claim check and explained

>that that was to verify that I did leave my passpórt. Again

>no problem whatsoever ---- I overheard someone asking for an

>immediate visa due to an emergency trip and think they were

>going to help her out.

 

 

When I spoke with the Consulate agent at the window I showed my airline ticket that proves that I leave next week out of the United States to another destination and that I need my passport for that trip. It did no good. I offered to pay a fee to expedite the VISA but I was told there in no possibilty to expedite. Others who went to the VISA window prior to my going there complained that they were not given a receipt or some verification that their passport was left at the Consulate office.

 

Statistics are on your side. You will probably not have a problem and your passport will not get lost. However, Brazil's VISA requirement is an unnecessary ordeal considering that most European and other countries do not not require us to have a VISA. Like I said, I will cooperate with the program only because I want to go to Brazil. Were it not for my desire to visit Brazil, together with the VISA nonsense, I would chuck the idea and continue vacationing elsewhere.

 

One more thing, while I was waiting to be called to the VISA window, I observed only two people (of the twenty-five ahead of me) leave the Consulate office after they refused to leave their passports without a receipt. This shows faith in the system (I guess)!

[CT Dick]

>In short, I found the Brazilian VISA process system to be an

>unpleasant task. However, if I want to go to Brazil, I must

>go along with their requirements, as silly and stupid as they

>are.

 

Speaking of silly and stupid, can you imagine what it is like for foreigners to get a visa to come to the USA? Until recently, they asked elderly European women if they were prostitutes. Can you imagine?

 

The fact is, Brazil believes in reciprocity: If a country requires a visa (like the USA), they require one back. If a country doesn't, like the EU countries, there is no visa requirement.

 

What goes around, comes around.

 

Dick

[BillyZ]

Turn About is Fair Play

 

-- "Brazil's VISA requirement is an unnecessary

-- ordeal considering that most European and

-- other countries do not not require us to

-- have a VISA."

 

It is understandable that we'd prefer to

breeze in and out of Brazil without the

hassle and expense of a visa. But it is

a matter of reciprocity as far as the

government of Brazil is concerned. As long

as we do not extend an open, visa-free entry

to Brazilians, they will not do so to us.

I have to respect their pride!

 

While it makes my travel a lot easier that

many countries are so eager for American

tourists that they do not demand reciprocity,

I cannot begrudge the Brazilians for their

refusal to allow a double standard.

 

 

As for IMRTHR's amusing description of the

visa waiting room, I wonder what the tipping

point is for triggering a draconian crackdown

of the whole sauna scene. I owe a lot to this

board, and yet, frankly, I am a bit worried

about it's being "too successful"! Hope I'm

wrong.

[trilingual]

Although I don't think it's in Brazil's best interest to exercise its right to reciprocate against the U.S. because of our visa requirements for Brazilian tourists, Brazil certainly has the right to do whatever it pleases. It may come as a surprise to many Americans, but they don't have a G-d given right to enter any country they want to visit! That's what sovereignty is all about. Countries get to set their own rules!

 

As for leaving the passport, you have to do that for ANY country that requires a visa (other than the kind that are issued at the airport upon entry, which doesn't apply to Brazil). The visa is stamped into your passport, so a photocopy won't do.

 

Brazilian consulates tend to be understaffed, and their staffs aren't exactly overpaid (especially considering the cost of living for a Brazilian in the U.S.) but they seem to do the best they can, and I don't know anyone who's had their passport lost in the process. I can't say it never happens, but it's never happened to anyone I know, and I've never heard of it happening, so personally I don't believe there's much to worry about in leaving your passport for processing.

 

I've also never received a receipt for my visa fee, but I always paid by a bank money order, so it wouldn't be difficult to check if there was ever a dispute. However, there's never been a dispute, so it's a moot point.

 

Finally, what Brazil requires Americans to go through to get a visa is a breeze compared to what the U.S. requires foreign visitors to go through for an American visa. To say that we treat people loathesomely is probably putting too rosy a glow on it. The U.S. visa process, alone, has probably generated more hatred towards the U.S. than any other single thing we do.

