So what if I overstay my Tourist Visa in Brazil anyway?

Hey,

Thanks for a very nice and informative blog writing :-)

Just so I dont get screwed; I accidentally overstayed 2 days thinking 90 days is 3 months. Wops. I need to pay 16 reals for 2 days. Is it safe for me to take the risk to pay at the airport? I got the cash and everything.

The norwegian embassy said I need to get someone to pay there, and send documents. But I dont know anyone in Brazil at the moment. And this will take forever.

Cheers, Aina.

Hello. I have been in brazil for about 2 years on and off on tourist visas. I have lived in an apartment with my brazilian ex girlfriend. I have over stayed my visa a few times, paid the fine and carried on as usual.
My last beginning of my one year period was august 21st last year. I have had two 3 month visas since then. When I was in Europe, the head of consulate told me I can not re enter Brazil until August 22nd 2013 this year. I didn't realise this at the time, but eventually accepted that this was in fact the start of a new one year time block.
Cutting forward, I have now broken up with my girlfriend, but am here in Buenos Aires waiting to get back to Brazil. I went to the consulate here and the head of consulate appeared to make her own rules up by saying 'you have stayed more than 180 days in the last year since you over stayed your visa twice', the women here in Buenos Aires said. This was strange to me as the head of consulate in the Brazilian consulate in Greece. Athens, specifically told me in her words - ' I know you have over stayed you visa twice', however these days DO NOT count as time spent in Brazil, as you have paid your fines.  This is a matter of the Federal police and not us' she said.This completely made sense to me as, both times I overstayed my Visa I had legitimate excuses, and one of the times they had actually reduced my fine.
It was also quite contradictory to me at the time (here in Buenos Aires), as she didn't feel the need to bring up the 3 or 4 times I had left Brazil to other South American countries, thus not subtracting these days OUTSIDE of Brazil. Therefore her theory about having been in Brazil more than 180days was incorrect. It would actually be quite interesting to me if they subracted all these days. Would probably add up to less than 180days.
I am now speaking to a Brasileria women who I am seeing now and she is going to try and help find out for me what is in fact the law. If you are able to give me some feed back that would be good. I have many experiences with these consulates and it appears they are very power hungry at times and like to make there own decisions. I am thinking to go to Foz Do Iquaza, as I got my visa there in One day and they didn't give me any unnecessary hassles. The two places I have now had trouble are here in Buenos Aires and In Santiago Chile.

Hi ainakite,

The only way to pay the fine is with the passport, so you have to do so in person. If it is not paid on departure from Brazil it must be paid immediately at the time of one's return to the country or re-entry will not be allowed. The fine is so small in your case it's hardly worth worrying about. Pay it if you come back, other than that it should have little effect on your ability to obtain a visa for other countries.

  Cheers, 
  William James Woodward – Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Hello stuart mac,

I'm sorry, but from your narrative it's hard to tell what kind of visa stay you're talking about. Are you actually referring to a VITUR Tourist Visa that you had to apply for from a Consulate, or did you enter under the Visa Waiver Program or Schengen Area Agreement exemption from having a physical visa document in the passport? They are treated quite differently.

I can only assume that you're talking about a VWP visa exempt stay which is 3 months in a 6 month period.

Either way, I will clear up some basic misunderstandings that you have. First of all, you got completely the WRONG information from the Brazilian Embassy/Consulate in Athens. All days in Brazil count toward your future entitlement for visits to Brazil regardless of the type of visa stay. The rule of thumb that is in practice used by the Federal Police to calculate stays is the same in all cases and it is essentially "at no time during anyone's stay in Brazil are they permitted to have been in the country more than 180 days." They make no exceptions. All days are counted in the calculation, it doesn't matter if they were during the validity of the visa stay or were over-stay days.

Second misconception, the practice with VWP and Schengen Area visits is that the clock starts ticking the day you enter Brazil. Like all other VWP countries, that three month clock continues to run despite any short trips outside the country to neighboring countries. So if you take a week for example to visit Argentina those seven days will still count in the calculation of the three months. Not fair you say, true but that's the way they all operate. If you go to the USA on a WVP visit and spend a week in Canada or Mexico those days are also counted against your stay in the USA. Doesn't make a lot of sense I know, but that's just the way things are. So you see you just can't simply subtract the days outside Brazil in other South American countries.

