Getting a Brazil Visa in Buenos Aires

Everything you need to know about getting your Brazil visa in Buenos Aires for tourists.

Brazil Visa In Buenos Aires
Us with our shiny new Brazil visas in Buenos Aires.

Updated in April 2018 – One of our readers Scott has reached out and said it is now possible for citizens of Canada, Australia, Japan and the US to apply for a Brazilian e-visa online using this website. We don’t have personal experience with it, but it appears to be easier and cheaper than heading into the embassy. Please conduct further research before applying via this method, as we can’t personally condone it. This is Scott’s experience using it.

Updated in January 2018 – there are some new requirements on getting a Brazil visa in Buenos Aires, which we have included in this post. Thanks to all our readers who have commented with new information.

Being Australian citizens we found out we needed to get a Brazil visa in Buenos Aires before we could travel to the largest nation in South America.

During our research we found all the blogs online to be outdated and filled with information that seemed conflicting. After getting in touch with the Brazilian Consulate directly, we received some up-to-date information that made our application process go smoothly.

Despite some reports, we did not need to be in our home country to apply for our Brazilian visa, so there’s no need to worry about it.

After checking, and confirming, all the information at hand, we finally could apply for a 90-day Brazil visa in Buenos Aires and managed to get it on the first try.

Here is everything you need to know for tourists on getting a Brazil visa in Buenos Aires.

Who Needs a Visa For Brazil

Unlike other nations in South America, Brazil doesn’t give Visa On Arrivals (VOA) or offer visa-free travel for citizens of Australia, USA, Canada, South Africa and a few other countries.

If you’re a member of the European Union, most South American nations and parts of Asia, you don’t need to apply for a tourist visa to enter Brazil.

For the rest of us, you need to go through the application process. To make it easy this is an updated list of all the countries that don’t need to apply for a Brazilian visa

If your country isn’t on there, then you need to get a visa to travel to Brazil.

Ipanema Beach Brazil Visa In Buenos Aires
Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro.

How Much Is A Visa For Brazil

How much a Brazil visa costs is entirely dependent on where your passport is from. Here are the prices in Argentine Pesos.

Country of Citizenship

Basic FeeReciprocity FeeTOTAL
Angola$3.620$3.620
Australia$ 2.420$2.420
United Arab Emirates$1.620$1.120$2.740
United States3.220$3.220
All Other Countries$1.620 $1.620


What You Need To Apply For Your Brazil Visa

There is a lot of paperwork involved with getting your Brazil visa in Buenos Aires, but in all honesty it’s nothing that you should be stressing about.

If you’ve ever applied for a Chinese visa, then you’ll already have an idea of some of the things that are expected.

Here is everything you’ll need:

  • Passport with at least 2 (two) blank pages and 6 months validity.
  • Recent passport photo (must be the exact same as the photo you add to your application) at 3×4 or 4×4 size.
  • Complete the online application form and print off the slip.
  • Proof of payment from partner bank.
  • Printed ticket showing way into and out of Brazil (flight tickets for example).
  • Printed documents showing all accommodation in Brazil.
  • Recent bank statement proving you have sufficient funds to support your stay. (Update – Some people are reporting they needed to show 3 months worth of bank statements.)
  • Credit card statement.
  • Photocopies of the front side of your bank card and credit card (yes you really need these).
  • Migratory status in Argentina. If you’re a tourist you show your passport stamp. If you’re a resident show your DNI card.

Some things that they didn’t ask for are a photocopy of your passport, proof of travel insurance or a letter of employment, so there’s no need to bring these in.

Important Notes

There’s a fair bit of paperwork you need to show, and unfortunately in order to get your Brazil visa in Buenos Aires you need to show it all.

We met two backpackers in the embassy who had already been turned away once for missing one piece of the puzzle. Please just do yourself a favour and gather all the required information before going into the embassy.

If you are planning on crossing by land, or haven’t booked your flights yet, you can fill out this travel form with your intentions.

Travel Itinerary Form Brazil Getting Brazil Visa In Buenos Aires
This is the travel itinerary form you need to fill out in case you don’t have your flights and accommodation already booked.

If you are travelling on a group tour, we suggest also getting a letter from your tour operator saying that you are booked on an all-inclusive trip to make things easier.

The bank statements must match your name, and have adequate funds in it. How much ‘adequate funds’ is a bit of a mystery, but it shouldn’t be too high.

If you don’t want to book all your accommodation ahead of time, here’s a very nifty trick:

  • Go to Booking.com and look for accommodation in a few obvious places in Brazil (Rio, Sao Paulo, etc). Make up a bit of a typical itinerary.
  • Search for accommodation that has a 100% cancellation policy for the day before check-in and a ‘pay later’ deal. Now book that accommodation and print off the confirmation emails.
  • Once you receive your visa you can go back to Booking.com and cancel all your accommodation with no penalty fees. Don’t worry, once you have your visa you’re fine, but keep those confirmation papers anyway in case a customs officer asks you where you’re staying.