 

If you resent having to leave your passport at the window at the Brazilian consulate, imagine how you'd feel if you had to schedule a personal interview at a consulate thousands of miles from your home in order to get a visa (and have to PAY a 900-type number just to get the appointment, or information about getting a passport), then pay a US$100 visa fee that's non-refundable even if your application is rejected (and according to figures I saw in the papers in the past couple of days, nearly a third of applications are being rejected these days), and provide a ream of documentation, including your income tax returns, pay stubs, bank statements, proof of employment, copies of deeds or leases, etc. ALL OF THESE! And then be treated rudely and contemptuously by the consulate staff. Because that's what the U.S. does to foreign visa applicants. Oh, and we also require that foreign applicants leave their passports for days and weeks, because U.S. visas are stamped into the passport, too, and that can only be done in certain locations. A Brazilian friend from Porto Alegre, where there is no longer a U.S. consulate, recently applied to have his visa renewed and it took him nearly three weeks to get his passport back (two days before he was scheduled to travel).

[imrthr]

Tri, you make a moving and sound rebuttal to my displeasure with the Brazilian requirement and process for a visa from U.S. citizens. My response to your rebuttal is that Brazil fails to realize that their visa requirement is tantamount to "shooting itself in the foot." I say this because Brazil's economy needs American tourist money more than it needs the $100.00 fee that it gets from Americans who are willing to go through the visa process. Admittedly, it is no big deal to obtain and complete a visa form and obtain a photograph and attach it to the form; but it is time consuming and inconvenient and for large families, a burdonsome expense. It is also no big deal to go to the Consulate office or mail the application there for processing.

 

However, I do think it is a big deal for Brazil to retaliate (Brazil calls it "reciprocating") against American tourists merely because the America government abuses Brazilian applicants for a visa to this Country. A fallout to the visa retaliation is the fact that it is not possible to measure or know the lost tourist dollars to Brazil from those Americans who are not willing to go through the visa process.

 

In the late 1980s France required Americans to have a visa to visit France. What happened as a result of that requirement? Millions of Americans bypassed France during visits to Europe. France eventually realized that their tourist economy suffered greatly as a result of the visa requirement because Americans would not go through the hassle to obtain a visa. France eventually rescinded the visa requirement for Americans. The French tourist business resumed yet America still hassles French citizens who wish to visit America.

 

Taking the "high road" is always better than retaliation.

[Guest sucker]

RE: BRAZILIAN VISA process at SAN FRANCISCO

 

i found the process of getting a visa in San Francisco no hassle at all.

The consulate staff was friendly and informative. I dropped my application off in the morning and was able to pick up my completed visa that afternoon.

So not all the offices are as overwhelmed as LA sounds.

By the way, I went to Turkey last winter and had to pay 100 US dollars for a visa to get into the country, again because of reciprocity......but they very wisely had an office right in the passport control room and you could pay your 100 USD on the spot, with very little waiting, and get you passport stamped without the hassle of applying at a consulate in advance ....but it was only good for 3 months.

The Brazilian visa is good for 5 years...so at the price its a bargin....only 20 USD per year over the course of its validity...about as much as you would pay for one of those gorgeous Rio Loveboys!

[trilingual]

>Brazil fails to realize that their visa requirement is tantamount to

>"shooting itself in the foot." I say this because Brazil's

>economy needs American tourist money more than it needs the

>$100.00 fee that it gets from Americans who are willing to go

>through the visa process.

 

I agree with you on this point. That's why I said I disagree with Brazil's decision to exercise its reciprocity rights. Even without the current terrorism scare (and the resulting ugly fallout, like the newest ultra-restrictive visa process) there was no question that the U.S. is a huge magnet for illegal immigration, and U.S. immigration law was designed to deal with that problem. Unfortunately, many people who entered the U.S. from less developed nations overstayed their visas or simply never went home at all. That made them ineligible for participation in the visa waiver program that applies to the EU countries and Japan.

 

Obviously, Brazil has the right to do whatever it wants to do as far as entry requirements go, but as you pointed out, Brazil needs tourist dollars. Brazil also is not faced with a flood of illegal immigrants from the U.S.

 

I don't know why Brazil is so insistent of reciprocal treatment. For a number of years during the 90s, visitors from Argentina and Uruguay didn't need visas to visit the U.S. because those countries qualified for the visa waiver program. When their economies tanked after their currencies were suddenly devalued, the problem of overstays and illegal immigration from those countries increased dramatically and visa requirements were reinstated. In spite of that, neither Argentina nor Uruguay have exercised their right to reciprocate by requiring visas for American visitors. Presumably they do understand that such an action would be penny-wise but pound-foolish. As a result, with devaluation Argentina has become a very attractive destination and is receiving record numbers of American tourists. I'd hope that Brazil would learn a lesson from the experience of its neighbors, but so far it seems to prefer going against the tide and continuing to exercise reciprocity in a kind of mechanistic fashion.

