Tourist visa process

we've applied Nov 10th and haven't got any notes and our applications still in "sent " stage haven't moved to"under review " stage yet!!!!
i've also emailed the embassy here in Egypt 10 days ago and still haven't received any response from them
i'm aware that lots were happening last month as elections and Brazilian independence day and many other occasions, but is that normal for our applications to take that long! without any notifications or updates?!
does anyone know what should we do next?
thanks in advance
-@menna153

You'll find out real quick that normal rules, laws, and time table standards don't really apply in Brazil.

Best advice is to keep contacting people and seeing if you can get a response. Also, you can try and find a lawyer who can help speed up the processes

12/10/22 @ menna153. It sounds like you've done everything that you can do.  The Consulates move at their own pace.  The Consulate won't be doing much during the last two weeks of the year; some staff will probably even be going home to Brazil for Christmas. Try contacting them again early in January.

menna153   

it depends. .....

Nov 10 of which year?

menna153 
it depends. .....

Nov 10 of which year?
-@Inubia

of this year !!! they've mentioned in gov website it may take up to 180 days max! how would it be from the last year!

Don't expect any expediency from Brazilian Bureaucrats, in Brazil or abroad.   

They move at their glacial  own pace.

I recall once having to renew my Brazilian Passport, as a Citizen, no less, in the US. Getting an appointment at the nearest consulate was an exercise of futility. 

I ended up getting a "Despachante " ( yes, even abroad they manage to suface ), who  took my paperwork to Hartford CT, instead of Boston, MA. Needless to say, I paid the extra to get it done.   

Dealing with the Portuguese Consulate, fully staffed with Brazilians at clerk's level, same deal. An appointment to renew a Portuguese Citizen passport in behalf of a Portuguese Citizen took me 9 months on a pre booked appointment.  And then having to deal with their surly attitude. 

Otherwise, as an American Citizen, getting a passport renewal, it took me a week to get an appointment fulfilled. In and out, couple visits, wham, bang, see you mam. 

Find out a bonafide "Despachante" or else, you are in the lull.   And beware of paper con artists.  Get the right name through a good referral.   

would it be helpful to get a lawyer to track the process for us?

what do you all think?

and if yes what's the average cost !

12/15/22 @menna153. I doubt very much that an Egyptian lawyer could help you at all with the Brazilian Consulate, and I doubt that anyone here in Brazil could even give you an idea of what an attorney's services in Egypt would cost. The final decision on your application will be made at the Consulate there, and there's no one in Brazil to appeal to.

Five weeks is not a long time as consulates operate, especially at this time of year. If you've been emailing them, it's okay to send them one more email next week to inquire on the progress of your application, then another after the first of the year: nothing will be happening at the Consulate between Christmas Eve (December 24) and New Year's anyway.

The biggest concern for the Consulate, and the thing most likely to cause your application to be rejected if they reject it, will be if the Consulate has the impression that you will overstay your visa once you get here, and stay in Brazil illegally. The evidence that will convince them that this is not your plan is documentation that you have ties that will cause you to return to Egypt after your trip, things like property, family commitments, job responsibilities, and so on. The next largest issue will be whether or not you have the money to support yourself while you're in Brazil, and to pay for your return home. While you're waiting to hear from the Consulate, using the time to gather any of this documentation that you don't have yet would be time well spent.

I am not keen or privy on what goes with Consulates and the Itamaraty. 

But I would not be surprised if they haven't borrowed the US playbook on fine combing who they grant tourist ,student, and business visas.  Which does not make them bad, it actually would make sense on weeding out undeserved applicants as they see them.

For one thing, the applicant needs to show means to come and go and not overstay. Meaning, getting a place to stay while in country ( meaning lodging ), enough money to spend as a tourist, or a visiting business person.

That means the applicant can substantiate proof  to  either own a  business or  be a professional in their home country that makes not compelling enough to migrate.  That means proof of income and being established.  Not just any business or any job, a good one of either,  indeed. 

You can't show this, you are the bottom of the pile, at best, and rejected at worst. 

And let's not forget they scrutinize heavily on the applicant's background ( meaning criminal background ).

Brazil is a member of Interpol, they do cross check for unwanted individuals. 

The age we used to grant migrating Visas willy nilly is way way in the past tense.  We have enough coming from Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia,  for our sources of cheap labor, and as for working professionals with specific skill sets, we can get them here ( albeit competing with Europe, and North America ) on special programs.