With a (physical) VITUR Tourist Visa allowing multiple entries then yes, you subtract all the days you were out of Brazil. However don't forget that your day of arrival in Brazil and day of departure from Brazil are counted as full days in this country so must be included in the count.

Errors in calculation of visa stays and getting conflicting information from the very people who SHOULD know the answers is an unfortunately all too common problem. This is because the way the laws and rules are applied in practice keeps changing. The Federal Police don't even know what they're doing half of the time. You ask 10 different people the same question and you'll get 10 completely different answers, that's no joke. Another factor is that errors in visa stay calculation (either in your favor or against you) are far more common in land crossings than in airport or maritime entries to the country; also common in cases where the computer system used by the Federal Police is not functioning.

Consulates and Embassies give out the wrong information because while they are responsible for issuing visas, they are not involved in, nor are they aware of the rules and methods used by the Federal Police in order to calculate individual visa stays in the country. Classic case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, unfortunately.

Hope this information clears up any misunderstandings you may have about the process.

  Cheers, 
  William James Woodward – Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

I am currently on a tourist visa in Brazil, due to run out on Friday. My flight out of the country is on Tuesday - It would cost me more to renew the visa than to just overstay and pay the fine. If I went to the Policia Federal, would they still make me pay the full R$67 fee for an extra 90 days?

* I don't actually want an extra 90 days, I just don't want to be held in a dingy room until my flight home. If I told them in advance, would there be a problem?

Hi LBusby,

Just do nothing, show up for the airport well in advance of your flight, when you pass through the Federal Police for your exit stamp you can explain the situation to the officer. You may not even get a fine or stamp on your passport since the overstay is so short (4 days). Is this exactly the same ticket that you had to show when you entered the country? If so they should have detected the error and told you upon entry. This may go in your favor.

The overstay and small fine (R$8,25/day) is really no problem if you do get stuck with it.

  Cheers, 
  William James Woodward – Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

No, I changed my flights (twice) - initially the plan was to stay and get the extension, but then circumstances changed and I moved the flight forward. Because it was exactly three months I thought it would be about 90 days but it's just over.
Will I definitely get a stamp even f I pay the fine? My passport has another 7 years on it, and I do hope to travel again!

The stamp really doesn't matter. If you pay the 16 reais fine, there really won't be a problem reentering. This is not the US.

Boa tarde
I have been here almost two years. I entered with a US Tourist Visa October of 2011 and extended it for the additional 90 days. I overstayed this extension and I understand that I have to pay a fine upon departure from Rio. 

I need to go back to the US soon.

My question is, when can I come back in to Brasil???   

I have had answers of anytime after the overstay fine is paid to one year out before I can return.

Thanks!!

You'll have to wait 180 days just to get back to ZERO entitlement, 270 days to be entitled to an unextendable 90 day visit and a full year to be entitled to 90 days which you can extend by a further 90 days.

The good news is that the fine is relatively small (around R$8,25 per day or so) that is also capped to 100 days, so the very most you could pay is around R$825.

  Cheers, 
  William James Woodward – Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Thank You very much.  At least I know what is ahead.

This information was really helpful, thank you!

To reiterate James point - the US Embassies around the world that issue visas do in fact look for this type of violation and it will result in a visa denial on the grounds that you may not return. It also will come into play even if you get a visa and CBP (Border Patrol) at the airport sends you to secondary inspection to verify everything is in order. Just by requiring a visa or especially if you come from Central/South America you have a higher risk of secondary.

Think it through thoroughly!




Matt V. - Manaus, Amazonas, Brasil
Visit my Personal Blog - brazilbs.blogspot.com

Hi James
I do believe the way of overstay fine payment could be negotiated because last year I personally helped another person to pay this fine. With a statement we both signed at the federal police station,  my friend authorized  me and I promised to pay for his fine. I could see that even police officers have different understanding on some topics.
Regards

Hi,

I have been living in Brazil for the last 2 years, I originally had a 3 month tourist visa and then extended it for another 3 months. I met my girlfriend here and so I never wanted to leave but now we have broken up, I am thinking to go home.

My passport ran out whilst I was here so I applied for a new one and the new passport arrived in the post with a different passport number on it.

My question is: How will this affect me when I go to the airport to leave. Will they ask me to produce my old passport? Will they know that I have overstayed? What if I have lost my entrance card?

Also, if I want to come back to Brazil, how long will I have to be away from the country for?

If anyone can help, please do, I am a little worried about the whole situation.

