Brazil

Visa requirements

• Brazil has a reciprocal visa policy with all countries, meaning that whenever prices and restrictions are applied to Brazilian visiting a country, Brazil adopts the same measures for that country's visitors.

• That applies to the United States. As of March 2007, the current cost is 110 USD to 170 USD for a 90-day visa (plus up to $90 for an agency to handle getting you the visa), but check before you travel in case of another increase. If you live close enough to the embassy or consulate for your area (other regions won't accept application), you can go in person, but you must go two times about one week apart (check the list of consulates and embassies). Don't forget they are closed on Brazilian holidays as well as those of your country.

• Citizens from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay may enter the country with a valid ID card and stay up to 90 days.

• No visa is required for stays of up to 60 days from holders of passports from Venezuela.

• No visa is required for stays of up to 90 days from holders of passports from Andorra, Argentina, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Rep., Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong (British National (Overseas) passports only but not HKSAR passports), Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, South Korea, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau, Malaysia, Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Monaco, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay and Vatican City. Note that the immigration officer has the right to restrict your visa to less than 90 days, if he deems fit. He will then state the number of days (e.g. 60 or 30) in pen writing inside the stamp just given in your passport. No pen writing means 90 days.

• Citizens from the following countries currently need a visa for Brazil: Angola, Armenia, Australia, Canada, Cape Verde, China (HK and Macau see below), Cyprus, El Salvador, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Russia, Syria, Taiwan, the United States, former Soviet countries and others not listed above (complete list here - Portuguese only). Caution -- Passports issued by Hong Kong (HKSAR) and and Macau may not be accepted. In such case, travellers with those passports must apply for a Brazilian laissez-passer, which authorises a single entry into Brazil.

• Tourist visas (including those granted on the spot in immigration control, as for most Europeans) can be extended at any office of the Policia Federal. All state capitals, and most border towns and international ports have one. Your visa can maximum be extended for as long as your original visa was granted (i.e. another 90 days if you originally got 90 days.), and under no circumstance can you be granted more than 180 days with a tourist visa for any 365-day period. You should contact the federal police about 1-3 weeks before your visa expires. You have to pay a fee of about R$ 20. Mostly you will be asked for an outbound ticket (book a fully refundable one on the internet, then cancel when your visa is extended), and a proof of subsistance (for which your credit card is mostly accepted.)

• By law you are required to produce your outbound ticket upon entry, but this is only enforced in exeptional cases. Even if you are asked, you could often get away with explaining that you are taking the bus to Argentina, and couldn´t buy the ticket in, say, Europe.

• Even if you receive a tourist visa that is valid for a longer period of time, a tourist visa is invalid unless it has been initially used within ninety days of its issue.

• If you overstay your tourist visa, you will be fined R$ 8,28 per day (as of October 2007), for a maximum of 100 days. This means that even if you stay illegally for 5 years, the fine will never exceed R$ 828. You will be made to pay this at the border crossing. As this can take time, it could be wise to do it a few days up front at a federal police office, especially if you have a domestic to international flight connection. The federal police will then give you 8 days to get out of the country. If you don´t pay your fine upon exiting, you will have to pay the next time you enter. The fact that you have been fined for overstaying in the past does not imply future difficulties with immigration, but you´d better keep all receipts and old passports for reference.

• If you want to enter/exit the country for some reason without coming in contact with the immigration authorities, there are numerous tiny border towns that have virtually no control. You will perhaps be told by the local police (who don´t have stamps or computer registers for immigration) to contact the federal police in such and such nearby town. Just say yes and do nothing.

When you are travelling from certain tropical regions to Brazil you need a yellow fever vaccination and the certificate showing you had this. [2] It is illegal to bring in animals, meat, dairy, seeds, plants, eggs, honey, fruit, or any kind of non-processed food without a permit. Contact vigiagro@agricultura.gov.br for more information.

