Zierer was the first one I ever used- it was late 2000 and we had tickets to Brazil. I knew we needed visas and got some info from the Consulate site but at the time it lacked a few vital details that I knew could be deal-killers (e.g., what forms of payment were acceptable and to whom cashier's checks, moeny orders or whatever should be made out). I also wanted to know if I could apply at the Chicago consulate when I was there on a business trip, rather than NYC, which was closer to our home. They never answered their phone and ignored our faxed questions. In desperation I went to a travel agent who referred me to Zierer when we were getting dangerously close to our departure date. They came through. It still annoys me that the Consulate employeees didn't do their jobs, but we enjoyed our trip.

Ordinarily I wouldn't have posted and recommended them based on a trip we took almost 7 years ago- but it looks like theyr'e still dependable.

I'll tell you how. I suspect your average consulate would much rather deal with an expediter who knows the rules, has a stack of applications that have been checked for completeness and accuracy and produces a single check to pay for it all. Our theory when we got zero response from the Brazilian Consulate was that they really didn't want to deal with the riff-raff coming through their doors because they took longer to process- expediters are probably easier to work with.