Or can I pick it up in another country among my travels? I'm planning a 6-month trip through South America and am wondering if I can go to the Brazilian consulate in Colombia on my way to Brazil instead of getting it now. One of the requirements of getting the visa is to have an itinerary that shows how you're going into and out of the Brazil. I don't have it at the moment and I'm planning on figuring it out when I get down there.
Any ideas?
EDIT
I recently contacted the Brazilian Consulate in Houston to ask about the itinerary requirement for entering Brazil if I will be entering by bus, and this is what they told me:
Dear Sir/Madam,
Please contact the Brazilian Consulate closest to your entry port to Brazil.
Since you do not have a rountrip ticket we cannot process your visa application at this office.
So in at least some circumstances, it is possible for a U.S. citizen to get their Brazilian visa outside of the U.S. I would suggest contacting your consulate (by email--they won't answer visa questions over the phone) with your specific plans to make sure you'll be okay, prior to leaving the U.S.
I also emailed the Consulate in Mexico City, and this was their response:
Buenos Días,
Usted sí puede tramitar su visa en la Ciudad de México, hay que traer todos los requisitos, le voy anexar la página del Consulado para que pueda verficar los documentos.
Translation:
Good morning,
Yes you can arrange your visa in Mexico City, you must bring all the requirements, I will attach the page of the Consulate so that you can verify the documents.
I would still recommend contacting the consulate where you intend to apply for your visa, to be certain there won't be a problem.
There are definitely cases where you can obtain a visa for Brazil from outside the USA. One example is in Puerto Iguazu (Iguaçu Falls), where the Brazilian consulate typically process applications in 1-2 days, and don't require return flight itinerary. I'm an Aussie, but I obtained a visa there in 24 hours, and there were US citizens applying too. See here for details of that particular process.
It is likely that is on an embassy-by-embassy basis, but I suspect that in most of south and central america you will be able to apply for and receive a Brazilian visa. In the case of Colombia, there is a Brazilian embassy in Bogotá (website in portuguese/spanish only) which provides consular services, which would include visas.
In some cases you may need an itinerary showing how you will enter and leave Brazil, but I know in some cases this is not necessary either.
