How long is my Brazil visa valid for?

i have my VITUR visa and went to brasil for 60 days this year.Can i still go back this year with the same visa?
I would get married as soon as possible and get things moving.

If you are a Canadian citizen, and applied for your VITUR Tourist Visa at the Consulado-Geral do Brasil in Canada then it should be a FIVE YEAR visa. That allows you to enter Brazil as often as you wish for up to 180 days in a "rolling" year. Essentially you're given an initial 90 day stay which is renewable. In practice only the days you're in Brazil are actually counted. You cannot be IN Brazil at any point of your stay for more than the allowable 180 days. So you could stay 180 consecutive days, wait one full year from departure and then come back for 180 days. or you could enter Brazil stay for 30 days every other month over the course of the full year. The sky is the limit, provided you don't exceed the magic number 180.

Cheers,
James      Expat-blog Experts Team

James.  Thanks in advance for being so helpful on this forum.  I am managing an athlete from Senegal and got him a visa into Brazil where he is currently training.  It is a new visa with photo.  Type of visa is "vitur" and entries are "muliplas".  Small print on the bottom lists: "Visa valid for 90 days" / "Maximum: 180 days per year" / "Not valid for work or study" / "vitur 90 dias - autorizado pelo desptel 18/2015" / then the address of the gym where he is training at.  I understand the 90 days, 180 days concept.  But for how many years will this visa be useable before I need to get him another one?  I called the embassy and the gentleman answering the phone said I need to get a new one each year ("It's not like those given to Americans," he said), but I was under the impression from reading the earlier postings on this forum that it would be good for 10 years, unless clearly stated otherwise.  Do you have any insight into this one?  I can't get a good translation of "desptel 18/2015" so perhaps the answer is there?

No, the period of validity of ANY visa is at the sole discretion of the visa issuing officer at the Consulado-Geral do Brasil that issues it. While some countries citizens routinely receive VITUR Tourist Visas that are valid for 5 or 10 years, this mostly depends on reciprocal agreements between Brazil and that nation.

Traditionally Brazil only issues single use, very limited stay visas to citizens from countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and many African nations like Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, etc. They would probably only consider a longer visa upon a subsequent application following one successful visit to Brazil and return home. Basically you will find that this is due to a list of countries that are most likely to produce refugee claims, that is being used by immigrations authorities in most developed countries now. Brazil really raises the bar for visa applicants who are citizens of countries that produce a high number of refugee claims that are eventually denied following thorough investigation.

Essentially the problem is created, not by the Brazilian Consulados, but rather citizens who are essentially nothing more than "economic refugees", and they're spoiling things for their fellow countrymen who have legitimate reasons to come to this country and no intention to try and evade immigrations regulations or make frivolous refugee claims.

If the Consulado has told you that his visa must be renewed every year, then that's what is necessary.

Cheers,
James       Expat-blog Experts Team

James.  Thanks for that.  I have also just been told by the hostel where he is staying that he was denied an extension by the Federal Police after I had been told that it would be an easy formality.  The news is coming just now and he will reach his 90th day on Sunday.  Monday will be his 91st.  His flight is already set for sometime in August (his 178th day).  Now I need to get him out, as I do not want him overstaying, but we are already forced into that by the current circumstances.  I can change his flight for one that is sooner rather than later, but starting Monday he will be over.  What is your best advice to get him out without damaging his ability to return at a later date, given the fact that we are now forced in overstaying for a small bit of time at least?  Will an overstay of 2 weeks or so damage his ability to return?  He will not be like other immigrants who try to stay forever, but it is certainly not the situation I wanted.  What can I do to make this overstay exit as smooth as possible?  Thanks in advance.

Well, as long as the small overstay fine is paid, it's really not going to have much effect on his ability to obtain another visa for Brazil or re-enter. However it may give other countries justification to deny a visa application in the future.

I'd suggest that if you can book a flight for Sunday that you do it, if not he'll just have to take his chances regarding any future travel to OTHER countries.

Unfortunately, all this information comes rather late to really do much in the way of resolving his problems.

Cheers,
James

I took your advice (and the financial hit) and bought a last day one way out on Sunday, the 90th day.  I agree that it was probably the best move long term.  Thanks for the good advice.

