Brazilian visa requirements

hi!

We are planning to take a S.America cruise departing from RIo de Janeiro.

We have been advised that aside from written confirmation of our flight itinerary, cruise booking, money order, passport, pic and application, we also need to provide a copy of our bank statement or paycheck.

Has anyone applied for a brazilian visa and was asked for the bank stmt or paycheck? We are puzzled as to why they would need such info since we are only going as tourists for a couple of days prior to taking a cruise.

any insight on this matter is appreciated.

Did the Amazon cruise several years ago. We were not asked for bank statement or paycheck. I'd contact a Brazilian commercial visa service and ask for clarification.

MJ

We were not asked to provide a bank statement when getting Brazilian visas. Can't understand why they would need it.

We had to do this when applying last year. I think it's to establish you have adequet funds to support a holiday in Brazil. Similar rules apply in Aus.

hi!

We are planning to take a S.America cruise departing from RIo de Janeiro.

We have been advised that aside from written confirmation of our flight itinerary, cruise booking, money order, passport, pic and application, we also need to provide a copy of our bank statement or paycheck.

Has anyone applied for a brazilian visa and was asked for the bank stmt or paycheck? We are puzzled as to why they would need such info since we are only going as tourists for a couple of days prior to taking a cruise.

 

any insight on this matter is appreciated.

Advised by whom that you need a bank statement or paycheck? You should contact the nearest Brazilian consulate general and verify requirements before you give up sensitive financial information.

It depends on the consulate. We ran into this a few years ago when doing research prior to getting a Chinese visa. The consulate in LA did not require a bank statement but the one in NY did.

I just went online with one of the visa service agencies and it said the Atlanta, Chicago and DC consulates were requiring the bank statements but not the others. With Brazil, you have to apply for the visa at the consulate that handles the area where you live or have an agency do it.

So if you think the bank statement request was interesting it said if you are married and going to Brazil without your spouse, you need to submit a letter from your spouse saying you have permission to go and will be coming back home. Not a joke...it said this was required by the LA consulate!

thanks for all the comments. We were told by the consulate in miami, fl. We have sent them an email back asking for explanation. We don't feel it is appropriate to share our financial info with them since we are just tourists and we will be only there 2 nites prior to taking a cruise and get out of their country.

We are very puzzled by this.

If you use a visa service to obtain your tourist visa, do your homework. We were ripped of two years ago by a large visa service company. Nearly had to cancel our trip due to their scheme. As far a needing a bank statement, never heard of this.

thanks for all the comments. We were told by the consulate in miami, fl. We have sent them an email back asking for explanation. We don't feel it is appropriate to share our financial info with them since we are just tourists and we will be only there 2 nites prior to taking a cruise and get out of their country.

We are very puzzled by this.

Whether you feel it's appropriate or not is pretty much irrelevant. While not real common, it's also not that rare for a country to require you to prove that you can financially support yourself to visit (and most importantly, leave) that country. Brazil is hardly the only country to do this.

Ultimately, what it comes down to is it's their country, and they get to decide the rules for who comes in. If you don't like the rules, you don't have to go.

(Basically, they don't want someone that comes into the country and then stays illegally, taking up public resources to survive. They want to know you can support yourself through the trip, and leave when it's done.)

FWIW, the Chicago consulate didn't ask for this when I applied a couple years ago, but you're kinda stuck with whichever consulate serves your area.

While not real common, it's also not that rare for a country to require you to prove that you can financially support yourself to visit (and most importantly, leave) that country. Brazil is hardly the only country to do this.

 

The statement you show does not in any way indicate you will have funds to spend while in Brazil, just that you have (as of the date of the statement) some money. It could all be gone before you start your trip.

Well, while we did not need to provide a bank statement when we applied for our Brazilian visa, I went to the web site and it does show that this is required.

http://www.brazilmiami.org/eng/visas_vitur.php

To the original poster, if this was me I would call a visa service to see what their experience is.

We use Travel Document Systems so consider speaking with them. Another major one is Zierer.

Here are their web sites.

http://traveldocs.com/

http://zvs.com/visas.php

Keith

One of the first things we do when targeting an itinerary (whether cruise or land based) is to check the visa and shot requirements. We check what is required for both, the cost (so we can calculate in the full cost of the cruise), and the process involved. That way we have no surprises. The process for a Brazilian visa is not the easiest and in our case is very specific on what is required. While we may not like it, our feeling is if a bank statement is required, we’ll provide it. We’ll take it with us for our scheduled meeting time at the consulate and if they ask for it we’ll have it. If you did not want to deal with the Brazilian visa requirements an option might have been taking the same cruise from Buenos Aires or booking a different one leaving from Buenos Aires (skipping Rio, two sea days and Montevideo).

This site is always a good place to research visa requirements:

http://brazil.visahq.com/

It does state that a US citizen must provide a copy of their most recent bank statement. I don't understand why that would be a problem. It doesn't matter why they need it, if you don't provide it, you won't receive a visa. You can redact your account numbers.

One thing to realize is that Brazil sets fees and standards for entry into their country on a tit-for-tat basis. I would guess that the bank statment is a requiremnet for a citizen from Brazil to gain a visa for entry into the US. Brazil has taken the hardest line of all SA counties for imposing the same requirements that other counties impose on Brazilians. A citizen of the UK can gain entry to SA countries without nearly the hassle that US citizens must deal with since it is far easier for a SA citizen to enter the UK. Canadians at about half the price of US citizens since their visa fee is about half. And so on.

Whether you feel it's appropriate or not is pretty much irrelevant. While not real common, it's also not that rare for a country to require you to prove that you can financially support yourself to visit (and most importantly, leave) that country. Brazil is hardly the only country to do this.

