A passport is a document issued by the Brazilian Federal Police.
Generally, for international travel, the document must be valid for at least 3 to 6 months from the date of departure.
This validity period may vary if your stay abroad exceeds the validity of your passport.
It is also possible to issue a new passport at the Brazilian Consulate in the country you are visiting.
However, this procedure is only for people who have traveled within the legal validity conditions of their passport and who, due to the long period abroad, have naturally had their passport expire.
For more information on passports, the documents required and how to apply, visit: http://www.dpf.gov.br/servicos/passaporte

NOTE: It is highly inadvisable for tourists or students to carry their original passport with them when traveling.
This is because losing the document will certainly cause inconvenience.
It is recommended that travelers take a reduced color copy of their passport, the part with their personal details and the visa or entry stamp, and put them in a document holder.
It is also recommended that you keep your passport safe at home or in your hotel to prevent it from being lost or stolen.
For students, it is worth getting an international student card, which can also be used as an identification document abroad.

Many countries require a visa to enter their territory.
Whether or not an entry visa is required depends on diplomatic and bilateral agreements between the Brazilian government and the government of the country in question.
In other words, whenever Brazilian citizens, regardless of the reason or period of their trip, need to apply for a visa to enter a certain country, citizens of those same countries will also have to apply for a visa to enter Brazil.
Some examples of the main bilateral visa agreements for Brazilians are: USA, Canada, Australia and Japan.
For Europe and several other countries such as New Zealand and South Africa, visas are only required if the intended period of stay is longer than 3 months.
Applying for a visa is one of the most responsible processes when organizing an exchange program or a trip abroad, since without a visa there is no trip.
We provide all the advice you need on the visa process, from advice on the documentation you need to submit, the best strategy to follow, to forwarding and monitoring the process.
It should be noted that despite the detailed advice we provide, the decision on whether to grant or deny a visa rests exclusively with the embassies or consulates responsible.

The types of visa that must be applied for vary according to the purpose of the trip.
The most common are: tourist, student and business.
Other more differentiated types of visa are for dependents and minors.

Tourist

This is usually one of the simplest types of visa.
Regardless of the country in question, the documentation to be presented is usually as follows: documents proving the tourist activities that will be carried out, such as itineraries, hotels, event tickets, etc., documents proving financial conditions to carry out the trip, documents proving your activity in Brazil and, if applicable, that you are going on vacation, proof of travel insurance and return ticket to Brazil.

Student

As it is a specific visa, it is important to demonstrate consistency in the purpose of the trip.
For students in Brazil, submit statements of regular study together with academic transcripts, proving that the proposed course abroad is related to the course being taken in Brazil.
You must also submit documents proving your support and financial conditions for the trip.
Most of the time these will be documents from parents or close relatives, but depending on the case, they can also be documents from the student themselves.
Many countries may also ask for compulsory medical examinations.

Business

It is also usually a simple type of visa, as long as the process is coherent.
For this type of visa, it is essential to present an invitation letter or a document that proves the reason for the trip and the business that will be carried out.
Complementary documentation from Brazil that also demonstrates the relationship between the intended business trip and the applicant’s employment.
Financial support documents from the company are also valid.

Visa for dependents

This type of visa is most often requested for spouses whose partner intends to study abroad for a long period of time.
It is most common for married students who intend to study for master’s or doctoral degrees abroad, usually for longer courses of 2 to 4 years.
However, they can also be requested, depending on the country, for other types of course, such as language or technical, for example, with a shorter duration, ranging from 3 months to 1 year.

In some countries, dependents can work legally.
For this type of visa, proof of the applicants’ relationship must be provided.
In particular, the main applicant must demonstrate that they are financially able to support their partner for the duration of their proposed stay abroad.
Dependent visas are also valid for children and follow the same criteria.

Visas for minors

Visas for minors follow the same criteria as visas for adults, i.e. it depends on the purpose of the trip.
The documentation as a whole is very similar, with some essential differences, e.g. when unaccompanied by parents or legal guardians, minors must always present a travel authorization from the juvenile court.
Another difference relates to filling in the forms, where specific fields for minors must be filled in.
As with everything related to visas, differences can occur depending on the embassy or consulate.

The visa of the vast majority of countries is issued by means of a sticker or label affixed to or printed in the passport.
In several other countries, the visa is issued by means of a stamp with the date of entry into the country.
This format is generally for countries where the visa is requested upon landing at the destination airport, for example in Europe, New Zealand and South Africa.
In other countries, such as Australia or the United Arab Emirates, the visa is electronic, i.e. there is no printout or sticker in the passport.
For this type of visa, it is always recommended to take the visa confirmation form, which contains an electronic visa number, generated at the end of the application, to present to the immigration officers on leaving the country and arriving in the country of destination.

