I did a lot of internet searching before this trip to determine whether it was really necessary to visit both the Argentine and Brazilian side of the falls. The answer was resoundingly and overwhelmingly yes. Different views, both spectacular, etc, etc, etc. It went on and on. But it was clear, if we were going to make the haul all the way down to South America, we were going to make it to both sides! I also really wanted to see Rio, so decision made.
First let me explain how ridiculous it is to get into Brazil. To visit Argentina, one must go online to the embassy website before departure, fill out a digital form, pay a large sum of US dollars, and print out a paper receipt that confirms you have paid the "Reciprocity Fee". It means just that. The US charges Argentines this large sum, so they charge us the same. Lovely. (But who can blame them?)
For Brazil, one needs a visa. To obtain a visa, one must go online and determine which Brazilian Consulate is assigned to the state you live in. Because we live in Maryland, we had to use the consulate in Washington, DC. Because they can, the DC consulate requires you to apply in person. What if you can't apply in person because you live in Kansas and are assigned DC? Oh, lucky you - you can pay obscene amounts of money to an agency to apply on your behalf. They will send someone, you guessed it, in person to the DC consulate for you.
I work in DC, so luckily for Daniel, Hannah, Meredith, and Tom, I could apply for the visas on their behalf. Chris was assigned to Miami, a consulate that also requires in person applications (yeah, he got screwed - paid a ton of extra money...only to find out that Miami doesn't process visas in a month, but in two, had the agency send his visa application to the NY consulate office and got his visa just in the nick of time). Natalie was assigned to Chicago (where she lives) and lucky duck - could apply by mail. ...She won in this lottery process.
For the record, the Consulate of Brazil needed:
1. passport
2. USPS Money order for a large sum of money (which required a specific trip to the US Post Office)
3. SASE with tracking (also part of the trip to the US Post Office)
4. "itinerary" aka - round trip flight information
5. driver's license photo copy (if not applying in person)
6. visa photo - I have a fun story about this one. I had a left over visa application photo from when I went to China. Daniel and Hannah went to CVS to get theirs. CVS refused to take Hannah's picture, because of the liability involved of having a child sit on a stool (they focus on the face in the picture, so a parent could easily crouch down out of frame and hold the child, but no. EYE ROLL. So, I had to take Hannah to a "portrait studio" that was super sketch in the Wheaton Mall. ...She sat on a MAJOR liability hazardous seat thing...it was a little seat with a sheet on it, perilously teetering on a trunk. Totally ridiculous, but I was out of time and options. I had to stay just out of frame ready to catch her at any moment. We finally finish all this nonsense and I go to pay the ten dollars and the guy says, "no, only cash." Seriously dude?! It's 2015! That's something that should be mentioned before services are rendered. He sends me to an ATM across the mall as Hannah starts to have a meltdown. I reach the ATM...it's out of order. I head for the Target, grab an item we could kinda use, get cash back and finally pay the guy in cash. ...Good grief.
But don't worry, we need more for this application...
7. receipt of online visa application, which had to be printed, signed, and have the visa photo attached to it for each person
8. for Hannah, we also needed: her birth certificate and a form that was signed by both parents and notarized for each - we had to print it out from the Brazilian consulate website stating Hannah was allowed to apply for a visa and take it to our respective employers to be notarized.
Yep. Ridiculous. Those were the things they ended up definitely needing. There were other things they "might" need that I had with me for each person just in case, including residency verifications (utility bill copies, etc). It was ridiculous.
The consulate is only open for a few hours each morning, so I took time from work and drove downtown. I entered the consulate, took a number, organized my stuff for the tenth time, and then applied for each of us. This was on a Tuesday morning. I was back at work before 11 am.
Thursday afternoon when I reached our doorstep in Silver Spring there was my pre-addressed and paid for envelope sitting on the doorstep waiting for me - five passports inside each with a fresh and new visa for entry to Brazil - talk about speedy service!!!