How Long Can I Stay In Brazil?

The Brazil tourist visa allows you to stay in Brazil for 90 days, and you have one year to enter the country to activate your visa.

One thing to note however is that once you enter Brazil the 90 days starts from that moment and is consecutive, not accumulative.

What that means that if you enter on June 1st, stay for a week then leave, your visa is still ticking over and will expire on August 30th. You can enter and exit Brazil as many times as you want during this time frame, but the 90 days doesn’t pause when you are out of the country.

Where Is The Brazilian Consulate In Buenos Aires

The Brazilian Consulate in Buenos Aires (Consulado-Geral do Brasil em Buenos Aires) is located downtown on Carlos Pellegrini 1363 5º piso (5º piso is level 5).

The closest metro station to the Brazilian consulate is San Martin on the C Line. From there it’s only a 10-minute walk.

You can also catch a bus, but Buenos Aires traffic is notoriously bad.

The opening hours for applying for a visa are between 14:00 and 16:00, Monday to Friday. Note that the consulate will be closed for any and all Argentinian and Brazilian holidays. Check here to see what those days are. If the consulate is closed for a day while you are waiting to pick up your visa, you must add an extra day.

The Process

As of 2017 you DO NOT NEED TO BOOK AN APPOINTMENT to apply for a visa in Buenos Aires.

1 – The first thing you need to do is fill out the online application form. You can find it here.

Make sure that the photo you upload to your application form is the exact same photo that you submit with your paperwork. What we did was take a picture of our passport photos to upload and crop them to size, but you can also scan them.

Use all CAPITALS when filling out the form, and make sure you fill in the contact details in Brazil correctly. If like us you are just travelling through and don’t have any friends of family in Brazil, you can add ‘N/A’ to it.

[box type=”info”] UPDATE – Reports from some of our lovely readers are saying that as of January 2018 you must now upload scanned copies of ALL the documents we mention above to your visa application online. Itineraries, bank statements, etc.

Once you get to the end of the form, before you hit the final submit button, there should be an option to upload additional documents. Thank you to everyone for leaving comments below about these changes. It is a great help to everybody :)[/box]

Application Form Brazil Visa In Buenos Aires
Once you complete your application form this is the PDF you will need to print off to bring into the consulate. Make sure you have your passport photo to accompany it.

2 – When you have completed the form print it out and gather all the documents mentioned above. Head downtown and aim to be at the consulate around 2pm (visa applications are open from 2-4pm).

3 – Before you go to the consulate you need to pay the visa fee. This can only be done at an ITAU Bank. There is one located at Av. Santa Fe 831, just 7 minutes walking from the consulate and right near the San Martin metro station. Print off this form to take in with you.

Go in and say to the security guard, “Necesito pagar por mi visa de Brasil.” He’ll get you a ticket and wait to be called. For us they knew straight away what we wanted. Once you pay the teller the fee (Argentine Pesos only, in cash), they’ll staple a receipt to your piece of paper.

4 – Head to the consulate and tell the security guard there you are applying for a visa. He’ll send you up to the reception desk. They speak English here.

The person behind the reception desk will briefly go over your paperwork and then give you a numbered ticket. Step inside and take a seat.

5 – When your number is called head up to the counter. Now prepare to be interviewed.

The visa officers will go through all your paperwork and will likely ask you a few questions about your intentions in Brazil. Just be nice, smile a lot, and have a fun attitude. Remember, you’re just a fun-loving tourist wanting to travel to Brazil.

They’ll be pretty thorough with going over your paperwork, which is why it’s important to have everything. If something is missing, you’ll be sent away to rectify the problem, which may postpone you by a day. There’s no point getting mad about anything with the officers, as they might just deny you completely if you do.

If this happens and you need one or two extra pieces of paper, there’s a place to do some photocopying and printing just south from the Brazilian consulate on the same road.

6 – When all your paperwork has been checked and is proved to be in order, you’ll be given a paper slip with your name, visa fee and a date to pick it up. The visa takes 5 business days to collect, so if you apply on a Wednesday, it will be ready on Wednesday the following week. There is no fast track options here.

7 – Return between 2-4pm on your designated day with the paper slip. Go through the reception desk again and wait for your number to be called. We recommend getting there early as well, as we waited nearly 30 minutes to pick up our visa.

8 – When it’s your turn the officer will hand back your passport. Make sure you check all the details on your visa thoroughly before you leave the office. If there’s something wrong with it now is the time to have it fixed.

Congratulations! You now have a shiny new Brazilian visa!

