So I am here, doing fieldwork--living out with poor people in mud huts in the sertão... and I was told that I had "plenty" of time to renew my Temp. I visa (12 months) by an uninformed bureaucrat in the Policia Federal in mid-sized city. I discovered yesterday that I had a 30 day deadline that has passed. Needing to stay until December, to complete my research project (and having not slept for many days on buses, to arrive to the Recife airport), I cried at the federal police. Then, they told me I would have 30 days to finish....
My question: i need to stay, in minimum another 6 months. what are the consequences of overstaying the visa (beyond that air travel within Brazil is out of the question)? Is it just the fine, being banned from Brazil for a year--or could there be more permanent problems in the future?
TEMPORARY VISA IN BRAZIL. (visto temporario I)
Hi Melinda,
I have no idea whatsoever if the Federal Police would treat a VITEM-I visa overstay in the same manner they do for VITUR Tourist Visas, which by the way are rather bland compared to most nations.
I would think though that they would react with much more rigorous measures like they do with VITEM-IV Student Visas. For example, we recently saw a case where a foreign student had finished his course and enrolled in a subsequent qualifying course, however the university experienced a labor dispute that delayed the beginning of that course. Since the young man was NOT actively in a qualifying course at the moment the Federal Police refused to extend his visa and began deportation proceedings. It was only through the intervention of the Human Rights Board of the Brazilian Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil) that he managed to remain in the country.
If you did overstay the visa, while it's not likely that the overstay in itself would cause any future problems other than the overstay fine in Brazil. It could, however, cause any number of future problems should you seek a visa for any other country. They could use the overstay stamp in your passport to refuse to issue you a visa to enter their country.
Cheers,
William James Woodward, EB Experts Team
Thanks for the assistance. The visa will expire in 29 days, so I am working on resolving the issue as we speak. It is amazing how onerous Brazilian bureaucracy can be.
But one last question: WOULD I LIKELY ENCOUNTER PROBLEMS RETURNING TO BRAZIL IN THE FUTURE? (I am an anthroplogist that studies Brazilian social movements, and thus, will need to return quite regularly after finishing my Ph.D.)
Hi Melinda,
As I said, I really don't know how to answer you on that question since I've never dealt with anyone overstaying a VITEM, just VITUR visas.
If you had a VITUR there'd be absolutely no problem in returning to Brazil even after an overstay, provided the fine was paid. That may not be the case with a VITEM, only the Federal Police can answer that and I'm sure you don't want to trot off and ask them.
Cheers,
William James Woodward, EB Experts Team
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