Thanks in advance.

braziltour wrote:

Hi,

I have been living in Brazil for the last 2 years, I originally had a 3 month tourist visa and then extended it for another 3 months. I met my girlfriend here and so I never wanted to leave but now we have broken up, I am thinking to go home.

My passport ran out whilst I was here so I applied for a new one and the new passport arrived in the post with a different passport number on it.

My question is: How will this affect me when I go to the airport to leave. Will they ask me to produce my old passport? Will they know that I have overstayed? What if I have lost my entrance card?

Also, if I want to come back to Brazil, how long will I have to be away from the country for?

If anyone can help, please do, I am a little worried about the whole situation.

Thanks in advance.

Yes, when you go to the airport with a blank passport (i.e. no previous entry stamp or visa (if the document is required for your home country) you are most surely going to be asked by the Federal Police to produce your previous passport and entry card. That's when the doo doo hits the fan, bigtime. Should you fail to do so they will put all the information they have into their computer system and will find out exactly when you entered anyway, so my advice is be completely honest with them because that is in your best interest and the only thing that is going to save your hide.

The visa overstay is not, in itself, the biggest problem it is subject to a fine (around R$8,25 or so per day of overstay, capped at 100 days) and if that fine is paid you really won't have any major problems re-entering Brazil in the future. You do however get a big fat ugly overstay stamp on your passport. That may cause you problems if you every plan to apply for a visa to travel to some other countries, since they have just cause to deny you a visa once they see that stamp. You are required to produce your passport for any countries that require that a visa (physical document) be affixed to your passport. In Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries, where you arrive in the country and just present a valid passport to get an entry stamp, that very same big fat ugly overstay stamp could be just what their Immigrations Officers need to put you right back on the plane you arrived on.

Regarding when you can come back to Brazil, if you've paid the fine, since they will know you used up your 180 days (and then some), you're going to have to wait for a minimum of 180 days just to get back to ZERO, then start building days. After 270 days from your date of departure you would qualify for a 90 day stay (non-extendable) and after one full year you'd qualify for a 90 day stay (extendable for a further 90).

I certainly don't envy you for the position you are in!

  Cheers, 
  William James Woodward, Brazil & Canada Expert - Expat-blog Team

I am planning to go to Brazil with a Dutch nationality and is it possible to extend my first stay after 3 months with another 3 months in a row?

What happens if I leave Brazil after 2 months and when can I come back to Brazil for another 2 months?

Are European people treated differently depending on the country where they come from and if yes, what is the reason?

Thanks very much in advance.

OOPS, RETRACTED!

Wasn't aware of the visa free part.




Matt V. - Manaus, Amazonas, Brasil
Visit my Personal Blog - brazilbs.blogspot.com

Hello escaut,

No, it is not possible to extend the visit of any of the Schengen Area tourist stays in Brazil. The Schengen Agreement permits entry without a visa and a stay of three months (90 days) in a period of 6 months (180 days). So you must then be out of Brazil for at least 90 days before you can return.

If you came to Brazil for 2 months (60 days) and left I believe you would then be allowed to return of 30 days within the same six month period.

  Cheers, 
  William James Woodward, Brazil & Canada Expert - Expat-blog Team

Sorry for the confusion, my bad. I edited my post to avoid confusion in the future. My apologies!





Matt V. - Manaus, Amazonas, Brasil
Visit my Personal Blog - brazilbs.blogspot.com

Thanks very much for your answer!

In the case of a first 2-months stay then it would be possible to use the remaining 1 month at the end of the first 6 months period. After this will start a new 3 months stay in a period of 6 months, so it would be possible to connect both and stay 4 months in a row.

If this is right would it be possible that the immigration officer gives a permit for 120 days by arriving or only for 30 days?

Thanks very much in advance!

Hi escaut,

I'm not sure exactly how that works because nobody has told me they've gone through anything similar.

Theoretically, since you are allowed 180 days in any "rolling" one year time block just like everyone else; yes that's the way it should work. That said, absolutely nothing works exactly the way it should here in Brazil, especially if you're dealing with the Federal Police.

To get a direct answer to that question you'd need to ask the Federal Police. Warning, even at that you're likely to get several different and conflicting answers. They may just turn around and let you stay for the 4 months the first time if you ask. I've heard of that happening even though the Schengen Agreement is clear the Federal Police at times have extended the visit beyond the 90 days. Maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones - who knows?