Other than that, that's retirement visas, and as it has been thoroughly reviewed here, you have to show means and access to income.   

Arranged marriages, then you need to have a sponsor spouse to make it work. A Brazilian one.

thanks guys for your support , i've submitted most of docs if not all (only hotel reservation left ) i'll be leaving my work and husband here and my sister will be leaving her kids and husband as well (my baby will be coming with me as she still nurses )

i have 2 concerns :

1- they haven't CHECKED our applications YET! like they haven't seen our application which is sadly funny, i really don't mind getting rejected but at least to hear from them, for my work i sign contracts with mothers who're pregnant and about to give birth in 2 months, i can't accept or refuse anyone at the moment which causing an issue for me

2- EGP is losing its value rapidly and i am travelling anyway before i lose the value of all what i have, i don't want to get confused by applying for more than one country but i think i'll do it

12/17/22 @menna153  You and your sister sound like very good candidates for visas, and I would expect that you will eventually be approved when the Consular officers reach your applications.  You've done everything you can, and you seem to have done all the right things.  Unfortunately, they work at their own pace, and all you can do now is be patient.  Best of luck to you.

"2- EGP is losing its value rapidly and i am travelling anyway before i lose the value of all what i have, i don't want to get confused by applying for more than one country but i think i'll do it "

Hedge your "traveling money" in US Dollars.  i am not sure  how the  deal of leaving Egypt with dollar bills stashed at your purse works,  but losing currency value and not being able to convert into dollars beforehand  looks silly. 

"1- they haven't CHECKED our applications YET! like they haven't seen our application which is sadly funny, i really don't mind getting rejected but at least to hear from them, for my work i sign contracts with mothers who're pregnant and about to give birth in 2 months, i can't accept or refuse anyone at the moment which causing an issue for me "

I am not sure if your a a obgyn or a midwife or a maid, but if that has not been clarified before,  or it has surfaced  later and they became aware of, more than likely you would end up with a rejection and not much explaining from their part.  It ain't like they will send you a letter saying....  "Dear Mrs So and so.... Your claim for a Tourist Visa has been denied on the grounds of.....  " 

And "Your work" if this has not been clarified before, and now you have to explain over again, that will be construed by them as you not getting your story straight in the first place.   Your problem isn't their problem, but your own.

  They won't give you the straight dope either. 

A Consulate and an Embassy are sovereign entities in foreign soil. They are not public servants indebted or indentured to you as an Egyptian Citizen.   They can refuse you flatly without giving much satisfaction. It's their prerogative.  Fair or unfair, this is how it works.

I don't claim to know how the Brazilian Consulate works, other than its notorious morose, but....

As  for "not having seen your application yet" , sounds more like an outright blank rejection to me more than anything else.

A bonafide businessperson, or government big wig with the right letters, recommendations, or a tourist with the amount of means to travel wouldn't take this long to get an issued visa,  more than likely would be granted his/her VISA on the spot, or at most within a week. The rest of the applications, I would guess, goes to the bottom of the pile for "further evaluation"  , which is what  I suspect is where yours is in.

The one thing I recall as a young man, more than 30 years ago, was how the interviewing process  at the US Consulate in Sao Paulo was efficient, and they would then either further the process, or flat out tell the applicant..,.   "We don't buy it, sorry, you've been rejected" .   With Brazilian clerks, well, fat chance. They are not forthcoming.

And it gets worse....

Brazil, Canada, US, European Unit, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand are migrant destinations, and  outside Brazil , all of the above mentioned countries a destination for a lot of illegal contraband carried out by mules,  drugs included.  And most of the people caught as mules are in transit to and from Africa and the Middle East.

Even if you have a clean sheet, and you are legit,  it does not help you at all the fact your region ( Middle East ) is a  Drug Trafficking route. You paying for a burden that isn't yours. 

With odds like those, you should have done your homework before hand and come prepared, there is , assuming you already been interviewed.  |If you haven't, maybe, maybe, you will have a glimer of a chance.

and there is one more thing, you all should be aware of.....

You don't make commitments to travel to a Country, when you are aware the odds of being granted visa are low,  without first getting a visa clearance from the Country's Consular Representation.

The first thing on your checklist ought to be getting the Visa. The rest is easier.