Staying in Brazil on a tourist visa

08/26/21

Hi, Joseph,

It's great that you're thinking ahead -- it can save you some headaches down the road. 

No, your visa will definitely not reset July to July.  You're allowed up to 180 days out of 365, and it's a rolling 365 days in one month increments, with your arrival and departure days each counting as one full day.  So, it will work more or less like this:

1. You arrive on July 17, 2021, and leave on August 18th.  That's 33 days, split between two months.

2. You return in December 2021 for a week.  7 more days.

3. You return on June 1, 2022.  The Immigration System looks back to June 1, 2021, and sees that you've already spent 40 of your permitted 180 days in Brazil:  no problem!  You're in for 90 days.

4. Around August 25, you go back to renew.  The system looks back to September 1, 2021, assuming that September 1, 2022 is the day your 90 days is up.  Your 33 June and July 2021 days have now dropped off, but your December 2021 days are still there, so you're showing 97 days used.  The PF can give you an extension of 0 to 83 days, since that's the maximum you're entitled to on September 1.  You're going to have to leave by late November at the latest. 

You can spend up to six months a year in Brazil as a tourist.  You can split it up any way you want, but the system is designed to be very hard to game, and every  Immigration or Polícia Federal Officer sees the last 12 months of your record every time they scan your passport.

Definitely listen to abthree! You will 100% have to remain out of Brazil for 180 days mate, no getting around it.

08/27/21

Something that you'll sometimes see people mention,  like Texanbrazil and me who during our professional lives had to keep a relatively constant presence in Brazil while working under the limitations of the VITEM II business visa, which like the tourist visa is on a 180/365 plan, is the process of "counting days".

The way I did it while working was to come to Brazil for two weeks in most months.  With that timing and holidays, I would never get too dangerously close to the 180 limit, and on each arrival, I would have just "gotten back" the days from my trip of 12 months before.  Obviously, this system works best if you have an employer or a client paying for the airline tickets! 

A more cost-efficient variation I followed during my now-husband's and my three year engagement was to come to Brazil for one month in every three.  He would come to the US for November and January, and then I would return with him for the month of February.  That gave me big chunks of in-country time to get my CPF, get my Brazilian cell, find an accountant, and so on.  As we approached our wedding date (which took place in the US, with registration at the Brazilian Consulate and more or less automatic recording at the cartório when we returned to Brazil), we were able to be pretty relaxed about our apartment-hunting and furniture and appliance pricing projects.  We also had an unusual amount of quality time together, for people in a (really!) long distance relationship.  the rapid expansion of AirB&B in Brazil made doing this much more economical -- and healthier -- than hotels and restaurant food every day.

Hi,

Thanks for both your replies, they helped me understand a lot more! I'll definitely be travelling to Brazil in June, and will stay as long as it is possible, i'll extend the visa while i'm there etc. However, I stay with locals there who i know, in Rio De Janeiro, and have a good portuguese knowledge. I'm planning to obtain a student visa and study university in Rio De Janeiro, starting March 2023. In your opinion, do you think it's better to apply for this student visa whilst in Brazil, or whilst home in the UK?

Finally, i'll probably be travelling near the end of June, I expect anywhere between the 17th and 25th, and i've already spent 33 (possibly 43 days if I am able to go in December), out of the 90 needed before the extension. If i apply for an extension at the end of September, will they not know that I had been in brazil previously for over 3 months within the last year without renewing it, as the days will have dropped off by then from the previous year?

Thanks,
Joseph

question ....what happens if someone makes every effort to leave on time, but then draws a positive PCR test just before their flight?

08/27/21

Inubia wrote:

question ....what happens if someone makes every effort to leave on time, but then draws a positive PCR test just before their flight?

The Polícia Federal have a lot of discretion in a case like that.

My suggestion would be to call (NOT visit!) the PF immediately with the information,  and request an emergency extension until they test negative.   Keep notes of the discussion,  and follow any advice they give.