 

The one big advantage of Brazil's visa requirement is that the Americans who visit Brazil are people who REALLY want to go there! Like us! Others with less interest or commitment are likely to be discouraged by the visa process.

[dick_nyc]

I am really surprised at your experience. In New York I had to turn in the passport and the money order. They gave me a claim check and was told to come back after 1 PM the next afternoon. I turned in the claim check and got my visa the next day. No hassle, no question. I was also given a receipt when I got the visa. That was in January of this year.

 

They asked me for a copy of the itinerary and proof of where I was going to stay, the money order and the passport. I got back the claim check. The next day I turned in the claim check and got back the passport, the visa and a receipt. No hassle, no problem, they could not have been nicer. The place was absolutely jam packed. When I got there my number was 105 and they were on number 50. I was taken care of within an hour.

[CT Dick]

>When I got there my number was 105 and they

>were on number 50. I was taken care of within an

>hour.

 

And, that is why I'm glad I used a service. It cost me $100 but was NO hassle.

 

Dick

[Guest msclonly]

Will they return the Passport with the Visa by MAIL?

 

It would help avoid a return drive to LA to pick it up!

 

Thanks

[imrthr]

>Will they return the Passport with the Visa by MAIL?

>

>It would help avoid a return drive to LA to pick it up!

>

 

Yes they will issue the visa by mail.. Here is their website. Click on - Visa

 

http://www.brazilian-consulate.org/

 

They charge an extra ten dollars if you do it by mail. However, the processing time is greater than if you apply in person.

[+ Axiom2001]

RE: BRAZILIAN VISA process at SAN FRANCISCO

 

Apparently I was fortunate when I received my visa in San Francisco for Brasil in October of 2002. I paid sixty dollars prior to the increase, received my visa an hour after I appeared at the window (since I had planned to depart California a week later for Brasil), and I even RECEIVED a receipt which I looked at just the other day. I must presume from the previous responses that some procedures changed after the increase in fee.

 

Also, when my good friend applied in February of this year, a few days prior to our leaving for Carnaval 2003-- his visa was issued on the same day within a matter of minutes after he'd applied. He and I did not have to wait in the office too long, and at this time, the personnel for the consulate were busy.

 

So-- I guess the two of us were blessed. At both intervals-- we just explained that we did not live in SF and that we'd be leaving a few days later for Brasil, and the folks cordially complied. I even hadn't signed my newly-renewed passport which I'd had for almost a year and had used when I traveled to South Africa a year prior; the lady behind the window advised me to do so! I thanked her and "cracked" up!

 

So, men, just go with the flow in hopes that all will be well for you! Too bad that some difficulties were encountered in LA.

[Guest trescho75]

>In the late 1980s France required Americans to have a visa to

>visit France. What happened as a result of that requirement?

>Millions of Americans bypassed France during visits to Europe.

> France eventually realized that their tourist economy

>suffered greatly as a result of the visa requirement because

>Americans would not go through the hassle to obtain a visa.

>France eventually rescinded the visa requirement for

>Americans. The French tourist business resumed yet America

>still hassles French citizens who wish to visit America.

>

 

 

It is true that "Ze French" had imposed visas on all non EU citizens after terrorist attacks in Paris in the mid 80s. But in the mean time, in those days, ALL French citizens had to get a visa to enter the US. It is only after an agreement between Paris and Washington that visas were rescinded at the same time for nationals of both countries.

Now the friendly Bush administration is imposing new measures on all foreigners willing to enter the US. If you have the new electonically encoded passport which is being unrolled worldwide you can go into the US with a visa waiver. If you dont have it because passports are valid 5 years and you got yours 2 years ago, AND if you are a EU national, you dont really need a visa: YOU NEED A FACE TO FACE INTERVIEW WITH A US CONSULATE EMPLOYEE. Current delays: 8 weeks to have that interview. I guess my old mother will also be asked if she is going to the US as a prostitute or I will will have to prove my great grand father never went to a communist meeting in the 30s.

Funny: with a lower dollar, the measure was not enfoced during the peak summer season when the Europeans were going to the US in droves. But I guess the former has nothing to do with the latter.

