Brazil Visa

[travelislife]

So I couldn't find any recent threads on getting a Brazil Visa so have started a new one with the questions below looking for peoples recent experience.

Due to us getting married in September and my wife changing her surname to mine we have been waiting on the marriage certificate for way too long (thank you Victorian bureaucracy). So we finally received it yesterday on the 23rd of November. My wife has today applied for an expedited passport which we should receive by the end of the week.

1. Visa fee is $63 per person. Can only be paid by Australia Post Money Order. Is it okay for me to get this as one money order for $126?
2. On this same trend, is it okay for me to send the 2 x passports in one envelope, and provide one return envelope?

The biggest concern though is the following:

3. We fly out on Saturday the 19th of December. So need passports back by Friday the 18th of December at the latest. We will be sending the application in next day express post this Monday the 30th of November after receiving the passport.

On the website it states 15 business days turn around which is obviously too long for our timeframe..

Does anyone have experience here or any suggestions?

Cheers,

TIL.

 

[RooFlyer]

I got a Brazil visa earlier this year. I think I posted about it on AFF somewhere, but a quick search didn't find anything.

I recall that when you do the initial on-line bit, there are optional things you can do, such as uploading your photo, a scan of your passport photo page and I think your itinerary. I then remember that I got my passport back quite quickly - I'll try to check, but it was under a week to Tasmania. Therefore you should upload everything you can when doing the on-line initial application.

For the rest of it; keep it simple. If I were you, I would do 2 money orders; will cost a bit more, but then you can attach one money order to each passport, so if they get separated in processing, the funds are still with each passport.

I think its OK to send one envelope to and one return one from the embassy; put a cover letter on BOTH saying that submitting 2 passports [names and numbers] and ask for processing and return together.

Embassies usually have an expedited visa process with an increased fee. Check again for this. otherwise, use Google translate and ask nicely in Portuguese on your cover letter for expedited processing for your honeymoon (whether or not it actually is ).

Edit: I uploaded passport photo; photo & signature page from my passport, my itinerary (travel agent) and my e-ticket.

 

[travelislife]

I got a Brazil visa earlier this year. I think I posted about it on AFF somewhere, but a quick search didn't find anything.

I recall that when you do the initial on-line bit, there are optional things you can do, such as uploading your photo, a scan of your passport photo page and I think your itinerary. I then remember that I got my passport back quite quickly - I'll try to check, but it was under a week to Tasmania. Therefore you should upload everything you can when doing the on-line initial application.

For the rest of it; keep it simple. If I were you, I would do 2 money orders; will cost a bit more, but then you can attach one money order to each passport, so if they get separated in processing, the funds are still with each passport.

I think its OK to send one envelope to and one return one from the embassy; put a cover letter on BOTH saying that submitting 2 passports [names and numbers] and ask for processing and return together.

Embassies usually have an expedited visa process with an increased fee. Check again for this. otherwise, use Google translate and ask nicely in Portuguese on your cover letter for expedited processing for your honeymoon (whether or not it actually is ).

Edit: I uploaded passport photo; photo & signature page from my passport, my itinerary (travel agent) and my e-ticket.

Thanks RooFlyer, yes you now have to upload everything or they won't process. I have had a bit of email back and forth today with them and it isn't looking promising. They are happy with one money order and one envelope for the 2 passports. But when I explained the situation around the turnaround time I got a one line email back:

"Please note that this is high season and the turnaround time for the visa process is 15 working days."

I am really worried about this as reading about casanovas experience where he had to change his flights and I can't really afford to do that because it is a OneWorld J award so availability will be non-existent and it would ruin our holiday/plans! It also is our actual delayed honeymoon! So I am at a bit of a loss. Do I send them off and hope for the best and then come Thursday the 17th if it still hasn't been sent just cancel our whole 5 week holiday because the embassy still has our passports? Not something I want to do.

All of this stress just because it takes the Victorian Births, Deaths and Marriages takes 31 business days to turn around a marriage certificate! (we got married in September and received it on Monday).

I am no diplomat but I don't know why countries have these systems in place, the amount of revenue they must lose because of it must be crazy.

 

[RooFlyer]

Only other thing I can suggest is an in-person application at the embassy in Canberra (if they allow this).

 

[travelislife]

Only other thing I can suggest is an in-person application at the embassy in Canberra (if they allow this).

They do, but say it makes no difference to processing times as all documentation is uploaded anyway.

 

[Mattg]

Only other thing I can suggest is an in-person application at the embassy in Canberra (if they allow this).

I made an in-person application in Canberra a couple of years ago. I still had to complete the online forms first, then had a short interview with the Brazilian embassy. Following this it would have been at least two weeks before I got a call to say my passport was ready.

I think your best bet would be to ask if you can pay a fee for expedited processing.

 

[travelislife]

Okay, so amazingly it appears my grovelling cover letter outlining our issues may have worked! I haven't heard anything directly from the embassy but both our visas were updated on their online system to 'Authorised' and now the returning next day tracking number show it was sent this afternoon, so tomorrow I will know! And it looks like with a week to spare.

 

[travelislife]

Passports with visas in hand today! All up that was only a 6 business day turn around. Reduces a lot of stress and means I can stop looking at flights to Canberra next Friday. So although they state they don't expedite Visa's it appears they do have some leniency if you politely state your case.

Something unrelated, when I do a search on AFF for 'Brazil' this thread is not on the first 2 pages of results, I have no idea why but does confirm why I never seem to be able to find relevant information when using the search function.

 

[mooingchicken]

Just out of interest could of you applied on her old passport and forget getting the new one until you got back? Im sure this would happen a lot with honeymoons.

 

[RooFlyer]

Passports with visas in hand today! All up that was only a 6 business day turn around. Reduces a lot of stress and means I can stop looking at flights to Canberra next Friday. So although they state they don't expedite Visa's it appears they do have some leniency if you politely state your case.

Something unrelated, when I do a search on AFF for 'Brazil' this thread is not on the first 2 pages of results, I have no idea why but does confirm why I never seem to be able to find relevant information when using the search function.

Together with my experience, I think this indicates that they can usually do a turn-around in a week or less, but they give themselves wide latitude 9as should applicants, all other timings being OK (which wasn't in your case).

I also find the AFF search function pretty hopeless. If you can't quote some exact phrase finding a particular thread on a subject is very hit-and-miss.

 

[travelislife]

Just out of interest could of you applied on her old passport and forget getting the new one until you got back? Im sure this would happen a lot with honeymoons.

Ticket was already booked with the name change as we thought 3 months to get it all sorted was plenty of time. Also her current passport expired in January so a new one was required either which way. 2 birds, 1 stone and all.