You can't change your visa status from inside the country, you have to do that BEFORE you come, so if you are planning on staying here with a student visa, you need to enter on one in the first place. Someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I remember this from when I was having issues getting my permanent residency a few years back now.

In that case, I assume I would have to fly back to UK, as i'm a UK citizen, and am applying for the student visa as a uk citizen, rather than being able to simply cross a border to a different country in South America and re-enter Brazil?

08/27/21

JosephJJ wrote:

Hi,

Thanks for both your replies, they helped me understand a lot more! I'll definitely be travelling to Brazil in June, and will stay as long as it is possible, i'll extend the visa while i'm there etc. However, I stay with locals there who i know, in Rio De Janeiro, and have a good portuguese knowledge. I'm planning to obtain a student visa and study university in Rio De Janeiro, starting March 2023. In your opinion, do you think it's better to apply for this student visa whilst in Brazil, or whilst home in the UK?

You should take advantage of your next trip to Brazil to locate a university program for which you can qualify, confirm that it meets all the requirements for a student visa, and find out the steps to be accepted for it to start studying in March 2023.  Then you should go home without overstaying your visa, get accepted per the university's timetable, and when you accepted, apply for your student visa at the Brazilian Consulate in the UK. 

When you change visa categories through the Foreign Ministry, as you will when you obtain a student visa, your history under the tourist visa will stop following you around.  You'll be able to come to Brazil at the earliest date allowed by your new visa,  register with the Federal Police for temporary residency, and basically be good for as long as your course lasts.

It's possible that I can submit my university application while in Brazil, if I am accepted and enrolled, I can fly back to the UK to sort out all the student visa, and then return to Brazil again. Because I have to sit my Portuguese placement test in Brazil to get enrolled in the first place, I want to keep flights to and from the UK to a minimum if possible.

08/27/21

JosephJJ wrote:

Finally, i'll probably be travelling near the end of June, I expect anywhere between the 17th and 25th, and i've already spent 33 (possibly 43 days if I am able to go in December), out of the 90 needed before the extension. If i apply for an extension at the end of September, will they not know that I had been in brazil previously for over 3 months within the last year without renewing it, as the days will have dropped off by then from the previous year?

When you apply for the extension, the system will do the same twelve month lookback, and any days that it finds that you were in Brazil within those twelve months will count against your 180 day maximum.  The same will happen if you return later on a tourist visa.  If you change visa categories and return on a student visa, that history won't count anymore.

08/27/21

JosephJJ wrote:

It's possible that I can submit my university application while in Brazil, if I am accepted and enrolled, I can fly back to the UK to sort out all the student visa, and then return to Brazil again. Because I have to sit my Portuguese placement test in Brazil to get enrolled in the first place, I want to keep flights to and from the UK to a minimum if possible.

That shouldn't be a problem, as long as you can do it without overstaying.  A tourist visa overstay will complicate your application to change your status, especially if you leave with a fine pending.

Keep an eye out for an extension to enter from the UK. Currently, no flights from the UK can enter, and anyone that has been in the UK for 14 days before traveling

About that, I'm lucky and have Spanish dual nationality, and family who I stayed with for 2 weeks in Spain before I travalled to Brazil in July. I entered Brazil on my UK passport, of course they asked me questions, they tried to give me a form to sign declaring that i'll quaratine myself for 2 weeks. I'm not sure on the circumstances, but i saw a few UK citizens, in the "UK, South Africa, and India arrivals" line, I guess they were on businesses or diplomatic trips. But it seemed that immigration control in Sao Paulo had no problem letting UK citizens through. I explained that I had been in Spain for 2 weeks, eventually the kind lady working there took me straight to a closed passport desk, opened it and let me through, actually benefitting me because I skipped a 2 hour queue, I might've missed my connection to RJ. But hopefully by December, the ban will be lifted and Brazil will be on UK's amber list or better.

I'm sure I read somewhere that Rio Galeao begins international flights again in October some time, so hopefully i'll be able avoid going through Sao Paulo in future, will make everything much easier if i have to fly back and forth.