I just need to vent--trying to get a Brazilian visa has been a nightmare.

I've had 2 in the past (one expired as I didn't get there within the 6-month initial validity, and I got a 2d in a passport that I'd lost.

I contacted the assistant in our office that deals with them and was given the forms. By the time I got the photo taken care of, it was last Friday, and she was on vacation, so I assembled the letter, photos, application in duplicate (etc etc) and sent it to our visa service in Houston, Tx.

Monday: Call from visa service, saying application has changed and please fill out and fax new one.

Tuesday: Call from them saying revise your company letter of guarantee

Friday: Another call from them saying consulate still not happy, and tried to send me an email (had wrong address)...

I'm scheduled to leave Monday evening, and if worse comes to worse, could leave Tuesday even. and still make my meeting.

Visas are so frustrating...and the US and Brazil can't get them eliminated bilaterally. Everywhere else in S. America can deal with not having them.

Frustrating!!!

C'mon, you know the rule in South America, money talks and B.S. walks!

Even at the Brasilian consulate in San Fran. I needed a fast two-day turnaround and a double-sawbuck held next to my application (plus the actual fee) along with a few kind words in Portugese was all it took.

You got it! Don't be pushy...act laid back and flip some cash if it is looking bad!

Dorian

I am a visa officer, so forgive me for speaking bluntly:

DON'T FLASH CASH! I mean it. Even when dealing with developing nation's visa offices. You can get blacklisted, and you will have virtually no way to fix it. Just because it works once does not imply it will work always. A visa officer who is annoyed, or offended will find it far more satisfying to foresake the cash, and put you on a watch list forever. If there happens to be an audit team visiting the consulate, a visa officer might want to impress the auditors with some apparent incorrubtability.

For the 49 times it works, the 50th time will be enormously embarrassing. (Sorry boss, the Brazilians have refused my visa. Why? Umm...)

However, I sympathize. Visa regulations are arcane, and the processes are frustrating. So, from the perspective of a visa officer, here is my advice:

1) Keep your passport valid. Even if you only travel to Canada, make sure you have a valid passport. Many countries will refuse you flat out without 6 months validity. That will leave you arguing with State Department for a fast passport, and then going back to the visa office at the last minute.

2) Plan ahead. Allow at least two weeks to get a visa from most countries. If they produce it on the spot or within a few days, all to the good. If you are applying by mail, count the mailing time (at least 8 days for certified mail). Allow a month for ones whose relations with your country are strained. Sometimes there is no getting around this. Countries impose minimum processing times for many reasons, not all of which are discretionary.

If your plane ticket pre-dates your visa application, a visa officer will not be impressed by your apparent lack of planning.

3) Prepare: Make sure that you have all of
the necessary supporting documents. Letters should include as much information as possible--more detail rather than less. Visa officers typically want to know exactly where you are going, exactly what you are doing, who is paying for it, and how much. If you include too much, a visa officer can always sift through it. If you don't include enough, you get bounced to provide more detail. I can't count the number of times I have had to put off an application because an employer has sent a three-liner which tells me nothing of value, e.g. "Mr. X is travelling on business. We vouch for him. Please issue the appropriate visa."

4) Don't yell, threaten or bluster (either in person or in writing). There is nothing, and I mean nothing, that will get a visa officer's back up faster (your's truly included) than a person who argues, "But I have to be there tommorrow", "This is a stupid bureaucratic restriction" (I hate that one most of all) or demands to speak to the Consul General, the Prime Minister, etc.

5) Don't call in your congressman or senator. Non-US officials will be neither interested nor impressed. However, if you are trying to facilitate a US visa for a colleague, that is a different story.

Sorry to say it, but forget a bilateral waiver. The only country in SA that might be in the running is Chile, and Canada's experience with lifting the visa requirement on Chile a few years back was bad. Neither the US nor Canada are likely to consider lifting the visa requirement on Brazil any time soon.

Thanks for the information. The US is equally unpleasant (I have some Canadian friends living in DC who were really read the riot act). To AC/SE, is there a stigma attached to using a visa service? My co. uses one, but some people actually travel down to Miami for the day to take care of it! Apparently there used to be a consulate in Atlanta that closed during the Real crisis.

jl

I agree with everything you say AC*SE, but in business, we often get only a day or two notice for our trips. So I have a lot of experience in getting last minute visas for places such as Brazil, China, Saudi Arabia, etc. I'm always very pleasant but insistent. I always have all the required documentation. I always ask if there is ANYTHING I can do to get visa in time for my trip. At the Brasilian consulate I also had some cash held in my hand though not too suggestively. That was all it took.

FWIW if you are able to successfully apply for an EU passport, things will be much smoother and cheaper than those holding US or Canadian passports. The red tape is a retaliatory measure aimed at countries (specifically the US and Canada) that impose similar requirements on South American citizens when they enter those North American countries. Many EU countries are exempt simply because their conditions for entry are less stringent. Brigitte and I hold valid EU passports from different countries in addition to our Canadian passports. When travelling to South America we always carry both with us. The Canadian facilitates connections through the US, while the EU lets us breeze through South American customs without hassle or extra fees. If you have European lineage and are able to get an EU passport, do so by all means. It will pay for itself on your first South American trip.

there are several in our office who do carry EU passports, but my family hasn't been anywhere else but the USA for 120 years!

Well my travel partner got his, but the visa service sez mine didn't come out on Friday, so I have to wait a day (Fed Ex earliest counter pickup at the airport is 9a, and the latest flt I could catch to keep the same MIA-GRU flight leaves at 830a, so I'm stuck flying coach on DL overnite. Still theoretically gets me in for my meeting on Wednesday. The Transbrasil codeshare flt number shows on ITN there are biz seats available so my waitlist may well clear.

Actually jamiel, I have had nothing but good experiences with the visa services who deal with our office. I don't expressly recommend them, though, because it is an added expense which you may or may not want to take on--depending upon the circumstances.

I like it, because they prepare the case clearly and legibly. They get to know what we like and don't like, and effectively deal with their business.

Sometimes I would get a phone call, "Does X really have to come up for an interview?" Occasionally, the service could address the concern on paper, and sometimes the answer would be, "Yes, we want to talk to X." Either way, they would deal with it professionally.

On the flip side, we try to keep the visa services who deal with our office informed about what's going on--so that they are in the loop. Sometimes, though, countries will change the rules in the middle of the game, leaving everyone in the dark.

Stimpy: You know it, I know it. Pity clients never seem to know it. Inevitably there comes the call, "We need you to put out this fire in Burkina Faso. Get on the plane to Bamako tonight."

At our office, we try and sift through to facilitate the legitimate business emergency, and tell the person who has created their own emergency through lack of planning where the queue is. Not all visa offices are as prepared as we are to separate the case deserving facilitation from the case who is trying one on for size.

I can't argue about this visa service--they are doing a good job about keeping us informed. The assistant who helped me in our office sez they're 100% better than the old one.

I should know tomorrow whether I go or not...

jl