cruzluvers Posted March 31, 2011 #1 Share Posted March 31, 2011 We just got a charge for a visa for Rio of $299.\ pp. Is that the usual or is it high?:confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted March 31, 2011 #2 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Where was the charge from? The cruise line ? The embassy ? the VISA service? I think the VISA is $140 for US citizens probably plus fees For Canadians it is $231 with the fees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcpa66 Posted March 31, 2011 #3 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Probably embassy charges. Brazil adopted a reciprocity policy since US have raised their fees about $150 pp for the US visa... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PaulMCO Posted March 31, 2011 #4 Share Posted March 31, 2011 The $299 has to be Oceania's price as that is what they wanted to charge us last year. I guess it their idea of a JOKE :confused: Since you live in Florida the price is $140 if you do it in person or $160 if you do it via mail. You need passport with 3 blank pages, 2 good photos, copies of your cruise document/bill from you TA, photo copy of your Florida drivers license, copy of your flight itinerary, yellow fever certificate if you are doing a Manus tour plus the document you print out after completing you Regardless of who you use you still have to apply via the WEB site of the Embassy/consulate and provide this data. Oceania uses a VISA service anyway. http://brazilmiami.org/eng/visas_vitur.php If you want to save money do it direct @$160/pp via the mail or you can use a Visa service most of them charge $160 + a $75 fee = $235 pp. I did it by mail and it was painless... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie's Mom Posted April 1, 2011 #5 Share Posted April 1, 2011 This $299 pp is Oceania's charge for a Brazilian visa. Sorta like the pre-cruise hotel and transfer. Our TA removed it from our invoice as soon as we asked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruzluvers Posted April 1, 2011 Author #6 Share Posted April 1, 2011 This $299 pp is Oceania's charge for a Brazilian visa. Sorta like the pre-cruise hotel and transfer. Our TA removed it from our invoice as soon as we asked. Are you applying for it yourself? Seems like a much better deal especially since we have a lot of time before cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie's Mom Posted April 1, 2011 #7 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Yes, I am applying myself. The instructions are well-written and clear on the website for the Counsel General's Office in Houston, closest to us. Looked like 4 or 5 GC offices for Brazil across the U.S. http://houston.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/applying_for_a_visa.xml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted April 1, 2011 #8 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Yes' date=' I am applying myself. The instructions are well-written and clear on the website for the Counsel General's Office in Houston, closest to us. Looked like 4 or 5 GC offices for Brazil across the U.S. http://houston.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/applying_for_a_visa.xml[/quote'] I'lll preface this by saying that we both work in Manhattan, and Jim's main office is 3 blocks from the Brazilian Consulate. For this reason, when we were considering an Amazon Itinerary, we walked over, one Spring afternoon, to find out what the costs, time line and requirements would be to get a Visa. Unfortunately, the Consulate staff were uniformly disorganized, unpleasant, dismissive and deliberately rude. It seems that the United States makes it difficult and expensive for Brazilians to visit this country, and the Brazilians are determined to return the favor. At the time, we were so nonplussed that we immediately opted for another itinerary that did not include Brazil, but in retrospect, we would not allow a bad Visa experience to keep us out of the country indefinitely. We would, as Paul has recent suggested, do everything by mail, but we would also be VERY cautious about keeping copies of everything, using registered mail, and insuring whatever could be insured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hondorner Posted April 1, 2011 #9 Share Posted April 1, 2011 ...We would, as Paul has recent suggested, do everything by mail, but we would also be VERY cautious about keeping copies of everything, using registered mail, and insuring whatever could be insured. When we did this in 2006, we were required by the embassy to provide a self-addressed, prepaid USPS envelope for return of the passports -- no FedEx or UPS. Also, each application had to be in separate envelopes. We wanted everything to be trackable, so we purchased two USPS Priority Mail envelopes for the return, and two Priority Mail envelopes to send the application, placing the return envelopes inside. Each Priority Mail envelope cost $14 at that time, increasing the cost of the mail process by $28 each. That's the kind of charges absorbed by Visa service companies (or they send paid personnel to the embassies), but it's still much less to do it yourself. I considered taking the applications to the embassy in person but at that time, the requirement was to drop it off one day, then pick it up within narrowly specified hours the next. Because it was a 4 hour round trip to the embassy for us,, I was faced with either making two trips or spending the night in an expensive Miami hotel, so I opted to pay the mailing fees. I will add that by the time you gather all the data, photos, copies and such to use a visa service company, you might as well go ahead and do it yourself. We had no problems and received everything back in a very short time. I would not characterize the cruise line's visa service as a "joke", but one should understand that you are payng the embassy fees, the administrative fees and costs for the visa service, the profit margin for the visa service, the administrative and convenience costs for the cruise line, and possibly a small profit margin for the cruise line to make it worth their while. This triple handling mounts up quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTEACH281 Posted April 1, 2011 #10 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Yes' date=' I am applying myself. The instructions are well-written and clear on the website for the Counsel General's Office in Houston, closest to us. Looked like 4 or 5 GC offices for Brazil across the U.S. http://houston.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/applying_for_a_visa.xml[/quote'] We got ours there...staff was pleasant, but s-l-o-w....you drop off your passport and other required stuff (website was helpful) and then come back in a few days at a completely different time....and I dropped off my husband's and mine.....and signed a waiver that let Ray and Mary (couple we cruised with) to pick up theirs and ours :). It's good for five years, also..