Everyone has a Brazilian visa story

July 16 2008

On Saturday, I'm leaving for São Paulo and Rio, Brasil.  But this is a trip that almost wasn't, because getting a business visa for Brasil is a cumbersome and lengthy process.  The lengthy part I knew -- the Chicago Brazilian consulate says that it takes them eight working days to process the visa request.  This is after you fill out an electronic application, book your travel and print out the itinerary, get a letter from your in-country host, get a letter from your employer, provide a passport-sized photo, sign a form and an affidavit, and pay.  Oh yes, it's not cheap, either.  The fee for a business visa is US$190.  As a bonus, the consulate here in Chicago will only take that payment in the form of a money order from the US Postal Service, for the exact amount.

So all of that would have been fine, though being without my passport while processing the visa meant that I wasn't able to go to Germany this week for customer meetings.  Unfortunately, I couldn't do this sooner.  I returned from Paris and London on June 24, and sent my passport all of the required paperwork to CIBT's Chicago office via FedEx for arrival on June 27.  CIBT is a visa "expedite" service, and they bought out Express Visa, who IBM used to use and was very good.  This was my first CIBT experience, and will likely be my last.  After correcting one bit of my submission (I left out a form that wasn't on their checklist), CIBT waited three business days before attempting to process my application.  Supposedly, the Consulate told them sorry, not enough time to process, and rejected it.  Nobody from CIBT told me this until I called a week ago Monday...just barely eight business days before my trip.   Now, Brasil is unique in that there is simply nothing that can be done to "expedite" an application -- for other countries, you can pay extra for faster service, for example.  Such is not the case here.

I rushed into the city in a last-ditch effort to handle the whole thing myself -- which it appears is what I should have done in the first place. This wasn't particularly easy -- I had to navigate the CIBT office, to the Post Office, to the Brazilian Consulate all in the span of about an hour.  I walked into the Consulate at 11:50 AM, feeling like I had just dodged a bullet.  Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of it.  CIBT had told me the money order should be for US$210, so that's what I had.  The Consulate informed me that because I was there in person, the charge was only $190.  Could they keep the change?  No, of course not.  I needed a new money order.  The good news was that they are open until 12:30, so I was able to rush back to the Post Office, fix the amount, and back to the Consulate.  She processed the application and gave me a claim check for pickup -- on July 23, the day I'm supposed to be teaching at Lotus Top Gun in São Paulo.  I explained that I was leaving on the 19th, and that the website says eight business days.  She responded that the website also says that it can take longer at the Consulate's sole discretion, and that the pre-printed claim check indicated 12 days.  But she gave me a glimmer of hope, saying "you can come by on the 18th to see if it is ready.  But if not, no complaints!"  (Yes, this was a direct quote).  

Dejected, I made arrangements for my presentation to be covered by others, and stopped reading tour book descriptions of places like Embu that I'd like to visit over the weekend.  Still, a part of me held out hope, since after all, my itinerary said that I was leaving on the 19th, and she took the application anyway.  Yesterday, I checked the Brazilian SCEDV website for status, where the word "Pronto" appeared.  In Spanish, that word means "soon".  But a tweet later, and I learned from Pedro that in Portuguese, it can also (and more generally) means "ready".  

Image:Everyone has a Brazilian visa story

I printed out the status and made arrangements to head into Chicago this morning.  It was earlier than the 18th, but hey, "ready" is "ready", and I needed as much time as possible to confirm customer meetings.  I arrived at the Consulate at 9:05 and handed over my claim check and the print out.  She looked at them both and said, "the thing is, 'ready' does not mean 'ready', this is a problem we have with the website".  She looked through her drawer and said sorry, not here, we told you the 23rd.  But then she decided to dig through the drawer one more time, and woot -- there it was, ready to go.  I guess "pronto" really does mean "ready".

I realize that my situation is somewhat unique, in that it has been really hard this year to be without my passport for any sequence of more than a few weeks -- business is good, everywhere, a good problem to have.  In the end, it looks like I'll be on that plane on Saturday after all, and looking forward to five great days in Brasil.  Now the only complication is that I'll be going back and forth between São Paulo and Rio, alternating days and cities -- maybe also a good problem to have.

