S. American Visas

[zenscribe]

This trip to Brazil has been fraught with visa nuisances. I simply cannot understand why Brazil and Argentina (only for non-US citizens) require people to come in person on two different days (two weeks apart) to the consulates to get their visas. And of course, there're no consulates in Seattle

Comments

[rimrunner]

I went through the same thing to go to China (also does not have consulate in Seattle). Fortunately the tour company we were using was also based in SF and would take care of getting the visas for a fee.

Going to Cambodia was easier-if you're flying in, you can get your visa on the web.

[zenscribe]

We planned our trip individually, not through a tour, since we have such varying ages and requirements in our small group. However, for the Iguassu Falls trip, we were going to go with a US-based tour company. Only issue is that American citizens don't need visas, but some of our group members are not citizens. So the company was unable to help us. Hence the further hassle.

i'm not sure why some countries need person to be present when all the most precious documents of identification are already being included in the application package. The other issue with the in-person thing is that if the consulate were to return the passport the next day, then it's still doable. But Brazil & Argentina take anywhere from 7-14 days. How is that tenable for tourism for anyone who doesn't live in the major cities with consulates?