This is probably the least interesting and yet most important part of my Brazilian experience and it is not something to be taken lightly. Needless to say, without a valid visa I wouldn't have been able to begin my time in Brazil and without the need for it, I would not have had to return when I did.

Tourist

As a tourist in Brazil, you are obliged to live by a number of regulations that will inevitably restrict your time there. What you are unlikely to face, however, is any prejudice or mistreatment because of your nationality.

As a British citizen, you don't need to obtain a visa until you arrive in the country, at which point you will probably be granted a period of 90 days to live in Brazil. This will be issued by the federal police, who are present both at the airports and borders, and within the cities themselves. They are in charge of all processes regarding tourist visas. During the initial 90 days, you are not officially allowed to work, either for a wage, or voluntarily. This, however, is not one of their most rigidly adhered-to laws. (See my section on 'Living' for details)

Renewal

Renewing your visa is also a reasonably straightforward procedure (Based on my experiences), presuming you wish to stay beyond 90 days. You must remember though, that it will always come down to the discretion of the federal police. I would advise you strongly that you seek the assistance of a Brazilian friend when you go to get this done. I would also advise being prepared to leave the country immediately, should they not see fit to grant you your renewal.

To renew it, you will need to go to the federal police station on the day before it runs out. This day is calculated by counting 90 days from the day you arrived, but is difficult to get exactly right, as it isn't clear whether to include the day you arrived, or the 90th day itself. If it happens to be a weekend that day, you may also not be able to get it done. For these reasons, I would suggest you go there several days before, because they may do it for you then. Even if they make you go away and come back a day or two later, at least you won't get in trouble for turning up late, which may annoy them. - Remember, your renewal is at their discretion.

You will need to take with you: Your passport, your travel documents (Return ticket) a credit card and cash to pay the small fee (you'll be sent to the nearest Banco do Brasil to do this). They will ask you to fill out a form and you will have to wait whilst they process it.

Finally, make sure all documents are originals and that you go to the nearest federal police station to the address you are living in, which may be relevant if you are travelling widely.

Overstaying

If you love Brazil as much as I did, then you may not want to leave, and therefore you might choose to put yourself into the position of having overstayed your visa.

There are lots of people who do this, and they live in the knowledge that at any moment they may get caught. One story was related to me in which a Brazilian 'English' teacher, jealous of their British colleague's number of classes, directed the federal police to them. Had they not been preparing to marry very soon after, they would have been deported.

If you are caught, then you will obviously have to face serious consequences, but if you yourself go to leave the country, some time after your visa has run out, then you may only be subject to a fine. This is approximately R$8 Reais per day, for everyday beyond your visa allowance. This will be requested once you get to the airport. At immigration, you will be given a form, and from there you will need to go to the airport branch of Banco Do Brasil to pay it, before being able to return to immigration and leave the country. However, you will probably be given the choice of paying this when leaving Brazil, or postponing it until you next enter the country.

I was lucky. Having only overstayed by a couple of weeks, it seemed I was allowed to pass without paying this fine. It was only after I checked my passport, which had been briefly taken, that I realised my stamp had been altered with a pen. I only hope that when I return, this will not lead to any complications. I certainly wouldn't suggest this is to be expected.

Border

Before I got as far as the airport, I did try the infamous dash across the border and back. Crossing over to Argentina or to Paraguay and returning the day after your visa runs out, has long been the traditional method of extending your visa after the legal 180 day maximum. It did not; in my case however, work.

I always knew there was a risk, but I combined the trip with a visit to Foz Do Iguacu and as my money was running out at that point, my failure proved academic. On the outward journey, though, everything was looking promising.

It was my last valid day in the country, and on a sunny afternoon we waved goodbye to our friends at the checkpoint, and headed into Argentina. We had smiles on our faces, because we had just been reassured by a friendly federal police officer that the following day we would have no problem getting another stamp in my passport that would allow me to stay another 90 days.

After a somewhat unpleasant night in Argentina, followed by a fantastic morning at the waterfalls (Where I proposed marriage to Dulcilene), we returned to the border to complete the manoeuvre. Things were not, though, as simple as we had been led to believe. We were greeted by a different officer, who was very nice, but very professional, and there was no way he was going to take responsibility for issuing an illegal visa extension.

In the end he gave me 10 days within which to leave Brazil. This was too short a time to get everything organised comfortably and it therefore led to me overstaying the date on my passport stamp.

Marriage

Marriage is, of course, one of the most common methods of extending your visa and under slightly different circumstances it could well have been mine.

If you are planning on getting married, make sure you don't wait until your visa has almost run out. The process can take some time to complete, although once you have actually done enough to be able to proceed with the ceremony, it is possible to get permission to overstay your visa whilst awaiting the rest of the details and the stamp to be completed.

Your first step, after actually finding someone to marry, is to go to a Cartorio, which is the Brazilian version of a registry office. They will be able to tell you everything you need to do in order to get married. You should also go to your nearest British Consul, who will be able to tell you anything the Cartorio can't. The important thing is to make sure you ask as many questions as possible.

The sort of documents you will need to obtain are: proof you are not already married, proof you haven't got a criminal record, proof of who your parents are, the long version of your birth certificate and possibly other things also. You will be able to get hold of this information through the British Embassy, which is also where you will need to get forms, which are to be filled out and returned for processing. For these reasons, it can be a long and frustrating process.

My advice is, as received from others, that if you have the choice, it is much easier and quicker to get married in the UK and process the application from here. The main reason is that the police report that you need, can take several months to get hold of whilst you are in Brazil, and this is the document that tends to slow the application down. From within the UK it is much swifter and therefore everything can be completed in a much shorter time span.

The following sites will help provide you with the rules, restrictions, forms and processes you may encounter:

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