  Cheers, 
  William James Woodward, Brazil & Canada Expert - Expat-blog Team

Me neither, explain if someone can? I came in (well not exactly, was not stamped) on a British Passport, what will happen if I show my South African one?

Using a different passport won't make any difference since you'll still have to produce your airline ticket and entry card.

  Cheers, 
  William James Woodward, Brazil & Canada Expert - Expat-blog Team

Hi pduby,

First of all be certain that you present the exact same passport upon departure as you used for your entry to Brazil, otherwise there is going to be a lot of headaches. You should also arrive considerably earlier for your departing flight because of all the extra bureaucracy you're going to face due to the overstay. There is also the question of the overstay fine (multa) and stamp in your passport. The fine is around R$8,25 per day of overstay, capped at 100 days so the maximum you could possibly pay is R$825 or thereabouts.

Don't be terrified about getting to the airport to leave Brazil, you're not the first nor the last to have overstayed and they certainly aren't going to treat you like "Public Enemy No. One". They're quite used to this.

As has been pointed out in numerous responses to this topic it is highly unadvisable to try and re-enter Brazil using another passport once you've used up your 180 days per "rolling" year entitlement. The best case scenario is that you'll simply be refused entry upon arrival, while the worst case scenario is that you could be looking at charges being brought against you for immigrations violations. So, just don't go there!

You will need to wait to re-enter Brazil, but the question is exactly how long. I really can't say how the Policia Federal are going to handle that since you're on a Visa Waiver Program Agreement separate from the Schengen Area Agreement. You are allowed 180 days per year, which in the case of the UK can be consecutive unlike Schengen. It's likely that because of the overstay you're going to have to wait 180 days just to get back to ZERO entitlement and from that point on you build up entitlement days just as you would if you had a "consular" paper visa. So, that would be 270 days for a 90 day entitlement or a full year for a 180 day entitlement.

Since you have to "fall on your sword" anyway once you arrive at the immigrations check-in it's not going to hurt things or cost you anything to ask the Federal Police Agent for clarification on that point. One warning, just don't expect to get a definitive answer since half of them haven't the first clue as to what they're actually doing.

Good luck and safe journey.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Brazil & Canada Expert, Expat-blog Team

Hi pduby,

By "consecutive" I mean that the initial visit (usually 90 days) can be extended allowing up to an additional 90 days CONSECUTIVE to the initial visit. Schengen Area countries and other Visa Waiver Program (VWP) visitors cannot extend the initial stay. For them it is 3 months in any 6 month period, essentially 90 in, 90 out, 90 in and 90 out.

Regarding re-entering Brazil, NOT POSSIBLE on your UK passport you will need to wait the required time to build back up to entitlement. The maximum amount of time anyone can be in Brazil (as a tourist) in a "rolling" one year time period is 180 days, pure and simple. You just have no alternative but to wait it out.

HIGHLY UNADVISABLE trying to re-enter with your Australian passport. The best case scenario is that they put you right back on the same plane you arrived on and you're on your way back home so you've lost everything you paid. Worse still is if they decide to charge you for an immigrations violation (essentially fraud) and detain you.

Regarding any reason for your overstay, as I understand it there was some kind of judicial process which required you to be in Brazil either as a witness/complaintant/defendant (don't know which), it did not release you from your legal obligation to report to the Federal Police and request the appropriate visa extensions in order to comply with that requirement it also has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the number of days you had actually been in the country and your future entitlement. TWO COMPLETELY SEPARATE ISSUES, being released from any financial penalty or actually entitlement.

As I already explained that you must now wait 270 days in order to be able to come back to Brazil for 90 days (unextended) and be sure this is the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM amount of time I'd recommend you have in order to go through the marriage process here in Brazil even if you have all the paperwork ready, legalized and translated before you have arrived. See related topic: https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=280525

There is no legal process if you are refused entry to the country, they just put you back on the same plane you came on or are detained until there is a return flight. You are confusing this with deportation, which does allow you to put on a defense.

Regarding the pregnancy, it would only allow you to apply for permanency in Brazil if the child were to be born here and thus automatically become a citizen by virtue of birth in Brazil. A child born of a Brazilian parent abroad must be registered with the Brazilian Consulate in that nation, citizenship for the child must be requested and ONLY THEN could you apply for permanency in Brazil based on a Brazilian child.

