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I'm backpacking in South America and have found myself in an interesting situation. I was travelling in Paraguay and got to Ciudad del Este, from there I took a local bus across the river to Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil. There's virtually no Customs on the border (you can see large trucks being stopped but not pedestrians, cars or buses) and I crossed without hitting Paraguayan or Brazilian customs.

Now I'm in Brazil without a Paraguayan exit stamp or Brazilian entry stamp.

In the next day or two - I'm going to Puerto Iguazú in Argentina.

Does anybody know how Customs will react to me not having these stamps?

What should I do to minimise any hassle when I reach the Argentinian / Brazilian border?

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2 Answers 2

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It's the same there - since MERCOSUR citizens and residents, i.e. the vast majority of people crossing, do not even need passports to cross, having fixed border control is deemed to be superfluous.

Thus, those who are neither MERCOSUR citizens nor residents have to self-report to immigration authorities when entering/exiting.

When you get to the Argentinian side of the border, locate the immigration office and obtain an entry stamp. The fact that you have no Paraguayan exit stamp or any Brazilian stamps should not be an issue, as they are not relevant to your conditions for entering and staying in Argentina

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I agree with Crazydre that it won't be a problem when going to Argentinian side of Iguazu (just don't exit the bus, I did that last week and no one cared).

But later, when you'll be leaving Brazil by any other border (I'm assuming your passport is not Brazilian), you need to have stamped Cartão de Entrada e Saída (Entry / Exit card), not having it may be a big issue with Policia Federal, which are rather infamous for their bureaucracy and being petty.

Just to be safe (although I may be a bit paranoid, I had some issues with PF), I'd recommend:

  • not exiting the bus in Brazilian border when leaving to Argentina
  • exiting in Argentina border, getting entry stamp
  • getting Argentinian exit stamp when coming back (they may check that in Brazil)
  • then properly entering Brazil and filling Entry / Exit card.

Otherwise you should be good but may have problems in the future, from my experience it depends on mood of the officials.

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    @pnuts ah yes, my answer assumes that (just because most of people I know did only one day trip to Argentina), but now I see OP didn't mention that. Tom, if that's not the case then as mentioned you should be fine just leaving Brazil and not leaving the bus, I can correct the answer if that's the case.
    – Kuba
    Commented Jan 15, 2017 at 1:40
  • Why this answer got 3 downvotes? It's still valid, even if OP isn't going back to Brazil now
    – Kuba
    Commented Jan 16, 2017 at 18:26
  • But later I provide more information about coming back to Brazil, I can remove the first paragraph if that helps.
    – Kuba
    Commented Jan 16, 2017 at 18:29

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