Brazil Visa In Buenos Aires
One brand new Brazil visa!
Alesha and Jarryd

Alesha and Jarryd

Hey! We are Alesha and Jarryd, the award-winning writers and professional photographers behind this blog. We have been travelling the world together since 2008, with a passion for adventure travel and sustainable tourism. Through our stories and images we promote exciting off-the-beaten-path destinations and fascinating cultures as we go. As one of the world's leading travel journalists, our content and adventures have been featured by National Geographic, Lonely Planet, CNN, BBC, Forbes, Business Insider, Washington Post, Yahoo!, BuzzFeed, Channel 7, Channel 10, ABC, The Guardian, and plenty other publications. Follow our journey in real time on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

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34 thoughts on “Getting a Brazil Visa in Buenos Aires”

  1. Thanks so much for my this article, it really helped me prepare. I would like to add my USA 10 year cost me 5,620 pesos. Looks like they went up in price.

    • Thanks for that Christopher. We will update it.

  2. Hey! I found your instructions online and loved the details, I also follow you guys on snapchat, and didn’t realize you have a blog, too! it’s awesome seeing you travel around the world. …So, I wanted to ask about this visa application process. because I found a website online to apply for an “Evisa” for Brazil. and it looks really legitimate. Do you know anything about applying online, or if it is better to apply in-person? The online fees are only about 44$ USD. and you also don’t need any bank statements or travel itinerary…I’m skeptical… And info would be so helpful. Thanks!

    • Hi Claire, glad we could help. Hope you have a great time in Brazil. As for the online evisa, we have no idea. Best to go in and ask someone from the embassy. To us is sounds a little strange. I would 100% check first before purchasing. We have had the blog since 2013. Come on over to Instagram as we don’t use Snapchat anymore. We post instastories regularly and on Facebook too. Thank so much and have an amazing trip.

  3. Hello! I just wanted to tell you how much your step-by-step instructions made process so much easier. The only small hiccup I had was the pricing for the visa. This cost increased a bit so I had to return to the ITAU bank to pay the balance. Aside from that, my paperwork was accepted the first time and I will return to pick up my visa next week. Thank you so much!!!

    • Thank you so much Patricia. So happy we could help. What is the price now? We would love to know so we can update for all the other travellers. Thanks so much.

  4. How long is the visa good for? 10 Years?

    • All depends Ryan. It seemed some people got it for that period of time, and others didn’t. We didn’t. They only gave us the visa for the amount of time we were in the country which was frustrating as it is not cheap. Definitely ask when you are at the embassy.

  5. Hi,
    These tips were so helpful. I had all the required documentation and was able to submit it flawlessly. The only change was they said it’ll take 5 working days to get the visa, even for transit. Thought this will help someone!

    • Thanks so much Dyana. We will change that. Have fun in Brazil. 🙂

  6. Hi! I wanted to reiterate Amelia’s post from January 2018 – we had the exact same experience just a few days later, mainly that all documents need to be uploaded and that it takes 5 days to process the visa (I think perhaps a new policy for 2018). We only needed the one month of bank statements, so I don’t know about that variation.

    With those updates your post is a perfect guide. Thanks!

  7. Hi there! This blog post was SO incredibly helpful – a huge thank you to Alesha and Jarryd for being my lifeline on this experience!

    Following the blog instructions was very easy and so helpful! I will say though that my experience was a just bit different than outlined. The three major differences I experience last week, on January 17th, 2018 was the following:

    – I arrived with my ALL my printed documents that were outlined above. Nothing was missing, but when arriving to the first window at the embassy, the man did not speak English and seemed to be trying to tell me that something wasn’t complete. An Spanish & English speaker, also waiting for their Visa explained to me, that I even though I had all the necessary documents printed out physically, I needed to have them ALL uploaded digitally on my online visa application (he explained this was his 4th time back because of this). **You’ll notice on the very bottom of Jarryd’s form that he uploaded on the blog, that in a box at the bottom it shows that he only has his photograph and signature uploaded on the embassy form** I was denied on the 17th because I needed to have ALL my documents uploaded, not just picture and signature. In the online application portal, at the very end, there is an option to upload other documents – this is where you want to upload ALL the documents, your travel itinerary, bank statements, etc. The more the merrier – as I didn’t want to go back and be denied for missing anything again. I went back on the 18th and was accepted.

    – I also was told that 3 months of Bank Statements were needed, not just 1

    – Finally, the last difference was that it is going to take 5 business days to complete, and when I can go retrieve my Passport and Visa. Perhaps this is because we are in high season with Carnival coming up? But either way, perhaps plan for it to take more time than you 2-3 days.

    TIP: The Embassy opens at 2 PM. We arrived at 1:45 and went to the 5th floor and the security guard explained that we can’t wait there, but we could come back and start forming a line at 1:55 PM. Most people are forming a big crowd and waiting down outside the Embassy on the street around 1:45, but we walked in past the crowd at 1:55, went to the 5th floor and were first in line. At 2 PM, that huge crowd came up (confused) and queued up behind us.

