Brazil visas from SYD for QLD people

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Tiki

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Has anyone who doesn't live in Sydney gotten their Brazil visas there? Just wondering if you used courier or Expresspost? Since it involves sending our passports I am nervous about the post but I am aware that customer service isn't a high priority with consulat staff and was worried if they would be willing to send it back by courier if I enclose a prepaid envelope?

Don't laugh, for all my travel experience, I have NEVER had to get a visa for any country by mail before. All my previous visa collecting has been in person. No Brazil consulate in BNE though. :(
 
Tiki said:
Don't laugh, for all my travel experience, I have NEVER had to get a visa for any country by mail before. All my previous visa collecting has been in person. No Brazil consulate in BNE though. :(
Not Brazil visa but I have left an Expresspost envelope, with my return address, with consulate staff for a Thailand and Indonesia visa and no problem on either occassion with passport being returned a few days later. YMMV.
 
When I have had to send my passport off for visas I have typically used a courier service. By mail, you would probably want to use one of the more traceable methods such as express post. If there are muliple passports, make sure you get a big enough envelope. There is (or was) an Aust Post restriction of one passport per small envelope.
 
Tiki said:
Has anyone who doesn't live in Sydney gotten their Brazil visas there? Just wondering if you used courier or Expresspost? Since it involves sending our passports I am nervous about the post but I am aware that customer service isn't a high priority with consulat staff and was worried if they would be willing to send it back by courier if I enclose a prepaid envelope?

Don't laugh, for all my travel experience, I have NEVER had to get a visa for any country by mail before. All my previous visa collecting has been in person. No Brazil consulate in BNE though. :(

A word of advice - they are very strict on the requirements for the Brazil visa. I collected mine in person from the Sydney office, so I can't comment on applying by mail, but the 3 people in front of me all had their applications rejected, and were told to come back.

So, they really do want to see your bank account details, and they do want to see that airline ticket (which is crazy - why book a ticket if you aren't guarranteed of a visa - I didn't know what dates I would be travelling, and I knew that I would only have a few days notice of travel, so I got around this by booking a Lan flight on a QF e-ticket, and then cancelled it once I had the visa. I ended up flying Aerolineas, but that is another story.....)

Anything else, they ask for, make sure you provide it exactly as asked.

Enjoy Brazil - it is a lot of fun.
 
I have no problem supplying all the information they want-we have RTW tickets, bank statements, hotel bookings, pay slips, evrything they want. I was more worried that they won't be willing to take the expresspost envelope to the special yellow mail box or whatever is needed. I've never even used Expressmail before. With the airline tickets, they were very helpful and let me use DHL to pick up the shipment.

What courier is best to use? I assume I need to include a prepaid envelope and I want it to be registered so I have to sign to get it. I don't want the passports left in the letter box with regular mail.
 
(May not be exactly relevent to you as i am in Melbourne but i am sure there is similar companys)
I have used a company called Travcour, the actually hand deliver the passports and pick them up, and they send them back to you.
Not sure how much they cost as the bill goes to work.

E
 
Hmmm, sorry I don't need a visa for Brazil, Tiki, so can't help you [but can understand your frustration about SYD being the only consulate].

This is one of the times that being a joing passport holder works for me...I entered Brazil (on the only time I've been) on my Irish passport. The only negative was that two weeks before I arrived (2002? I think), the Columbians had captured 3 men on Irish passports training the drug cartels in the fine art of terrorism. Needless to say, I got the full search :oops: and missed my connecting flight :mad: .

But when I have dealt with other embassies (like the Ireland one in CBA), they have used ExpressPost and I have had no trouble.
 
Thanks, it's just so frustrating because they won't take phone calls. I emailed them and got a canned response that didn't specifically address use of couriers. The website says provide a self-adressed stamped envelope but using a courier general involves more work on their part like they have to phone for a pick up or put the envelope in a yellow box intead of the bulk mail bin.

Travcour will probably be out of range for backpacker types. If they had while-you-wait service, I would have considered flying down for a day and save $20 per person for lodging in person to defray the costs but they say the need 5 days to turn it around so I would still be dealing with some kind of mail service.
 
IIRC the Australian government send out passports using Australia Post registered mail, so I don't see why the Brazillian consulate should have an issue with Australia Post services. As you write, a courier would be more work for consulate staff (forms to fill out, payments to sort out etc).

I have used a pre-paid self addressed express post envelope to get a visa for Vietnam (Consulate also in Sydney I think) with no problems. Just the worries for me as it's my passport in the mail system. I'd feel no more confident with a courier.

Without knowing anything about your itinery, can you get it (Brazil visa) along the way somewhere?
 
If you're the same Tiki I've been talking to on TT (yes?). you will be flying into Brazil from Peru. it's possibly much easier to get the visa in Lima. As you know, I'm in the same position as Lindsay, having an EU passport so have no experience with Brazil visas but the general concensus on the Sth America branch of TT is, it's much easier to get visas from within neighbouring countries. For example Brazil visas can be acquired in a matter of hours in either Buenos aires or Puerto Iguazu.
 
Hi Colin, Yes I am the Tiki from TT (God forbid another Tiki is out there! :shock: :D ). I am also Tiki on FT! I use different forums for different points of view-Aussie based FFs, international FFs, or backpackers.

Well it's done and I am $200 poorer for 2 Visas plus postage. Hubby will use the Aussie passport for continuity purposes. I sent them Expresspost so they will be there tomorrow and enclosed a prepaid, self addressed Platinum Express Post which is supposed to be trackable on the internet-like DHL only cheaper!

We won't have enough time in Lima to chase a visa and I don't think PPT or IPC have Brazilian consulates so I pretty much ruled out getting the visa enroute.

So now I get to sit here and bite my nails until the passports, hopefully with visas are returned. :shock:
 
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Tiki said:
Hi Colin, Yes I am the Tiki from TT (God forbid another Tiki is out there! :shock: :D ). I am also Tiki on FT! I use different forums for different points of view-Aussie based FFs, international FFs, or backpackers.

I am sure I am asking a silly question, with an obvious answer, but TT would be?
 
Tiki said:
Travcour will probably be out of range for backpacker types. If they had while-you-wait service, I would have considered flying down for a day and save $20 per person for lodging in person to defray the costs but they say the need 5 days to turn it around so I would still be dealing with some kind of mail service.

Travcour (at least in NZ but I think the same would apply in Australia) are fairly expensive, but provide a useful service and for me well worth the cost. In NZ they use couriers and generally quite fast (in my experience the biggest time factor is how quickly the embassy/consulate processes not the time to get documents to & from - even when that embassy is based in Australia). I have the same kinds of issue as OP - most embassies of countries for which I need visas (that are not available on arrival) are located in Wellington or Australia, or even beyond.

Fortunately for me, these reciprocal arrangements by South American countries tend not to apply to kiwis.
 
oz_mark said:
I am sure I am asking a silly question, with an obvious answer, but TT would be?
Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree travel forum.
It can be a bit of a zoo sometimes. This place is a haven of peace, tranquillity and intelligence in comparison.
 
WOW!! Passports with visas arrived this morning! :D That was fast!! So I can sleep a lot easier now!
 
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