# Brazil?



## kathleen2311

Hello everyone im Kathleen or you can just call me Kath.. Im living here in United States.. Im planning to take a vacation in Brazil any advise everyone? I heard it's ok even you don't have a visa? right? lane:


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## lowellao

kathleen2311 said:


> Hello everyone im Kathleen or you can just call me Kath.. Im living here in United States.. Im planning to take a vacation in Brazil any advise everyone? I heard it's ok even you don't have a visa? right? lane:


Hi Kathleen



Nothing here intended to discourage you as Brazil is a GREAT place to visit. The younger crowd often like practicing the English (Major Cities) and otherwise I find Spanish actually works reasonably well provided you pick up what there saying. Obviously best if you hook up with a group of friends to visit there with you. 

The weather is fantastic,the economy up and unemployment way down, the only country in SA with a legal system just like ours except slower, government stable and been that way forever, and people relaxed and outgoing. 

That said it is true that:

(1) Since the USA requires Brazilians have visas they do to - I travel annually and they always page through the passport for it. There is no way to avoid this.
There are travel agencies that can book your flight and facilitate obtaining it so you don't have to go to the Brazilian Embassy/Counsel. You pay the tourist agency and send them the passport and they apply for the visa for you. Tourist visa is good for 5 years and 90 and possibly 180 days per stay. If your passport isn't good for that long you just bring the old passport along with your new one- as visa is still good for full 5 years.

(2)Foreigners can't use their banks at all - so best to go initially to a hotel with transportation from airport with a decent amount of cash with you and leave most it in the hotel safe. In the big Cities take precautions seriously with ATM's - I used the bank approach mentioned and managed to avoid the potential holdup risk of using ATM's in Rio. But check out the current State Dept. Website travel tips to see if this concern is still listed. If you go and while there figure out a better way to do this be sure to post it. 

Boa Viagem!


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## SandoCet

If I were traveling to Brazil to soak up the filmmaking, music & other subcultures, where would be a good place to start. Or are some of those communities very guarded?


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## Tuco

SandoCet said:


> If I were traveling to Brazil to soak up the filmmaking, music & other subcultures, where would be a good place to start. Or are some of those communities very guarded?


Many of the slums - if you're referring to them - in Rio have been pacified as of late. Then again, many are not, and are still run by druglords. It's not that hard to find out which ones are safe once you're here.

Brazil is a huge country though, so things are rather different from one place to another.


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## irisviviane

I recently shifted here and Brazil is indeed a nice place to live or spend quality time with family/friends or alone


lowellao said:


> Hi Kathleen
> 
> 
> 
> Nothing here intended to discourage you as Brazil is a GREAT place to visit. The younger crowd often like practicing the English (Major Cities) and otherwise I find Spanish actually works reasonably well provided you pick up what there saying. Obviously best if you hook up with a group of friends to visit there with you.
> 
> The weather is fantastic,the economy up and unemployment way down, the only country in SA with a legal system just like ours except slower, government stable and been that way forever, and people relaxed and outgoing.
> 
> That said it is true that:
> 
> (1) Since the USA requires Brazilians have visas they do to - I travel annually and they always page through the passport for it. There is no way to avoid this.
> There are travel agencies that can book your flight and facilitate obtaining it so you don't have to go to the Brazilian Embassy/Counsel. You pay the tourist agency and send them the passport and they apply for the visa for you. Tourist visa is good for 5 years and 90 and possibly 180 days per stay. If your passport isn't good for that long you just bring the old passport along with your new one- as visa is still good for full 5 years.
> 
> (2)Foreigners can't use their banks at all - so best to go initially to a hotel with transportation from airport with a decent amount of cash with you and leave most it in the hotel safe. In the big Cities take precautions seriously with ATM's - I used the bank approach mentioned and managed to avoid the potential holdup risk of using ATM's in Rio. But check out the current State Dept. Website travel tips to see if this concern is still listed. If you go and while there figure out a better way to do this be sure to post it.
> 
> Boa Viagem!


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## vegas12

Just wanted to update about Tourist Visa. I just got my Visa it good for 10 Years in July 2012. Also you can send it to a agent cost is about $255 for total service includes Visa cost. I not sure if the Consulate is still on strike. So if you are leaving soon it took me about three to four weeks to get the visa.


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## braulioprado

Hello Guys,

I'm Braulio, I'm quite new to this forum, so I'm not sure about how it works. Sorry for anything.
I live in Australia at the moment, which I've choosen to be my home. If you guys want to know anything about my country, I'm more than happy to give you any necessary information. I'm originally from Salvador,Bahia.


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## crubsc

Just a quick reply!

As someone mentioned above, tourist visas to Brazil now can be issued with a 10-year validity, since the US has also re-started issuing 10-year tourist visas to brazilians... It was like that when I got my first US visa, then it changed to a 5-year visa for a long time, not the 10-year validity is back on both sides - brazilian foreign policy is very much based on reciprocity... So expect to pay the same amount as brazilians pay to obtain a tourist visa and having to provide (almost) the same documents and fulfill the same requirements...

Someone said that a foreigner could not use their banks at all... Well, that is not true. I mean, if you expect to find your exact bank here, then you won't find it... But we have a lot of international banks, like Citibank, for example... With a debit and credit card you can withdrawal cash normally in most banks' ATMs and credit cards are widely accepted - specially in bigger cities. But consider also having some cash with you if you're going to a remote location, such as small villages on the coast side etc... But definitely you won't find a problem using your cards here...

Have fun here in Brazil !


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## Meow07

braulioprado said:


> Hello Guys,
> 
> I'm Braulio, I'm quite new to this forum, so I'm not sure about how it works. Sorry for anything.
> I live in Australia at the moment, which I've choosen to be my home. If you guys want to know anything about my country, I'm more than happy to give you any necessary information. I'm originally from Salvador,Bahia.


Hi Braulio,

I am from Singapore and currently living/ working in Cambodia. I am a newbie here as well and would like to work in Brasil in the near future. There are so much information that i've read about working and staying in Brasil! And the job sites that i know are in Portugese only so that is a huge challeng to even be able to start to find a job in Brasil. Will drop you a pm once i can. Hope you are enjoying Australia!

Cheers!


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## vegas12

I just was in Brazil from November 2012 to February 2013. Not all Banks ATM will work at least for me. The Bank of Brazil was the only one that worked. They are one of the largest banks so they are not hard to find. The max of amount of money for me was 1000 R a day. This is when the US dollars was 2 to 1. If you want to see different place in Brazil look into a Air pass it good for a month.


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## terzy

I'll be visit Brazil in 2014. to watch football world cup


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