For my Brazilian visa application, I have gathered:
1. Passport photo for visa (at Kinko's)
2. Copies of California Driver's License (at Kinko's)
3. 3 vaccinations for travel to Brazil and Peru (typhoid, yellow fever and Hep A). This required two visits to different Santa Cruz Medical clinics.
4. Cashiers check for visa application fee ($130 at Washington Mutual)
5. Filled out online forms about the purpose and dates of my visit.
6. Copies of my airline ticket and lodging reservations.
Friday, August 15 — Mission accomplished! Disaster avoided: My cashiers check for $130 fee was from my bank. Turns out it had to be from the US Post Office! I found this out from a friendly guy sitting next to me while we waited in line. I had been waiting an hour and a half and my number was close to being called, but I knew my application would be rejected if I did not have the proper money order. So I sprinted to the closest post office, waited in line and fortunately made it back in time. After a 90-minute drive to San Francisco, two and a half hours at the consulate (not bad!) and a 90-minute drive back home, I have successfully applied for the visa. I will pick it up in person in San Francisco next week!
Despite all this trouble, I'm still unbelievably jealous. It was much, much easier to get a visa when I went to Brazil back in 2001. Only 45 bucks too. I groused about that sum at the time but it seems like a bargain next to what you just got fleeced for. Good thing you can write it off.
ReplyDeleteWhile you're down there, you should do a profile of the helicopter pilots of Sao Paulo. It would make a great story.
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/20/brazil)
We should grab lunch when you come up to the city to pick up your visa.
I have to apply for a visa to Brazil this week, hopefully I would encounter less trouble, any suggestion email me, I am a blogger
ReplyDeletehttp://fashionartandeverything.blogspot.com/