Trescho75

[Luv2play]

I had the same experience at the Brazilian Consulate in Miami, next day service and no hassle. Must be the LA office, maybe yet another sign of La-la land.:+

[Guest msclonly]

I am down to 3 blank pages in my Passport that expires Jun 05.

Need 2 of those pages for the Brazil Visa with a trip to Canada before the Brazil trip in Oct.

 

Where can I get additional pages added to my Passport?

 

Or should I apply for a new one, Promptly?

 

Thanks, M

[Guest trescho75]

... and my I add that a phone call to the Consulate to get info on the new processes is charged 14.5 euros or about $15.5...

[imrthr]

>I am down to 3 blank pages in my Passport that expires Jun

>05.

>Need 2 of those pages for the Brazil Visa with a trip to

>Canada before the Brazil trip in Oct.

>

>Where can I get additional pages added to my Passport?

>

>Or should I apply for a new one, Promptly?

>

>Thanks, M

 

No need to apply for a new passport. Simply go to the nearest passport office (not post office), complete the appropriate form and request that additional pages be added to your passport. There is no charge for the added pages. However the process takes anywhere from a week to several weeks. For a $60.00 "expedite fee", you can have the pages added and a return of your passport the next day.

 

Only last month I went through this procedure to have pages added to my passport, using the $60.00 expedite method. As promised by the passport agent, my passport was ready the next day. No problem.

[Guest msclonly]

New Passport or add pages to old one!

 

The reason I considered applying for a new passport is the old one is expiring Jun 05, while the Brazilian Visa will be good for 5 years and I may want to go back, since there will be no hassle to get another visa. Also, will have other trips to Argentina, and some other foreign places, if flying becomes safer. Am ready for repeats of the spas in Germany.

 

Need to use a couple million Frequent Flyer miles up before they are depreciated. Over 1.5 Million miles to go! They make for nice upgrades on Coach tickets.

 

Thailand in December is already ticketed. Old miles from American Airlines for a First Class ticket on Cathay Pacific. It is a repeat of last year's Get Away From the Holidays annual trip. It is the best service in the sky! Worth every mile of the 135,000 miles, instead of $11,000.00! I think it is the best deal for miles along with the Krug Champagne and Cavier!

 

Funny, I have an older Passport from 1985-95 with 30 of the 48 pages empty!

[Funseeker 22]

It`s funny how things have changed there in apparently just a few months.

I got there last Oct around 9.30am and turned the info in at about 10.15am. They also wanted me to return a week later but I was leaving the US again before that time. I was then told that I could get my passport with the visa after 3pm that same day.

Guess it all depends on how busy they are or else they are getting on to our reason to visit.

[trilingual]

RE: New Passport or add pages to old one!

 

>The reason I considered applying for a new passport is the

>old one is expiring Jun 05, while the Brazilian Visa will be

>good for 5 years and I may want to go back, since there will

>be no hassle to get another visa.

 

Well, you've got almost two years validity left on your passport, so I wouldn't recommend renewing yet. Just get the extra pages for free (or the $60 expedited service fee).

 

If your passport expires before your Brazilian visa does (as mine has) just bring BOTH the old and new passports with you when you travel to Brazil. The visa continues to be valid, even though the passport it's in has expired. (The U.S. does the same thing with visas for travel here, because they usually are valid for ten years and most countries' passports are only valid for five years.) This will save you having to reapply for a visa and paying the US$100 fee.

 

To help you find the Brazilian visa in all those extra pages, just put a paper clip on the page with the visa. That will also help you show the immigration official in Brazil where it is. In addition, to avoid losing it (and the hassles associated with that) use the clip to hold the tourist card you get upon arrival in Brazil. It has to be surrendered to Brazilian immigration when you leave, and there are bureaucratic hassles and possible fines if you do lose it.

[trilingual]

>... and my I add that a phone call to the Consulate to get

>info on the new processes is charged 14.5 euros or about

>$15.5...

 

And Americans wonder why everybody hates us! Who wouldn't hate being fleeced by the richest nation in the history of the world just because they want to visit a friend in Sheboygan, take the kids to Disneyworld, or see the Grand Canyon? Not to mention being forced to spend money to fly to an interview in a distant city, pay another non-refundable USD100 for a visa you're not guaranteed to get, have to produce documentation of your life history and financial status that any American would consider the grossest invasion of privacy, undergo the third degree, and be treated rudely and contemptuously for all your trouble.