What You Need To Know About A Brazilian Visa Coming From The United States
All United States citizens traveling to Brazil either for tourism of for business must have a Brazilian visa. This visa is an endorsement that is placed by the officials of Brazil on a passport that will allow you to visit Brazil.
You can obtain visas to enter Brazil from the Embassy directly or from consultants of Brazil. A Brazilian visa is not a passport. It is an official document from the government that will allow you to be in the country temporarily. There are different forms of Brazilian visas for whether you are entering the country as a tourist or on business.
A tourist visit includes vacations, visits to friend’s or family, professors, scientists, researchers attending technological, cultural or scientific meetings or seminars. A person holding a tourist visa cannot engage in an activity in Brazil paying any kind of funds.
Activities that will require you to have a business visa (Vitem II) are business trips, media coverage, travel and cruise or flight members. This visa does not enable you to participate in any kind of activity under contract with a Brazilian corporation.
The business visa (Vitem V) covers business with the Brazilian government, employment by a Brazilian company, professional training, foreign instructors, crew members of fishing vessels and provision of religious services.
To obtain a Brazilian visa you:
- Can download the visa application from the Brazilian Consulate web site or your travel agency may be able to get you a copy as well and you need to fill out the entire form.
- Need to let them know why you are visiting Brazil, whether it be for work or pleasure and be sure to sign it. For children under the age of 18, a parental guardian has to sign for them.
- Need to include a valid passport with one blank page that they can stamp and it must be valid for at least six more months.
- Send them a 2 x 2 in photo of yourself, front view and it must be on a white background. The picture can be color or black and white.
- Attach a copy of your tickets or flight itinerary along with a non refundable processing fee that must be in the form or a money order or cashier’s check.
All of these items you will send in the mail to the Brazilian consulate of your jurisdiction. Be sure to include a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want your passport back and make sure everything is filled out complete and clear. They will deny it if there is any information missing or if they cannot read something.
The visa is stamped on a blank page within your passport that you supply to them. It will show the date of the issued visa which is usually the date that the visa is received from the consultant or the Embassy. It is very important that you must enter Brazil within 90 days of the issue date of the visa to remain valid. It will also supply information of how long the visa is valid and if it is a tourist or business visa.
The tourist and business visa can be used multiple times over five years and you can remain in Brazil for up to 90 days at a time. A Brazilian visa will typically take from 2 to 15 days to process, however, during a busy season it can be much longer so plan to give yourself ample time around holidays and events such as Carnaval and New Years Eve. If you plan on coming into the country for World Cup 2014 or the Summer Olympics 2016 try to allow plenty of time to receive your Brazilian visa.