Ed Brill | Metra UP North, Chicago-Ft Sheridan Category:  Travel  Add/View Comments [28]

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  1. 1  adam christensen http://twitter.com/adamclyde | 7/16/2008 12:36:09 PM

    Congratulations. Seriously, next time you are almost better flying to NYC for 2 days. The brazilian consulate in NYC has a guaranteed next day service if you go in person.

    Now, about your trip... going between Rio and Sao Paulo isn't hard - but make sure you fly between the two from the domestic airports (Sao Paulo = Congonhas (CGH); Rio = Santos Dumont). The Int'l airport, particularly Guarulhos in Sao Paulo, is a far hike outside the city from where you are likely to be, while Congonhas is right in the center of the city). You'll save time and a LOT of headache. Check in is faster on both sides and you'll be closer to your destination in both cases too.

    I flew TAM between the two a few times. Great customer service and they all spoke english too.

    Good luck and have a blast. You'll love Embu too... don't miss it!

  1. 2  Ben Rose http://www.jaffacake.net | 7/16/2008 12:36:10 PM

    When my dad travelled extensively on business, he was granted special permission by the UK Home Office to hold not one but 2 British passports. One was a standard passport which he generally used for European travel, the other a 100 page beast in which he had all the visas etc he collected from his travels.

    He simply couldn't do his job without having a passport to use whilst his other was sat on a desk in some foreign embassy or other.

    I'm surprised you haven't got the same.

  1. 3  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 7/16/2008 12:48:38 PM

    @1 TAM is also a United partner, so that will help with my mileage account there... since I now am flying AA back from Rio instead of UA from SP. Thanks for that tip.

    @2 No idea if that's even possible... this passport probably will only last another year or so, as it has 96 pages which is the maximum. I'll have to look into it.

  1. 4  Kurt Binnie  | 7/16/2008 1:01:56 PM

    "She looked at them both and said, "the thing is, 'ready' does not mean 'ready', this is a problem we have with the website"."

    That's a good one.. I'll have to remember that line.

    I'm glad it worked out in time.

  1. 5  Rick Sizemore  | 7/16/2008 1:23:45 PM

    Did Brazil change there visa policy in the last few years? I went down for a trip to Argentina and Brazil and didn't get a visa for either. This was in 2002 or 2003, so I could see it changing. But I've been to Canada for work probably 100 times and they just made me get a work visa (and a Nexxus card) earlier in the year.

    I was in Australia earlier in the year and you apply online and pay $35, but they don't actually check at immigration, he laughed when I said I got a visa, "American's don't get visa's, they're Americans...mate" not sure what to make of that.

  1. 6  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 7/16/2008 1:32:27 PM

    @5 Rick, when I went in 2006, it was as a tourist, but even then I needed a US$100 visa, just less paperwork. This time it was more paperwork, more money.

    I believe, given that $130 of the fee is a "reciprocity fee", that much of this is driven by what the US government requires for Brazilians to visit the US.

  1. 7  Mike Lazar  | 7/16/2008 1:45:56 PM

    Yes, I told you my story, and I'm glad yours turned out better. When I tried to go to a city 60 miles from Sao Paulo (can't remember the name, but it's industrial with 1M people), the person at the consulate in Chicago actually laughed at me. He told me that there was no way I was getting to that city without the full blown work visa, which was a 3-4 month process, and my chances of getting that visa was slim to none. They told me the only way I was getting to Brasil was as a tourist in Rio.

    I also had the same issue with CIBT. They were useless. Granted, I wasn't getting in anyway, but they didn't get me the correct forms, fees, or timelines. That's what sent me downtown and to my interesting encounter at the consulate.

  1. 8  Graham Dodge  | 7/16/2008 2:44:03 PM

    @5 Australians tend to look on Americans as distant cousins who are welcome to drop in at a party unannounced because they always bring a case of beer.

