Renewal of Visa

The count starts from the date of arrival which is stamped in your passport.

You should apply for the extension several days prior to the expiration of the initial 90 days, since if any problems arise with the Prorrogação de Estada you wouldn't have sufficient time to resolve them otherwise.

Here in Brazil one should NEVER leave things until the last minute.

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

Thank you! I understand they might want to see a return ticket. I have my return ticket now for Nov 26 and am planning to go the Fed. Police on Nov 25th for extension.

Would they want to see ANOTHER return ticket for the NEW departure date which I will be applying for? Say Feb 15th, 2014?

Would this not be too risky to cancel my current ticket and buy a new ticket without knowing if they will grant the extension?

I think that they will allow you to extend the visa and arrange the return ticket later. They may ask you to come back to show it to show it to them once you have it.

Hi,
I would really appreciate some advice as I haven't been able to find an easy answer online. I am a UK citizen currently in Rio de Janeiro, and my 90 days entry tourist visa expires end of March. At the end of March I am planning to leave Brazil and go to another country for approx. 30 days, and then to return to Brazil (to stay for as long as I legally can(. When I return to Brazil, will I be allowed to reenter and receive 90 more days? Or, do I need to renew my tourist visa now (in next couple of weeks) before I leave? Thank you so much!!
Summer

You can leave Brazil for any other South American country (you either have a visa to enter, or can enter under the Visa Waiver Program) and then when you return to Brazil you will be allowed another 90 day stay, provided that you haven't been in Brazil (other than this present stay) in the previous six months.

Actually, the agreement between the UK and Brazil is not exactly like the Schengen Area Agreement in that you can apply for a visa extension and stay in Brazil for 180 consecutive days as is permitted with consular visas. Shengen Area Agreement and VWP entries can't necessarily do that, but the Federal Police will usually grant the extension for them too in most cases.

Cheers,
James     Expat-blog Experts Team

Hi James, thank you! You are saying that I don't need to renew my Brazilian tourist visa now for another 90 days (ie, go in to the Federal Police office, etc). Because I am leaving Brazil at the end of my first 90 days, my visa will be automatically renewed when I re-enter (the renewal will be for another 90 days, or just for the remaining period of time before 180 days have passed from first entry?). I was under the impression leaving and re-entering doesn't work under Brazilian rules, so I am interested to read your response. Thanks again for the confirmation. Best,

The Agreement reads 3 months in a six month period (entitlement), but allows for extension to permit 180 consecutive days. You will automatically be renewed upon re-entry to Brazil. They'll go back one year from that date and start the count. If you have only been here in Brazil for your current 90 day stay during that one year period then you'll get a full 90 day stay. If you had a previous visit that also fell (or partially fell) into that one year period you'll get the balance of days that will bring you up to 180 for the current year.

This is super helpful, thanks! So I'm understanding that "consecutive" days doesn't mean the 180 have to all be together, they can be spaced out over time.

No, what it means is that you are allowed 90 days in Brazil every 6 months, for a total of 180 per year. The Schengen Area Agreement does not guarantee that one can extend their visa stay and take all 180 days at the same time, although it leaves the member nations to permit that if they wish. Brazil usually will extend those visas to permit 180 consecutive days in a block. That said, the wording of the Agreement is 90 days in Brazil, and 90 days out, 90 days in and 90 days out.

The UK / Brazil Agreement is slightly different, in that it does specifically permit an extension in order to have 180 consecutive days. If a UK passport holder uses up the 180 days all in one block, then he/she would then have to wait 180 days from departure to be entitled to re-enter Brazil.

Hope that is a bit clearer now.

Cheers,
James