I'm an EU student in Brazil travelling on a VITEM IV visa that expires in July. I have a temporary RNE and everything, and I left the country last Wednesday to visit Argentina. I returned earlier today through the Puerto Iguazú-Foz do Iguaçu crossing, but as we were driving through the Brazilian checkpoint the bus driver did not stop, continuing on into Brazil.
I am now back in the country but without an entry stamp, and I will be leaving Salvador on an international flight at the end of the month where I have no doubt that the Federal Police will kick up a fuss about this. I am trying to decide my best course of action:
- just forget about it until I'm flying out of Salvador
- report to the Federal Police in Foz do Iguaçu tomorrow and explain my situation, hoping they will stamp it
- when I go to Paraguay tomorrow via the Friendship Bridge, do not stamp out of Brazil or into Paraguay (the border is pretty lax), but on my way back stamp into Brazil
I should note that I would rather not have some heinous ban on reentry to Brazil, or a mark against my name to be harassed at the airport on future trips. I really did expect the bus driver to stop, and was rather shocked when he didn't - future travelers of this route beware. But I know how capricious and bureaucratic the PF can be, so I'd like to figure out how to make this right.
Thanks.