The Visa Process

Tomorrow we will be heading to the Consulate of Brazil. Its in "Hotlanta" or Atlanta.  We have learned a lot about international governments working together or not working together through the Visa process and here are some fun facts if you ever plan on visiting Brazil.

• If you are a US Citizen you need a Tourist Visa to visit. If you are not a citizen of the US most likely you do not need a visa to visit.
• When applying for a Voluntary Visa or VITEM I as we are, it cost $210 but if you are not a citizen of the USA its $60. Yes that's correct US dollars. And all Visa fees must be paid with an United States Postal Service Money Order, Sorry Western Union, your money order is no good here.
• We have approximately 10 piece of papers each or documents to turn in tomorrow, ranging from a copy of our driver's license to documents in Portuguese stating we are people of upstanding character. (The papers in Portuguese I am not really sure what they say, Rosetta Stone doesn't have a Visa documents section)

All this to say is that we are not sure we will get our Visas on the first try. We are rookies at dealing with government on this level.  We have lived in Birmingham, AL for the past two years and I believe this has prepared us well for "funny" government. 

I let you know how it goes.