Originally Posted by ILuvParis
I received my visa today, having applied on Tuesday, 8/23. I had also assumed that it was for five years. However, no where does it say five years. It says "valid for multiple entries within [something has been blacked out with a black marker] and a stamp next to it says 90 dias/90 days. However, elsewhere it says "Total stay per year: 180 days" - so I'm confused. I'm wondering if 5 years is what was blacked out.
Did you get one of the ink-only stamps (which, by the way, fade quickly and often get stamped over by other countries)? Sometimes it's hard to read. The 90 dias/90 days.
Under the date it was issued, it should say valid for entry within 90 days. And below that, in text (often in English in the US) it should say "five years". (They may have blacked out that portion.) Down below that and the consular signature stamp, it will also note "05 ANOS/05 YEARS". If you didn't get that, then you probably got a multiple entry visa good for 90 days from the date you first enter Brazil -- within 90 days of issuance or it will be no good probably -- and on any visit during the visa validity period when you enter Brazil you can stay as long as 180 days or no more than 180 days (whichever comes first). Does that make sense?
The Brazilian foreign ministry has been extremely capricious with giving Americans visas and being arbitrary in what they give vs. what is requested. It's "payback", because a fair amount of Brazilian government employees have horror stories about what happened to their relatives trying to get visas to the US or about what happens to some Brazilians upon arriving into certain OECD countries.