 

Ultimately, what it comes down to is it's their country, and they get to decide the rules for who comes in. If you don't like the rules, you don't have to go.

 

(Basically, they don't want someone that comes into the country and then stays illegally, taking up public resources to survive. They want to know you can support yourself through the trip, and leave when it's done.)

 

FWIW, the Chicago consulate didn't ask for this when I applied a couple years ago, but you're kinda stuck with whichever consulate serves your area.

-I have also never heard of this requirement (it could be new), but if it exists, it's not likely something you can appeal. If you don't like the requirement, you'll have to find another destination. Did the consulate contact you via e-mail? Normally that's not the best way to get a response from them. Phone usually is better. If you really want to get more info, check the Web site or, or phone, the Brazilian embassy in Washington (even if you have to make your app through Miami). A visa service should at least be able to verify if it's a requirement. I could see exact processes varying by consulate (eg. some permit apps by mail), but for the required docs to vary by consulate surprises me (I worked for the U.S. Foreign Service for several years). If you have difficulty reaching a consulate or embassy phone #, you might try the nearest Brazilian cultural center (I used the one in Washington; maybe Miami has one).

-It may be of little consolation to you that Brazilians need to provide more financial and employment info when getting a U.S. visa than you are reportedly being asked for (of course, there is a higher no-return rate among Brazilians going to the U.S. on tourist visas than Americans going to Brazil on same). They most definitely have to show that they have sufficient resources for the trip and that they have strong enough ties (e.g., job) to Brazil to induce them to return (this is standard for U.S.visa applicants, not just for Brazil).

The statement you show does not in any way indicate you will have funds to spend while in Brazil, just that you have (as of the date of the statement) some money. It could all be gone before you start your trip.

The U.S. has a similar requirement. Sure, the money could be gone by the time they leave, but if the amount is really low to start with it likely raises suspicion. So Í woldn't say "not in any way" but I would agree it's not a guarantee. Just like it isn't an absolutely guarantee when Brazilians produce their bank statements, etc. when applying for a U.S. visa.

It must be very new. I applied in Miami the last week of August and didn't need one. My BF traveling with me drove to Miami on Thursday and applied and wasn't asked for a bank statement either. Hmmmmmm

It must be very new. I applied in Miami the last week of August and didn't need one. My BF traveling with me drove to Miami on Thursday and applied and wasn't asked for a bank statement either. Hmmmmmm

I could be new. I have gotten three Brazilian visas over the past 15 years or so and each time the requirements changed. The same is true for India where over a few year period they have continued to increase the number of items that we had to provide.

As I noted in an earlier post we have never had to provide a bank statement in the past but if you go to the following link it is noted.

http://www.brazilmiami.org/eng/visas_vitur.php

Keith

I have to say this is a very new requirement. I agree that if they are asking for it don't show up without it. You won't even get to the window in Miami if you don't have all the documents they are asking for.

We received the Visa back this week that was applied for last week prior to the new requirement. Now it's just the YF vaccine and we're all set!

I agree the requirements are different depending on what country you are from and even from what area in that country you are from. The key is to search Brazilian Consulate and your province/state, and find the consulate for your area.

We live in Vancouver BC, our consulate takes care of all of Western Canada.

They did ask for a lot of things, including a bank statement, letter from employer confirming our job (different if you are retired), itinerary, copy of plane ticket, cruise documents, money order for fee, for us it was $81.25 each.

But note it was different in Toronto, and different again in Ottawa.

also the 90 day before travel requirement is no longer a requirement.

In the end it was a very detailed thing to do on our own but not that difficult and certainly the savings of doing it on your own was well worth it.

Vickie

I live in S. California and have to also supply a letter from my hubby giving me "permission" to travel wo/ him on this trip and why he is not with me

I cant imagine this will go over big when the Olympics roll round!!!

BTW...hubby just hates to travel!! :)

I just consulted the Brazil embassy in Atlanta and their website claims that the Brazilian Visa application form is not fully Firefox compliant and they recommend using IE to complete the application.

Filling out my visa forms for Brazil. A few problems.

1. My husband is a Jr. (father died in 1970) and the Jr. is on passport. We did a first form filled out with Jr. after the first name and it looks weird on the form first,junior middle last. Did a 2nd form with first middle last, junior.

Any idea which one will be acceptable?

2. We could not find an email address for the hotel in Rio. Everything but blank caused form to be rejected. Will this go through?

3. What are some of those symbols that you have to type to be proven human? I solved it by just clicking until it was all letters and numbers:o

4. US Postal Order is made out to whom?

Are they really going to have this whole process for every American going to the Olympics. PIA!!! when all I want to do is go to the country to spend a ton of vacation money with them :D

Barbara, FWIW, I had some troubles with the Brazil form as well. I'm not a Jr, so I can't say for sure about your issue, but one of my problems was that I'm an American that was born overseas. (Philippines) When I typed the applicable info into the online form and verified the accuracy, it kept printing out that my nationality was Flilipino. I called Travisa (that I used to get the visa) and CIBT (that the cruise line uses for their visa services) and they said that it happens a lot, and as long as the information is TYPED INTO THE FORM SUBMISSION correctly, not to worry what finally prints out. The Brazil consulate gets what you type into the form, not just the printout.

We're not staying in a hotel in Brazil (stay on the ship, then fly to Iguazu Falls and stay on the Argentina side) so we didn't have a Brazilian address either. CIBT told us to use the US address and phone number for the cruise line, and put in their E-mail address too.

I couldn't tell you about the Postal Order part. Sorry!

I discovered something interesting on the Atlanta, Ga Brazilian Embassy site. It said that, when filling out the Visa application form, you should use IE as your Internet browser because the application form is not set up to work with Firefox.