Final question.  He will soon arrive back in Senegal with the visa and having respected the 90 days.  Do you think I can buy him another ticket back for another 90 days with the same visa to go and complete the 180 max for the year?  I think so, but you are the expert.  He never had any problem at immigration coming in, just with the federal police for extending.  Again the terms are:

New visa with photo.  Type of visa is "vitur" and entries are "muliplas".  Small print on the bottom lists: "Visa valid for 90 days" / "Maximum: 180 days per year" / "Not valid for work or study" / "vitur 90 dias - autorizado pelo desptel 18/2015" / then the address of the gym where he is training at.

As long as the 180 day limit per year has not been reached the new visa can be applied for immediately and the individual would be able to return to Brazil immediately if it is granted. The 180 day limit would apply (from the present and previous visits) so he would only be permitted to stay 90 days. Following this he would need to be out of the country for a full year in order to be entitled to 180 days, or out of Brazil 270 days to be entitled to a non-extendable stay of 90 days.

Again, the foregoing is based completely on issuance of the new visa. That is NOT guaranteed, nor is there any guarantee of it being a 5 year visa. Those decisions are at the sole discretion of the visa issuing officer at the Consulado-Geral do Brasil that issues the visa.

Cheers,
James        Expat-blog Experts Team

So the current visa is finished?  Even though it is multiple entry?  Is that because we are now more than 90 days from the date of issue?  (They really should make the visa more clear!  I thought I understood it, but apparently not!)

The "multiple entry" designation simply means that one may exit and re-enter Brazil without restrictions (other than number of days of entitlement) during the permitted stay for the duration of the visa's validity period.

So, if a visa is issued with a 5 year vailidity that means the holder could come and go as they pleased in any given one year period provided they did not exceed the 180 day per year limit.

Brazilian visas have never, and probably never will be, absolutely clear on the period of validity. Only when the term of the visa is clearly spelled out in the text at the bottom, either "Valid for 10 years from date of issue" or "Valid for 5 years from date of issue" are people not confused by it. Unfortunately they do not state validity of the visa, just of a particular stay, on most visas.

It's Brazil, I've stopped trying to figure out things like this long ago, because it's useless. They just can't be figured out. Worse still they're not about to change either!

Hi! My girlfriend has gotten a Visa for Brazil last week, but we haven't found for how long her visa is good for.
On the visa doesn't say anything. It is so confusing, and we couldn't find any information about the validity of her visa on the Beijing's Brazilian Embassy website too (in english, chinese and portuguese). I am Brazilian btw.
I have tried to check everywhere, also tried looking for the reciprocity rules between China and Brazil on visas but no success. I can't find any clear information on that. As a Brazilian I feel really embarrassed about this lack of information on such a simple thing, basically, should be written on the visa, or at least on the embassy/consulate's website, but our authorities seems to be worried about other things and not making things easier. 

Anyways, could someone experienced help me to define how long is her visa good for?
Below follows all the information written on her visa:

No of entries: MÚLTIPLAS
Type of Visa: VITUR
Duration of Stay: 90 DIAS
Nationality: CHINÊS(A)
Date of Issue: 20/NOV/2015
Extra info: NOT VALID FOR WORK OR STUDY. FIRST ENTRY WITHIN 90 DAYS FROM DATE OF ISSUE.
Code at the bottom (* = her personal information):
V<BRA***<<*******<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
********<2CHN******2F*******<<<<<<<<<<<<<<06

PS: We applied for the visa with an invitation letter from myself, that informed she was my girlfriend and we were going to Brazil to visit my relatives. I also signed and officially stamped the letter at the embassy on the same day.

Thanks in advance everyone.
Cheers!

Hi.
When you get your vitur visa,it is good for  3months.You can extend up to 6months once you are in Brasil.
You can use 90 days of stay in different years as long as you don't use it all in one single year.
So if you stay a whole 90days and leave,you have to apply for a new one

The period of validity of a VITUR Tourist Visa is stated in the text at the bottom of the visa (see red arrow in photo below). Since your girlfriend's visa has no stated validity period then it is most certainly a single use visa. Once the 90 day stay is over the visa is no longer usable, and a new visa would be required for any subsequent visit to Brazil. The initial 90 day stay, may or may not be extended at the sole discretion of the Federal Police, however an extension is never guaranteed.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

James wrote:

