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I am planning to go to Brazil from 20 Aug - 02 Feb under a tourist visa (three months). My idea was to cross the border to Argentina before the three months are finished, and re-enter Brazil after a short stay there.

Now I read on the internet (official site) that I can only be in Brazil 90 out of 180 days with a tourist visa, so this is most likely going to be a problem. (Before 2013 it used to be 180 days in a year, which would be perfectly fine.)

Can you think of a solution?

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    What are you trying to be doing in Brazil? Do you want to sightsee? Work? Can you break up your trip into two periods? Can you start later (So that you spend, say Oct - Dec, then Jan - Feb?) Jul 25, 2013 at 13:26
  • I am going there for my internship. But I can't get a student visa because I am not registered at a brazilian university. That would mean getting a work visa, but that is a time consuming and frustrating process with a lot of chance not getting any visa at all. Thats why I decided to go with the tourist visa.
    – Dorus
    Jul 25, 2013 at 16:02
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    Do the terms of a Brazilian Tourist Visa actually allow you to work as an intern though? You'll need to check the rules carefully, as a lot of Tourist Visa rules will exclude that sort of thing....
    – Gagravarr
    Jul 25, 2013 at 21:32
  • No, they don't allow that indeed. Does any one have experiences entering Brazil under a tourist VISA for 3 months and re-enteringn just a bit after?
    – Dorus
    Jul 26, 2013 at 11:57
  • @chris do you have anything to verify brittish, polish and Portuguese passports can extend their 90 days by a border run to Argentina? Dec 2, 2022 at 23:15

2 Answers 2

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In the past, it was fairly common to do "border runs" - when your 90 days were up as a backpacker, you'd exit the country for a few hours, and come right back in. I met many people doing this in most South American countries.

In the past, the common way would be to do a border run. Head over from Foz Iguazu to Iguazu, spend the day checking out the falls, maybe spend a night, and then re-enter. That's 90 + say, 89 days (one in Argentina), and 179 days is still more than 5 months :)

However, as you've mentioned, the tourist visa has a rule now that you can only be in Brazil for 90 days out of 180. So it's quite clear, if you want to be a legal visitor, without overstaying, the only legal way you can manage this is to get a non-tourist visa.

Bear in mind, as well, if you're on a tourist visa and interning, and they don't allow that on a tourist visa, it's definitely in your best interests to get a work or student visa. Just because it's time-consuming is NOT a valid excuse for breaking the law, and if officials work out what you've been doing, you're going to have a tough time explaining.

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  • Romulo posted what I found in research not long ago: that one renewal for an additional ninety days is possible but not guaranteed. So that makes another legal way for some people.
    – WGroleau
    Dec 3, 2022 at 3:25
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A tourist in Brazil can stay for a maximum of 90 consecutive days, extendable to 180 days every one year by issuing a request at the Federal Police Department (DPF). That's not automatic; you must go to the nearest Federal Police office and fill a form and pay a fee (currently R$ 67.00 or US$ 30.70). Be prepared to present them the usual information you need when entering the country, like proof that you have enough money to cover your stay, hotel reservations etc.

All this is detailed at their Services for Foreigners area (which unfortunately has no English translation).

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  • Hi Romulo, want to give an update about this. With my dutch passport they wouldn't extend my tourist visa, and I believe it is like this for most European countries. 90 days in, 90 days out is the new policy. They don't bother to much if you stay too long in Brazil. You will get a fine when leaving the country or when re-entering the country. Anybody knows more possible downsides to staying illegally?
    – Dorus
    Jan 12, 2014 at 22:47
  • Hello, Dorus. I know a Polish girl who stayed in Brazil with a tourist visa from Aug-2012 to Jan-2013. Maybe they do that on case-by-case basis or rules have changed since then. Jan 13, 2014 at 12:46
  • Hi Romulo, thank you. The rules changed since then. I saw plenty of European countries written on a list of countries that couldn't get an extended visa anymore, but actually I am not sure if Poland was on that list too.
    – Dorus
    Jan 14, 2014 at 13:37
  • @Dorus I read somewhere that Brazil introduced this restriction as part of their general reciprocity policy (as Brazilian can't stay more than three months in any six months in the Schengen area). But as a Dutch citizen, you shouldn't need a visa to visit Brazil.
    – Relaxed
    Apr 26, 2014 at 22:32

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