    • Hi!
      When I sign up for the online portion the first page of information has a “Present Nationality” box to select. However, there is no option for USA. Are you from the USA or one of the countries listed: Canada, Australia, and Japan?

      Thank you!
      Ross

  8. Hi guys, thank you SO MUCH for all of the info! We’re about to go through this process. We have been living in Argentina for 6 mths! I have one major question: my boyfriend supports me. So my account doesn’t have much at the movement. I simply put enough to pay a few bills a month. Will I need to show “sufficient funds” in my account as well?

  9. Thanks so much for the awesome guide! Just a couple updates based on my experience in December 2017, for everyone reading in the future:
    -definitely avoid printing anything at the spot just south of the consulate, unless its something you forgot (like Jarryd and Alesha mentioned). The boludo at that kiosk charged me 25 pesos(like $1.50) PER PAGE. On top of that he was rude and agressive. Thats what I get for saving the printing til the last minute…
    -as another commenter mentioned, other Itau branches will try to send you to the location on santa fe. However in my case that branch was temporarily closed, I think due to a strike. I explained this to the guard at the other branch, and it all worked out. 20+ min wait so plan accordingly.
    -they didn’t ask for credit/debit card photocopies (fortunately, as I was already cleaned out by the printing racket)

  10. i cant seem to get into the online visa application. How do i find it?

  11. Thanks for this wonderful post! I have just one question, all of the other sites I have read said to book an appointment and have this link for the Brazilian embassy in Buenos Aires, but it is broken: https://www.conbrasil.org.ar/CONSBRASIL/visas_otros01engl.asp

    Since you say it is not necessary to book an appointment now, would I be able to just walk in on any day, as long as I have all my documents prepared? And how long did you have to wait, without an appointment?

    Thanks! Jessica

    • Hey Jessica! Yep you can just walk in with all your documents now. We waited about an hour to be seen.

  12. This was super helpful thank you!!!

    • No worries. So glad we could help Annie. 🙂

  13. Hi!
    Thank you very much for the article! you are helping me a lot!
    I am traveling to Argentina and Brazil with my boyfriend, he is from Australia as well and we just discovered that he needed a Visa! So now we are rushing to try to get his Visa in Buenos Aires before going to Brasil,but we dont have too much time, so we really want to go with everything in order. Is it enough to have all the money needed in the credit account, or do you actually need to have it in your savings? And he lost his bank card, and he forgot to ask another one since he always use his credit card, how needed is for the visa?
    thank you again!

    • Sorry about the late reply Claudia. We hope it went all ok. Did you have a good time in Brazil?

  14. Hey this is an amazing post, thankyou for your help! Just one question was there just one fee? or did you have to pay twice? thanks

    • Just one fee 🙂

  15. You guys are awesome for putting this together. I spent the last hour reading through garbage, and then I thought I was dreaming when I found a step by step document of EXACTLY what I was trying to do. Just wish I would have googled the right words to get your article to show up sooner! Thank you so much!

    • So glad we could help. Hope you had a great time in Brazil. 🙂

  16. Thank you for this! We are in BA and planning to apply, but struggling to find somewhere with a computer and printer!

    • Try local hostels or internet cafes 🙂 Best of luck!

  17. Cool post, guys! We have a trip coming up as well, and this provides some awesome background information on the process. Nice work!

    • Thank you. Glad we could help 🙂

  18. I SOO appreciate you doing this! I was recently given a short notice that I will be going to Buenos Aires for work for 2 months and so have little time to prepare, but really want to go to Brazil afterwards. I don’t have time to get a visa before I leave. I have heard it can take up to 3 months to get a visa, so it’s nice to know that it only takes 3 business days in Buenos Aires. I hope you two had a wonderful time in Brazil, I can’t wait!

    • Hi Christy, I am glad we could help. The process has changed here and many people were confused. As we did it the other day, we thought why not write about it and help others. It will take you 3 days to get your visa here. We can not wait to explore Brazil. So excited. Happy travels and have a great time in Buenos Aires. 🙂

      • Just wanted to follow up to say that I did everything you suggested and now have a shiny Brazilian visa that will last me for the next 10 years! This was my first time applying for a visa and I was sooo stressed for no reason at all lol. They were so chill about it and thanks to you all I was able to be organized and had all of the required documentation. The only thing that was different for my experience was that I could only pick up my visa between 3-4p. Also I think the bank you listed is the only Itau bank you can go to in order to pay. I tried going to one closer to my work to save time and they gave me a slip to go to the address you have listed. My visa took a week to get due to an Argentine holiday. Thanks again for putting this blog together!! I’ll be heading to Rio next week so this was perfect timing for me ☺️

        • Thanks for the comment Christy, and glad to hear you found our article useful. All the best and have a great time in Brazil!

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