It's too bad that you didn't mention the pregnancy before or hadn't asked an immigrations lawyer about it before you left the country, since the advice you would have received from me or a lawyer would have been the same....

Since you were already in an "irregular" migratory condition (i.e. overstayed your visa) you should simply continue on here in that condition and wait for the birth of the child here on Brazilian soil. That would have given you the automatic right to apply for permanency, married or not. Too bad you didn't ask.

I think you'd get deported very quickly, given your pregnancy they wouldn't want to risk you being here to give birth in Brazil. As I say your best bet is to wait your time to come back legally, get married here.

Alternatively, if the child is born before you come back and you can get the father to provide you with all of his identification documents you can register the child at the Brazilian Consulate and then apply for a VIPER Permanent Visa based on a Brazilian child. At least applying for the VIPER abroad you could get through the process in around 6 months as opposed to several years being processed here in Brazil. The only disadvantage is that you can't enter Brazil UNTIL you have the visa in hand. Once issued you have no problem returning with your child.

Trying anything else in order to slip back into the country could end up spoiling any chance that you might possibly have. I strongly advise you to forget any ideas along that line. As you already know the Brazilian government and police aren't the kind of people you want to mess around with. Better to play the game following their rules because otherwise you always end up on the losing team.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Brazil & Canada Expert, Expat-blog Team

Actually, even if you were able to somehow succeed at officializing the stable union here in Brazil (note: this must be proven to have existed for a minimum of one year) you would end up defeating your own purpose of trying to return to Brazil as soon as possible since with that kind of VIPER Permanent Visa you are not permitted to enter Brazil until the visa has actually been issued. The very best you could hope for when applying from abroad would be issuance in somewhere around six months.

I can understand your sense of urgency, however I've been helping people with these things for quite some time now and can tell you that the only thing you can do in your situation is to just wait it out until you can come back on your tourist visa or VWP.

Use that time to gather all the documents you're going to need for the VIPER Permanent Visa application here in Brazil and have them "legalized" by the Consulado-Geral do Brasil in your home country. At least that way you will likely be able to get married within 90 days or arrival in Brazil, so you'd be entitled to that much sooner than waiting until you're entitled to the full 180 days.

In response to your question about the Australian application for a Visa for Brazil, makes no difference since you are still talking about a TOURIST visa. As a tourist once you've used up your 180 days they're gone, no matter what nationality you've used to get those days.

The only way you will be able to re-enter Brazil any sooner than just waiting out the time required to be normally entitled to more days as a tourist would be if you were able to obtain some other CATEGORY VISA. For example, if you were able to somehow obtain a VITEM-IV Student Visa theoretically you could come back to Brazil immediately since it is a different category of visa and you are not subject to the limit imposed by the 180 day maximum of the tourist visa. Depending on how soon you anticipate giving birth, this might be something you should seriously consider. If you can somehow manage to enroll in a qualifying course and obtain the visa. If your child is born here in Brazil you could apply for permanency immediately. That in itself gives you the right to remain in the country and even obtain work until such time as the VIPER process is completed. If you and your future spouse have the funds I'd say that it would be well worth investing in obtaining the assistance of an immigrations lawyer to help you do this. Note, it is not necessary that the lawyer be there in that city, they can deal with the Federal Police anywhere. If you decide to go that route I can pass you the information to a good lawyer that I know, he speaks perfect English and I'm sure he'd be able to help you. If you get too close to your due date, I'm not sure if that would cause problems in entering Brazil so don't delay in deciding if you want to try this approach.

How would you plan on getting into Brazil (at any entry point) without showing a passport??? Regardless of the country of origin of the passport, once they run your name through the computer system they're going to see that you've already been in Brazil, used up all your days and then some, and been requested to leave the country. You do understand that they use computers don't you?

No, you misunderstood the information regading the Stable Union (União Estável) process. You are only permitted to stay in Brazil once the VIPER Permanent Visa based on Stable Union is applied for, not the union itself. Even so unlike for visas based on marriage or having a child, you don't get the right to work while the visa is being processed.

Sad to say you should have obtained a whole lot of information long before you were forced by circumstances to leave Brazil. This has only complicated your situation even more. Had you done so earlier I'm sure you'd still be here without any worries.

Brazil (Tabatinga) has an open border shared with Colombia (Leticia). I really don't know why you would want to risk problems in a messed up country like Brazil. I would seriously reconsider your plans. This isn't Kansas!