VISA

Endor wrote:
"I have spent a good amount of time at the Consulate in NYC this week and thought I would post my experience in the hopes it might help someone. It's a NIGHTMARE.

I am going to Iguazu, and after hemming and hawing, decided to suck it up and get the Visa in advance, although I will be staying at the Sheraton in Argentina. There is a lot of conflicting info out there on whether i need the Visa to see the Brazil side of the falls.

So I emailed the Consulate in advance, but for some reason, I didn't realize they would want to see my Argentina flight itinerary. So I brought with me the money order, app, pix, and passport.

First I had to wait in a line to go up the 21st floor, then there is a lengthy line in the hallway, and only after that do you get a numbered ticket, based on the window you need to go to. On Tuesday I arrived at 1030, and left at 12. On Wednesday, I arrived at 1015 and left at 1115. There is only one window open for Visas, and the woman who was responsible for it (at least this week) is unbelieveabley harsh.

There are no signs posted in the consulate about the forms you need (although when you obtain a number they rapidly list the items). I saw countless people get denied and told to come back tomorrow for a variety of reasons: no itinerary, wrong form of payment, missing their number when called, etc, etc.

If you blow your 10 seconds at the window, you're basically hosed and have to come back the next day, so make sure you have your ducks in a row: postal money order, completed application, picture, and passport. If you aren't flying into Brazil, have your international AND domestic flight itineraries with you.

Tomorrow, I have to to go back and pick up the passport and Visa. Hope it doesn't take it long. Of course, after all this, I am sure I won't even need the Visa.

On a happier note, I saw numerous people who were flying out THAT day that were being accomodated with same day Visas (although they had to come back that afternoon, not received them straight away)."

BillScann wrote:
"As a US citizen who has spent most of his adult life living and working overseas, I can only chuckle when Americans get annoyed at the occasional shabby treatment meted-out by foreign consular officials.

Foreigners wishing to vist or transit the US are treated like garbage by US officials every step of the way. The humiliations endured -- from the long, slow lines at consulates, the disdain in which they are treated once inside, to the fingerprinting and mugshots taken at US ports of entry -- make me wonder why anyone in their right mind would want to spend their hard-earned money visiting the USA.

The short answer is, they're not. The 48 million foreign visitors to the USA last year was 9% below 2000. In the same period, worldwide foreign travel soared 17%.

So the next time you're stuck waiting for a visa to visit Brazil (or anywhere else) remember that what you experience is several orders of magnitude better than what our government does to foreigners"

GUWonder wrote:
"As said above, getting a visa to Brazil is a piece of cake in comparison to what we subject people wishing to visit or even merely transit America. In some places, it can take two or three months of waiting to even have a chance to have an interview to try to get a visa. And if they don't get it, they are out the money paid."

andrzej wrote:
"We see this discussion around here from time to time and it has some validity, but let's be honest.

How many US citizens try to stay in Brazil, Russia, China, etc. once they get there?

OTOH, many citizens of the above countries DO try to stay in the US, so I'm sorry that the process has to be the way it is, but it's the REALITY, and if you have a hard time seeing it then I'm sorry for you or anybody that agrees with you.

At the same time I respect any country's demand for something similar, whether done in retaliation or just because. It's up to me if I want to go through the trouble of actually doing it."


GUWonder wrote:
"Let's not be dishonest either. There is also a large number of Americans who violate Brazilian law, including Brazilian immigration law. (The same can be said for a number of Americans in Europe too.) Americans enter Brazil illegally -- routinely and far more easily than Brazilians enter America illegally. None of this excuses giving a hard time to visitors who have their bona fides present.

It's not too hard to find Americans violating the terms of their entry in all of the countries you mention. And Americans overstaying? It happens routinely with a segment in those countries too.
__________________
This game is not as much fun as it used to be."


I write:
This getting-VISA-situation SUCKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!