    We feel the same about Canadians but we have extra sympathy for them because they have to live next to the Americans :)

  1. 9  Pedro Quaresma http://playroom3.wordpress.com | 7/16/2008 2:44:28 PM

    Having suffered Portuguese bureaucracy for too many years, I kinda feared that "ready" didn't necessarily mean "available", but fortunately everything worked out fine.

    Glad to have been of assistance! ;-)

  1. 10  Michael Kobrowski  | 7/16/2008 3:03:56 PM

    After having wrangled with German and American bureaucracy it is nice to see that southern countries Brazil/Portugal also have embraced some of the advances of modern bureaucracy.

    Best experience was still when a city office worker in Germany told my US fiance and me that they require a letter from the judge who divorced her to make sure she was really not longer married in the US.

    She even showed us an example of such a letter. It said right on the letter that this was just written for the German government agency, and that of course they were divorced as the divorce papers indicated all along...

  1. 11  Brian Benz http://www.softwaresoapbox.com | 7/16/2008 3:25:24 PM

    Had a similar experience in March this year, but the Brazil consulate in LA takes THREE WEEKS, with or without CIBT...My first application was rejected because they took so long to process that the travel dates had passed, so total to get the visa was 7 weeks!

    By the time I had cleared all the hurdles, things had changed and I was needed elsewhere. Nice souvenir I guess...and I was the lucky one. Another colleague on that trip was actually told that they had to apply for immigration because they had requested a stay of more than three weeks.

    One interesting aside - while waiting I had to take a trip to Mexico City, and my usual backup (Canadian passport) was expired, but according to the state department's western hemisphere travel initiative I didn't need one at the time ( I would now): { Link }

    But I didn't get to go. What should not have been a problem....was. Apparently the airlines had decided to enforce the passport rules earlier than the actual borders required, so I wasn't able to get on a plane without a passport, even though there would have been no problem when I arrived or returned....I even showed the agreement page to the airline staff, to no avail. Denied boarding.

  1. 12  LongLiveLotus  | 7/16/2008 4:02:02 PM

    Ed,

    second the comments made by 1) also the planes between Rio-SP run like taxis, no real need to book in advance, just pitch and take the next convenient. I had kittens about this when I was in Rio in 06 [at a similar time ;-)] but it works fine.

    Poster 2) is correct too - many of our (English) employees have 2 passports, not that unusual. We can get ours with extra pages in (for a fee I think) for more of those all important immigration stamps.

    Lastly, as a uk citizen, we just walk into Brazil, no visa reqd for biz or pleasure. Your stosy makes me very thankful for that.

    Have a great trip and easy on the capparinha's sir !

  1. 13  LongLiveLotus  | 7/16/2008 4:05:33 PM

    PS

    forgot to mention, the approach to from Santos Dumont is spectacular due to the short runway, steep circling approach angle and mountain dodging that goes on. Definately a, ahem, experience...

  1. 14  Roberto Boccadoro  | 7/16/2008 4:11:39 PM

    Reminds me of the times I had to go to Pakistan or Russia. Took forever to get the visa. Thank God I could fly all over Europe with my ID card. There are some things good about European Union :-)

    Say hi to Brazil from me, I still have some very distant relatives living there.

  1. 15  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 7/16/2008 4:21:36 PM

    @12/13 - Looks like I'll be at the Marriott Copacabana one night... two years to the week...

  1. 16  Todd Carpenter http://www.embraer.com | 7/16/2008 5:24:14 PM

    @7 Mike - Could the city have been Sao Jose dos Campos?

  1. 17  LongLiveLotus  | 7/16/2008 5:42:27 PM

    @15 I am shrek like with envy...! I'll think of you while on my annual hol in Rome/Sorrento next week, not been there before but looks outstanding (great use of Hilton points). I've not been back to Brazil since (but am working hard to, probably 30% chance this year). Things have moved on alot in those 2 years for ND, business and personally. Life's good eh!