Okay, public service announcement about visa applications for Brazil is over....but now you know. And for those of you hoping to attend the Olympics in Rio? Better apply way in advance and budget accordingly. It's going to be a mess.
First let me explain how ridiculous it is to get into Brazil. To visit Argentina, one must go online to the embassy website before departure, fill out a digital form, pay a large sum of US dollars, and print out a paper receipt that confirms you have paid the "Reciprocity Fee". It means just that. The US charges Argentines this large sum, so they charge us the same. Lovely. (But who can blame them?)
For Brazil, one needs a visa. To obtain a visa, one must go online and determine which Brazilian Consulate is assigned to the state you live in. Because we live in Maryland, we had to use the consulate in Washington, DC. Because they can, the DC consulate requires you to apply in person. What if you can't apply in person because you live in Kansas and are assigned DC? Oh, lucky you - you can pay obscene amounts of money to an agency to apply on your behalf. They will send someone, you guessed it, in person to the DC consulate for you.
I work in DC, so luckily for Daniel, Hannah, Meredith, and Tom, I could apply for the visas on their behalf. Chris was assigned to Miami, a consulate that also requires in person applications (yeah, he got screwed - paid a ton of extra money...only to find out that Miami doesn't process visas in a month, but in two, had the agency send his visa application to the NY consulate office and got his visa just in the nick of time). Natalie was assigned to Chicago (where she lives) and lucky duck - could apply by mail. ...She won in this lottery process.
For the record, the Consulate of Brazil needed:
1. passport
2. USPS Money order for a large sum of money (which required a specific trip to the US Post Office)
3. SASE with tracking (also part of the trip to the US Post Office)
4. "itinerary" aka - round trip flight information
5. driver's license photo copy (if not applying in person)
6. visa photo - I have a fun story about this one. I had a left over visa application photo from when I went to China. Daniel and Hannah went to CVS to get theirs. CVS refused to take Hannah's picture, because of the liability involved of having a child sit on a stool (they focus on the face in the picture, so a parent could easily crouch down out of frame and hold the child, but no. EYE ROLL. So, I had to take Hannah to a "portrait studio" that was super sketch in the Wheaton Mall. ...She sat on a MAJOR liability hazardous seat thing...it was a little seat with a sheet on it, perilously teetering on a trunk. Totally ridiculous, but I was out of time and options. I had to stay just out of frame ready to catch her at any moment. We finally finish all this nonsense and I go to pay the ten dollars and the guy says, "no, only cash." Seriously dude?! It's 2015! That's something that should be mentioned before services are rendered. He sends me to an ATM across the mall as Hannah starts to have a meltdown. I reach the ATM...it's out of order. I head for the Target, grab an item we could kinda use, get cash back and finally pay the guy in cash. ...Good grief.
But don't worry, we need more for this application...
7. receipt of online visa application, which had to be printed, signed, and have the visa photo attached to it for each person
8. for Hannah, we also needed: her birth certificate and a form that was signed by both parents and notarized for each - we had to print it out from the Brazilian consulate website stating Hannah was allowed to apply for a visa and take it to our respective employers to be notarized.
Yep. Ridiculous. Those were the things they ended up definitely needing. There were other things they "might" need that I had with me for each person just in case, including residency verifications (utility bill copies, etc). It was ridiculous.
The consulate is only open for a few hours each morning, so I took time from work and drove downtown. I entered the consulate, took a number, organized my stuff for the tenth time, and then applied for each of us. This was on a Tuesday morning. I was back at work before 11 am.
Thursday afternoon when I reached our doorstep in Silver Spring there was my pre-addressed and paid for envelope sitting on the doorstep waiting for me - five passports inside each with a fresh and new visa for entry to Brazil - talk about speedy service!!!
Okay, public service announcement about visa applications for Brazil is over....but now you know. And for those of you hoping to attend the Olympics in Rio? Better apply way in advance and budget accordingly. It's going to be a mess.
No comments:
Post a Comment