In general, regardless of the country, the criteria for analyzing a visa application are usually the same.
Every embassy or consulate responsible for granting a visa assesses the following criteria: the applicant’s financial support and availability, links with their country of origin (employment, family or student), consistency in the purpose of the trip and travel history to other countries (illegal stays and expired visas), if the applicant has already traveled abroad.
Based on these criteria, various documents are requested in order to demonstrate the conditions for the trip and the granting of the visa.

The documentation to be presented for a visa application varies according to the type of visa requested and the country of destination.
The specific list of documents should always be checked on the website of the embassy or consulate of the respective destination according to the type of visa desired.
That way, we always know directly from the official source of each country the list of documents, forms and procedures required to apply for a visa.

It is essential to present all the documents required for a successful application.
Generally, the documents requested from the applicant and their financial support are: the last three monthly income statements (payslips, payslips, pro-labors or self-employed payment receipts depending on the applicant’s activity or support); a summary income tax return for the last financial year, balances or statements from current accounts, savings accounts and/or financial investments, documents relating to education or academic, professional and personal links, such as diplomas and academic transcripts, if a student, a statement from a regularly enrolled student, a copy of a professional card and/or employment contract, and marriage certificates or birth certificates for children.

In addition, photos are always required, the size and quantity of which can also vary according to the country of destination.
It is also necessary to fill in and sign specific forms that vary according to the type of visa.
Finally, it is recommended to attach some letters or declarations to the visa documentation, such as a letter of justification for travel, a guarantee of financial support, among others, the need for which may vary from case to case.
Some of the documents mentioned above are from the applicant and others are from the applicant’s financial support for the trip.
Below are some sample letters and declarations.

As a requirement for a visa, some countries, depending on the duration and purpose of the trip, may request medical examinations.
Generally, when this happens, the tests requested are chest x-rays, urine tests and/or blood tests.
The type of test will depend on each case and the embassy or consulate of the country in question.
In Australia, for example, in order to apply for a student visa for courses of more than 3 months’ duration, it is compulsory to present medical tests (chest x-rays and urine tests).
In exceptional cases, they may request blood tests.
Also in exceptional cases, the tests may be sent to Australia for verification by Australian doctors.
When this happens, the result of the visa usually takes a little longer, on average two weeks longer.
For tourist visas, medical examinations are only requested if the applicant also intends to take a course in parallel, in which case the course will last more than 1 month and less than 3 months, since for courses longer than this period the visa requested must be a student visa.
Some medical tests are also usually requested when the applicant is older.
As an example, most types of visa for Canada do not require medical examinations, but in some cases, such as student visas, the Canadian consulate may request them later if it deems it necessary.
The compulsory nature of medical examinations varies according to the legislation and type of visa in each country.

Visa analysis times vary according to each embassy and/or consulate.
Generally speaking, it takes between 1 and 90 days.
There are also electronic visas where the result of the application comes immediately and is granted by means of a confirmation letter which we recommend you print out, as it contains the electronic visa number.
In some cases, such as at the US Embassy, the result of the visa is issued at the time of application, but the passport with the visa is only received later, on average 5 working days later.

The earlier the visa application, the better.
This is to avoid anxiety disorders for applicants in the run-up to departure in situations where the visa has not yet been granted.

There are basically two types of visa renewal processes abroad: the first and simplest is to keep the same type of visa you have and just extend it, and the second, which can often be more complex, is to change the type of visa you have, for example, from tourist to student.

In order to renew your visa abroad, you need to go to the Immigration Department of the country in question and find out about the documentation, procedures and deadline.
Some procedures may change depending on the country.
This usually happens when a visa renewal also involves changing the type of visa, for example: many countries do not allow you to change from a tourist visa to a student visa within the country itself.
In this case, if it is allowed, you must travel to a nearby country and carry out the process or even return to Brazil to do so.
Other countries require the visa change process to be carried out in the student’s country of origin.
For these countries, the student must return to Brazil.
These procedures are related to Brazilian citizenship or nationality.
On the other hand, for Brazilian students who hold another passport, such as a European passport, changing visas is usually allowed within the country itself, in this case using the foreign passport.

To renew your visa in a foreign country, for the same type of visa you already have, you also need to find out about the procedures at the Immigration Department of the country in question.
For tourist visas, renewal is usually limited, meaning that you can stay in the country for a certain period of time.
This is because it is not justified to stay in a country for so long just for tourism; some countries allow a maximum of 1 year.
In this case, the renewal is usually simple, with the only documents you need to present are tourist itineraries proving that you will be traveling and documents showing that you can afford to stay longer in the country.
For student visas, renewals are generally allowed whenever the applicant is studying.
To do this, you need to submit a new course confirmation, which can be at the same institution, on the same course, or at a new institution, on a new course.
It is important to always maintain consistency with what is being requested, e.g. the student was taking an English course and now wants to take a specialization course, it is necessary to demonstrate that they have the level of English for this.
Just like when applying for a visa in Brazil, the course must meet the criteria for granting a student visa, i.e. with a minimum study load, in most countries these are called full time.
Além de um novo comprovante de matrícula, deve-se apresentar documentos que demonstrem que o estudante possui condições financeiras para ficar no país pelo novo período pretendido.
Isso sem contar com o fato do estudante também poder trabalhar, caso esteja em um país que permita trabalho.
As imigrações não costumam reconhecer o trabalho do estudante como uma garantia de sustento, pois isso pode não acontecer.
Os documentos financeiros solicitados costumam ser saldos de conta corrente e/ou aplicações financeiras.
Se não estiver no nome do estudante, também é necessário apresentar uma declaração de suporte financeiro de quem estiver subsidiando.

