I am in Brazil without an entry stamp. What do I do?

Question

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.

Answer 1

Both the borders with Argentina and Paraguay are very easy to pass without getting entry/exit stamp, as you have realized - almost everyone passing is either a tourist visiting the waterfalls for a day or citizens of Mercosur which don't need passports to cross.

It's not a big issue and the simplest course of action is what you mentioned:

• go to Paraguay missing Brazilian exit point (you can either just pass it by foot or don't exit the bus)
• enter and exit Paraguay, getting the stamp or not
• enter Brazil getting the stamp and filling in Cartão de entrada e saída (don't lose it!), better by foot to make sure you don't miss the border again (the bridge isn't that long)

If you prefer you may also go to Policia Federal in Foz do Iguaçu and try to explain yourself, but for the love of God don't try to fly inside / out of Brazil without the stamp, as you'd have some consequences for sure - I'm here 100% legally registered and still have some issues with PF every few weeks.