The period of validity of a VITUR Tourist Visa is stated in the text at the bottom of the visa (see red arrow in photo below). Since your girlfriend's visa has no stated validity period then it is most certainly a single use visa. Once the 90 day stay is over the visa is no longer usable, and a new visa would be required for any subsequent visit to Brazil. The initial 90 day stay, may or may not be extended at the sole discretion of the Federal Police, however an extension is never guaranteed.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team
[img align=c]http://i1320.photobucket.com/albums/u531/wjwoodward/visa_zpsf0e45487.jpg[/url]

Hi James!
I understood your point, but on the visa says MULTIPLE entries. That's pretty contradictory. If a Visa has Multiple entries and no validity date specified, the normal understanding would be that the visa is good for life, right?
I am still looking everywhere for the right information and I can't find it. Perhaps we will need to ask the Federal Police upon our arrival in Sao Paulo, they might be able to inform us the real deal.

I will post their answer in here so that it might be useful for other travellers.
Cheers!

Multiple Entry only means that you would be able to exit Brazil to make a short visit to any of the surrounding South American countries during the period of validity and re-enter again. Nothing at all contradictory about that if you really think about it.

So during the 90 days, one could take a one week trip to Argentina, for example and then re-enter Brazil on the same visa.

There is no such thing as a visa that is valid for life. The maximum validity of any VITUR is 5 or 10 years depending on reciprocity with the holder's country of origin and MUST be stated in the text at the bottom of the visa. Even a VIPER Permanent Visa is not really permanent. If one leaves the country for more than 2 years permanency is cancelled.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

Hi!
My friend is going to apply for Brazilian naturalization in upcoming year. Now, he wants to  file a ``discrimination case`` against the selection  committee of University he applied for. According to him, he was discriminiated during his presentation. Will it affect his naturalization process? thanks for info!

Not knowing any of the details, it isn't possible for me to comment on the discrimination case against the university. That said, I can almost guarantee you that such a case would have an extremely remote chance of success. Likely you're talking about a Federal University and they follow a very strict set of rules. Proving any kind of discrimination would be virtually impossible.

I really think that your friend would not only be wasting time and money pursuing such a case, but if it is against a Federal institution yes it could actually jeopardize his/her application for naturalization.

I would strongly recommend that your friend consult a lawyer who is experienced both in discrimination laws and immigration matters.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

he wants to provide the film created by professor during his interview as a proof to show discrimination where a professor was laughing at his presentation at the last process. He wants to register his case with the name of his wife.

If he intends to sue he can't do that in the name of another person. To be quite honest simply laughing during the presentation could mean a number of different things, it would be nearly impossible, even with a video to prove that it was motivated by discrimination. They could say that they were amused at WHAT he said, laughed because of his accent, because they themselves were nervous because they didn't understand him, any number of things. I'm not trying to defend them in any way, but rather trying to show you how difficult it would be to prove. He'll need a very expert lawyer, it will cost him a lot of money, maybe most of what he'd receive even if he won the case, and it would put his citizenship application at risk. Would YOU take that risk if it were you? I sure wouldn't.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

thanks Sir for the right information as I dont know about the real definition of discrimination. My friend was considered failed in his last presentation for admission in Master program and he justified it as discrimination. Accordiing to him, laughing at presentor while he presents his research Project is a type of discrimination and against the rules of concurso publico. It is his atitude. thanks for your kind guidance!

It is not his attitude that matters, it's the decision of a judge that matters. He must have conclusive evidence that proves the case, before he can then use the law to determine a verdict. Also one must consider the very sad, but real, fact that it would be a case of a foreigner against a Brazilian and whether they like to admit it or not, here in Brazil that alone carries a lot of weight in the mind of a judge.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

he has only the vídeo filmed by university where a professor (one of three assessors/professors of his presentation) was laughing at him. He would show that vídeo as evidence to prove his case. His claim is ``He was denied admission into Master Program due to discrimination against him``.

Impossible to believe that a Brazilian judge would rule in his favor based solely on a video of a professor laughing. As I said there are numerous reasons that could possibly explain the laughter, and your friend's interpretation is just one of many. If there is ANY doubt then the judge must rule in favor of the defendant. Your friend is beating a dead horse, I'm afraid. If he wants to waste his money on lawyers only to lose, then tell him to go right ahead. In my experience of 14 years in this country, and knowing exactly how things work here... I wouldn't be that foolish.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

A refugee gets his naturalization directly?