NOTE:

For visa renewals, regardless of the type of visa requested, all documentation submitted must be translated into English.
Depending on the country, this may or may not be sworn.
Once abroad, students will have access to translation services without any major difficulties.
In other words, the documentation can be sent to the student by post or e-mail in some cases and the student does the translation themselves.

If a visa application is denied, depending on the destination, it is possible for the applicant to submit a second application, and so on.
To do this, all the documentation initially submitted must be re-organized, including the payment of consular and brokerage fees.
Generally, the only documents that can be used are medical exams, which vary according to the country.
Despite the complexity of second visa applications, it is always important that you are well advised about the documentation that needs to be submitted and the best strategy to follow in the process.
It is also essential to maintain consistency with the first application.
All documentation must be reorganized coherently, but some aspects must be reinforced in order to counter the reasons for the previous denial.

Any denial of a visa must always come with a letter from the respective embassy or consulate justifying the reason for the denial.
After this, it must be analyzed whether it is in fact valid to proceed with a new visa application.
Regardless of the outcome of the visa, consular fees, brokerage services and medical examinations are never refunded.
In other words, you must always pay these fees again for a second visa application.
Course fees, accommodation and travel insurance are all refunded in full, with only exchange rate differences.
However, due to the services contracted for the trip, some fees are not refunded, such as: registration, accommodation reservation and administration fees.
Refund policies may also vary according to the refund rules of each institution abroad.

It follows the same criteria as the bilateral diplomatic agreements of the countries that require visas, i.e. if Brazilians do not need to apply for a visa for a particular country, the same will apply for citizens of that country to enter Brazil.
Some of the main bilateral visa exemption agreements for Brazilians are: Europe (almost all countries), New Zealand, South Africa and South America.
It is important to note that visa exemptions are only for stays of up to 3 months.
Visas are always required for stays of more than 3 months.
It is also worth mentioning that regardless of the visa waiver, all Brazilians wishing to visit countries with which Brazil has a visa waiver agreement must present documents at the time of disembarkation that prove the reason for and organization of the trip, such as: tourist itineraries, proof of accommodation, travel insurance for the period, return ticket, credit cards or funds available for the stay in the country.

In South America, more specifically in all the countries that are part of MERCOSUR, Brazilians are allowed to enter by presenting only their identity card or ID.
Driving licenses are not accepted.
The only requirement is that the ID must be recent, as the photo on the document must be current.

Many countries require certain vaccinations to enter their territory, which are proven by presenting the International Vaccination Certificate.
The types of vaccine vary according to the country.
To obtain the International Vaccination Certificate, you must have your identity card and the National Vaccination Card.
The certificate is issued at ANVISA (National Health Surveillance Agency) offices and at international airports.
If the traveler hasn’t had the vaccine or doesn’t have a national vaccination card, they can get one at one of the health centers in their city.
It is necessary to find out which health centers administer vaccines.
The most common vaccine required for trips abroad is yellow fever, but other vaccines may be required depending on the country.
Vaccines are generally valid for 10 years.
To be effective, the vaccine must be taken at least 10 days before departure.
The vaccine and the International Vaccination Certificate are free of charge.
The obligation to present the International Vaccination Certificate has a legal basis in the International Health Regulations.
To find out where ANVISA is in each city, go to: www.anvisa.gov.br.
Fique atento pois muitos países podem não permitir a entrada de visitantes sem o Certificado Internacional de Vacinação comprovando as vacinas e as datas que as mesmas foram tomadas, principalmente países na África.

All the visa processes we organize are carried out through brokers.
In some cases we use our own brokers and in others we use outsourced services.
The cost of this service can vary according to the country, the type of visa and the complexity of the process.
It’s worth noting that as our head office is in Brasilia, we have easier contact with embassies, which are often responsible for analyzing visa applications, depending on the country.
In these cases, it is also worth noting that the documentation sent for financial support and other purposes is extremely personal and confidential, such as income taxes, monthly income statements, balances of financial investments, passports themselves, among others.
The documentation leaves our agency directly for the embassies.
In other words, this documentation does not circulate in the hands of third parties.