  1. 18  Mike Lazar  | 7/16/2008 6:19:02 PM

    @16 - Not sure...Oropreto or something like that seems to ring a bell. There's a big OptiGlobe datacenter nearby, I know that.

  1. 19  Bernard  | 7/16/2008 6:23:26 PM

    "Lastly, as a uk citizen, we just walk into Brazil, no visa reqd for biz or pleasure. Your stosy makes me very thankful for that."

    And that means the same for Brazilians. Which is why there is a Brazilian ex-pat newspaper in London with a circulation of 100,000. Every single one I've asked freely admitted to being here illegally, once their tourist visa ran out. Many pass themselves off as Portuguese, thinking (quite rightly) that most people can't tell the difference between a Portuguese accent and a Brazilian accent. Still, at least they ones I've met have been polite and friendly even if they were all law-breakers.

  1. 20  Bill Brown  | 7/17/2008 7:40:49 AM

    @8, Why would you want an American to bring the beer? { Link }

  1. 21  Mario  | 7/17/2008 7:54:05 AM

    Hey, try to be a brazilian asking for a US VISA and you will see how hard it is. There is an interview that we must go through at an US consulate/embassy and the current schedulle (as of today) points to at least two months ahead. I know many (really, manny) children - like 8 years old - that had VISAs denied without any explanation.

    I really believe that both countries should easy the process.

  1. 22  Danny Lawrence  | 7/17/2008 8:33:13 AM

    @20 Bill, I don't think Graham meant that he wanted American beer, he meant that Americans are like the cousin that always brings beer to any party he attends.

  1. 23  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 7/17/2008 8:38:19 AM

    @21 I completely understand, and I believe our government should be handling many of our border control processes differently. And for sure I know it is harder to come here than any of the requirements put on me to come there. Still that is now past, and for the next 12 months, no issues...maybe I will come again after next week :D

  1. 24  Patrick Montavon  | 7/17/2008 8:46:21 AM

    I dunno if things have changed, but in early 2006 I visited Brazil starting in Natal, through Brasilia, up north to Marabà , back South to Rio, Sao Paolo and finally to Porto Seguro without any Visa. Just the usual immigration check in Natal at entering the country. Being a Swiss citizen might have a play in there. :)

    For the record, the week in Rio was a total blast. And the take off from Santos Dumont is as much of a thrill as is the landing there "Will it make it in the air before the runway ends... or not?" Muaha!

    Enjoy your time in Brazil, and say hello to the HELP on Copacabana from me.

  1. 25  Kevin Mort http://www.theglobalmind.com | 7/17/2008 9:18:07 AM

    @19 - When we were in Kuala Lumpur back in 2006 there was a magazine in the room titled "Expatriate Lifestyle."

    Having never been to that area of the world we did some reasearch to figure out what all we needed for there and Thailand, which as it turns out was basically "just show up with passport." While citizens of many other nations required formal visas ahead of time.

  1. 26  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 7/17/2008 11:05:50 AM

    @1 regarding the NYC consulate -- wasn't an option. Each consulate has a regional jurisdiction... you MUST apply for the visa that services your region.

  1. 27  Bernard  | 7/17/2008 5:13:52 PM

    @25, yes I know all about that. I have been to Thailand many times, and being British I only had to fill in the visa request form on the plane as it came into land. Meanwhile my Thai boyfriend (he's 35) was refused visas to enter the UK year after year. @19 I was just expressing my exasperation with the state of immigration in the UK. It is quite galling to have met so many illegal immigrants here who had no trouble entering the country and staying illegally, when his legal requests were turned down for absolutely nothing to do with him, other than that he was Thai and wasn't from a rich family. If he came from a country (like Brazil) where there was no visa requirement, we wouldn't have spent years of our lives separated by petty-minded bureaucrats. The people who work in embassies mostly seem to be just nasty people, drunk on power.

  1. 28  Susan  | 8/16/2008 10:08:53 AM

    Ed is right - I made the mistake of going to Boston when I had to go to NYC!!! It was a huge pain. NYC, though, might take anyone from anywhere, where the other consulates are confined to their jursidiction.