No, a refugee only gets Permanência Definitiva. He/she must then wait 4 years from the date of permanency before applying for naturalization (Naturalização Ordinária), then must meet all the other requirements too. These include a clear criminal record check, proof of income, ability to read, write and speak Portuguese, etc.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

Sir! what do you mean by proof of income? A stamp of registration on job-card (carteira de trabalho) is sufficiente for it?

No, the check stub or salary declaration from your employer, and it would have to be for several months, not just one month.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

someone who iniciated his job in last month cannot apply for naturalization in upcomming? Is there any alternative to this option of salary?

You have to apply for a new visa. The VITEM II visa that you have is valid only for 90 days from your entry to Brazil, after that visit it expires.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

Sir! I did not understand your viewpoint. I want to apply for naturalization in upcomming year. But I have been started my job since last month. How can I show my salary of few months?

sakraan,

Have you already been a permanent resident of Brazil for 4 years from the time you got your Cédula? If not, you can't apply for naturalization.

You have to be a permanent resident FIRST, naturalization is a completely different process.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

if the permanancy was gotten on the basis of marriage/reunion familiar then it shorten the duration to apply for naturalization. Is it? How can a married/reunited person show his salary of months?

There are only two conditions that permit a reduced waiting period for naturalization, the first is being legally married to a Brazilian, and the second is having a Brazilian child. In those two situations the waiting period is reduce to 1 year (from the condition that gives rise to the reduction - i.e. from the marriage or from the date of birth of the child). So for example, you get permanency and a year later get married, you couldn't then immediately apply for naturalization because the condition for the reduced waiting period is not backdated; you'd still need to wait for one year.

If your permanency was based on marriage or a Brazilian child, then it would be one year wait from the date of permanency. You must however, meet all of the other requirements for citizenship - proof of income, Certified Criminal Record Check, declaration of all absences from Brazil during the waiting period, passing a test of fluency in Portuguese, etc.

You can find out more about naturalization at the Ministry of Justice website: www.justica.gov.br

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

thanks Sir!!

Hi there!

In the past my husband got a tourist visa wt the following:

"No of entries:
multiplas
type of visa:
VITUR - TE
Duration of stay:
90 dias
VISA VALID  FOR FIFA WORLD CUP 2014. FIRST ENTRY BY 13/07/2014. VISA UNEXTENDABLE.

Is it UNEXTENDABLE or is it valid for 10yrs!?

alicekfs wrote:

Hi there!

In the past my husband got a tourist visa wt the following:

"No of entries:
multiplas
type of visa:
VITUR - TE
Duration of stay:
90 dias
VISA VALID  FOR FIFA WORLD CUP 2014. FIRST ENTRY BY 13/07/2014. VISA UNEXTENDABLE.

Is it UNEXTENDABLE or is it valid for 10yrs!?

NEITHER, it was only for the World Cup and has long since expired. VITUR-TE means "Tourist Visa - Temporary Special" and it is usually issued for specific short-term events like the World Cup, they will probably issue them for the Olympics this year too.

If your husband has any plans of returning to Brazil in the near future he must apply for a new visa.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

ty james

Hey James! You seem SO well informed. Wondering if you could help me out!

I am australian and received a visa from the Brazilian consulate in Sydney and was wondering how many years it was ok to use.

The details are:

Entries: Multiple
Type: VITUR
Duration of stay: 90 days
Issue date: Dec 2014


At the bottom it says visa valid for 90 days from first entry in Brazil. Maximum 180 days per year. My understanding is that these 180 days are simply the total days you can remain in the country per year. There is no expiration date listed on the visa, only a date of issue.

I'm a music artist, and I toured Brazil twice last year, for 3 months and 2 months on two different occasions. My second trip (for 2 months) was difficult. I was stopped in Morocco when trying to check in to fly to Sao Paulo, and when I arrived in Sao Paulo I was held up in customs and held for a short time under investigation. 
So yeah, I'm flying to Brazil again November 20 for a third tour and can't afford to be denied at the airport. I'll be touring for 1 month total.

Should I get another visa?

I wish the wording on the visa was more clear!

I have a USA visa in my passport it is good for 10 years. Each country is different. In the area that says how long you can stay it should say how long , not a date, but how longit is valid for. You might want to contact the Brazilian consulate in the area that you live for clarification.