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelglobetrotter Posted April 3, 2011 #11 Share Posted April 3, 2011 We took a South American land tour in 2008, and we used the tour company's visa service provider. While I don't remember the cost being exhorbitant, I do remember it taking nearly the entire 100 day period prior to travel when you can apply for the visa for it to arrive. We thought we'd have to cancel the trip since we;'d be without passport and visa. It finally arrived 7 days before our departure. I don't read Portuguese, but it does seem that the visa is good for 5 years. I didn't get a clear answer from airport personnel when we checked in for our departure from Rio. Does anyone have any info? If so, we would consider returning on O. Just don't want the visa hassle again. Marlene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williegirlcat Posted April 3, 2011 #12 Share Posted April 3, 2011 It is good for five years as long as you have the same passport. We brought everything personally to the Brazilian cousulate in Miami and our passports with the visas were mailed back in a week. Two years later, we had a stop in Brazil again and the visas were still valid. If we had needed new passports in the interim, and had to pay for new visas again, we would have rethought taking the second trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PaulMCO Posted April 3, 2011 #13 Share Posted April 3, 2011 It is good for five years as long as you have the same passport. We brought everything personally to the Brazilian cousulate in Miami and our passports with the visas were mailed back in a week. Two years later, we had a stop in Brazil again and the visas were still valid. If we had needed new passports in the interim, and had to pay for new visas again, we would have rethought taking the second trip. That is Incorrect. It is good for 5 years period (2008 version). Does not depend on the validity of your passport. You just carry your old passport with you and present both at immigration. The new ones, as of Jan 2010 are valid for 10 years and you can apply for it at anytime. You don't have to wait for a XX days prior to your entry as you did before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potterhill Posted April 3, 2011 #14 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Unfortunately for us our return trip to Brazil will be almost exactly 5 years after the first so we will need new Visas. Would never let tht stop me from going though. We got our first ones in Toronto and it was easy peasy, so will do that again. Mo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipity1499 Posted April 4, 2011 #15 Share Posted April 4, 2011 It is good for five years as long as you have the same passport. We brought everything personally to the Brazilian cousulate in Miami and our passports with the visas were mailed back in a week. Two years later, we had a stop in Brazil again and the visas were still valid. If we had needed new passports in the interim, and had to pay for new visas again, we would have rethought taking the second trip. You do not have to get new visa's if they are still valid.. That is Incorrect. It is good for 5 years period (2008 version). Does not depend on the validity of your passport. You just carry your old passport with you and present both at immigration. < SNIP > quote] Agree with Paul..Our Passports expired & our visa's were still good in the old passport..Just to be sure, I E-mailed the Brizallian Consulate in Miami & their reply to me was.."Staple the two passports together"..We were not required to present ourselves at immigrations on the ship..The ship's purser collected our passports & cleared us when when we took our second Amazon trip.. Cheers.....:)Betty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelglobetrotter Posted April 8, 2011 #16 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Thanks to you all for the info on the visa's validity for 5 years. Our current passports will expire about the same time as the visa does, so we'll have to get cracking on choosing and booking. Will probably wait and do that in May on Regatta in Alaska. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanny18 Posted April 8, 2011 #17 Share Posted April 8, 2011 If you get a Brazilian Visa now (we got ours last November for a December/January cruise) it will be good for 10 years -- so if you want to go to the Olympics in Rio -- We sent ours to the Consulate in Miami at a cost of $160 per person plus a Priority Mail Return Envelope at a cost of $18!! It was less than the ship and was really a painless procedure....Arlene;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitraveler Posted April 8, 2011 #18 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Currently the visas are valid for 10 years. Where you apply is governed by your state of residence. Use Goggle to get Brazilian visa info. If your passport has expired, but the visa is still current, you may use the visa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kymbakitty Posted April 26, 2011 #19 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I'lll preface this by saying that we both work in Manhattan, and Jim's main office is 3 blocks from the Brazilian Consulate. For this reason, when we were considering an Amazon Itinerary, we walked over, one Spring afternoon, to find out what the costs, time line and requirements would be to get a Visa. Unfortunately, the Consulate staff were uniformly disorganized, unpleasant, dismissive and deliberately rude. It seems that the United States makes it difficult and expensive for Brazilians to visit this country, and the Brazilians are determined to return the favor. At the time, we were so nonplussed that we immediately opted for another itinerary that did not include Brazil, but in retrospect, we would not allow a bad Visa experience to keep us out of the country indefinitely. We would, as Paul has recent suggested, do everything by mail, but we would also be VERY cautious about keeping copies of everything, using registered mail, and insuring whatever could be insured. That's really sad to hear that. We had a 180 degree different experience with the Brazilian Embassy in San Francisco, CA. Filled out the paperwork online (very easy) and made appointment (online). Hubby went down (spouse can go down for you for free) to San Francisco, waitied about 15 minutes, got called up and handed over all the paperwork that his "secretary" (i.e., me) put together in a packet. It had the airline into/out of Brazil, hotel stay, ship itinerary and our passports. It cost $140 each and we received are passports back in just over a week. My husband said it was effortless and they were very nice and helpful. I am sorry to hear that not all Brazilian Embassy's are as easy to work with as the one in San Francisco. Dawn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emairs Posted April 26, 2011 #20 Share Posted April 26, 2011 We recently booked the 2012 Rome to Rio TA. Our Oceania invoice shows charges of $299pp for both a Canadian AND a US visa, which is a total cost of almost $1200 for the two of us. I asked my TA why we were being charged for both visas. She didn't know, but is removing this charge. She gave me a link to apply for the Canadian visa - cost - $81.25, if you apply in person. Add $25.00 handling fee to apply by mail Here is the link if any Canadians need to apply for this visa: http://www.brasembottawa.org/en/consular/visas/tourist_visa.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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