By plane

Most travelers from other continents will land in São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. There are also regular flights from Europe (Lisbon), and Miami, Florida, USA to Recife, Fortaleza, Natal, and Salvador. (Natal and Recife may be seasonal.) Some regional airports such as Belem and Manaus are also served by flights from Miami, French Guiana, Suriname and Guadeloupe. Besides, weekly 4-hour flights connect Fortaleza to Cape Verde, and onwards to Lisbon (with further connections available to Senegal). Charter tourism flights from Europe often land directly in Salvador, Recife, Fortaleza, and Natal. Direct flights from Sāo Paulo and/or Rio de Janeiro to Lisbon, Madrid, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Milan and Zurich are also available. North American cities served by non-stop flights to Sāo Paulo include Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Mexico City, Miami (RJ also), Newark, New York, Panama City (RJ also), Toronto and Washington DC (RJ also). From the west coast, it has become more difficult since Varig no longer serves Los Angeles. The best routes are LAN Chile to Rio, LAN Peru to Sāo Paulo (note unscheduled change of aircraft in Lima), COPA via Panama City (exactly half way), AeroMexico via Mexico City (SP only), or connect in Texas on American or Continental Airlines. Avianca Brazil/Oceanair plans to have new non-stop service to Los Angeles sometime in 2008, but no details as of yet. TAM is now the largest international Brazilian carrier, with flights from Paris, London, Miami, New York, Lima and Mercosur capitals. Former leader Varig Airlines was purchased by GOL in 2007 and is but a shadow of its former self. Varig is no longer a member of the Star Alliance code-sharing consortium (which includes United Airlines, Lufthansa, Air Canada, USAirways, and other major carriers), but still manages international routes. GOL also flies from several South American cities. Direct flights are available to most South American capitals (Buenos Aires, Santiago, Montevideo, Asunción, La Paz, Lima, Bogotá, Caracas), as well as to other regional hubs (Córdoba, Rosario, Santa Cruz de la Sierra). Other Latin American cities with direct connection to Sāo Paulo or Rio de Janeiro include Mexico City and Panama City. South African Airways offers direct flights from Sāo Paulo to Johannesburg or Cape Town, with onward connections to Australia, New Zealand and the Far East. TAAG Angola Airlines also has two weekly direct flights from Rio de Janeiro to the Angolan capital of Luanda. Asian cities with connections to Brazil include Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka (Japan), and Seoul (Korea). On October 1st new flights were launched from Dubai, United Arab Emirates to Sao Paulo. Direct flights between the two cities operate 6 days a week .

By car

The main border crossings are at:

• Chuy/Chuí, Bella Unión/Barra do Quaraí, Artigas/Quaraí, Aceguá/Aceguá, Río Blanco/Jaguarão, and between Rivera/Santana do Livramento (from Uruguay)
• Paso de los Libres/Uruguaiana, Santo Tomé/São Borja, Bernardo de Irigoyen/Dionísio Cerqueira, Tobuna/Paraíso (Santa Catarina), Comandante Andresito/Capanema, and between Puerto Iguazu/Foz do Iguaçu (from Argentina)
• Ciudad del Este/Foz do Iguaçu, Salto del Guaira/Guaíra, and between Pedro Juan Caballero/Ponta Porã (from Paraguay)
• Puerto Suarez/Corumbá, Cobija/Brasileia/Epitaciolandia, San Matías/Cáceres and between Riberalta/Guayaramerin/Guajará-Mirim (the bridge over Mamoré river will be ready in 2007) (from Bolivia)
• Iñapari/Assis Brasil (from Peru)
• Letícia/Tabatinga (from Colombia)
• Santa Elena/Pacaraíma (from Venezuela)
• Lethem/Bonfim (from Guyana)

The conection from Colombia to Brazil has no continuity inside both countries, and traffic is restricted to the twin-cities area (Leticia and Tabatinga).

By bus

Long-distance bus service connects Brazil to its neighboring countries. The main capitals linked directly by bus are Buenos Aires, Asunción, Montevideo, Santiago de Chile, and Lima. Direct connections from the first three can also be found easily, but from Lima it might be tricky, though easily accomplished by changing at one of the others. Those typically go to São Paulo, though Pelotas has good connections too. It should be kept in mind that distances between Sāo Paulo and any foreign capitals are significant, and journeys on the road may take up to 3 days, depending on the distance and accessibility of the destination. The national land transport authority has listings[3] on all operating international bus lines.

By boat

Amazon river boats connect northern Brazil with Peru, Venezuela and Colombia. The ride is a gruelling 12 days upriver though. From French Guiana, you can cross the river Oyapoque, which takes about 15 minutes.

By train

Train service within Brazil, let alone from other countries, is almost nonexistent. However, there are exceptions to the rule, and the most famous way to enter Brazil by train is on the Trem da Morte, or Death Train, which goes from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to a small town just over the border from Corumbá in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul. There is still a train line from there all the way to São Paulo which at the moment is not in use, but bus connections to São Paulo via the state capital, Campo Grande, are plentiful. The journey itself is reputedly replete with robbers who might steal your backpack or its contents but security has been increased recently and the journey can be made without much difficulty. It goes through the Bolivian agricultural belt and along the journey one may see a technologically-averse religious community which resembles the American Amish in many ways.