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$40 Brazilian E-Visa is available and a game changer

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I’m in the midst of planning a South American adventure and stumbled across the $40 Brazilian E-visa. I’m late to the party, the news actually broke in mid January, but it’s a great development for those looking to travel down south. I was looking at touring Iguazu Falls, and wanted to see just how much it would cost me to see both the Argentinian and Brazilian sides. After uncovering the $40 E-Visa, I’ve looked into rearranging the trip to check out Rio for a couple days and stay on the Brazilian side of the falls.  Had it still been a static $160, I probably would have stayed on the Argentinian side, and added in some days in Mendoza. While $120 isn’t a life changing amount, it prompted me to investigate other trip options, and ones I ultimately preferred. I mean…the Belmond de las Cataratas looks splurge worth.

Broad Strokes of the $40 Brazilian E-Visa.

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Compare to the old method. Here’s the cost to process at the Consulate: $160

These fees would be in addition to any Visa service you’d potentially use, postage, and the pain in the neck of coordination.

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Typically E-Visas take 5 business days to process

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So you can now get a visa online, for 1/4 the price, and have it processed in 5 days. I say that’s a win all around.

*Feature image courtesy of Belmond.com

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

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6 Comments

  • askmrlee March 12, 2018

    This beats having to hire a visa service to run documents up to the nearest consulate, which in my experience charged a extra $10 fee a non-US passport!

  • Jane March 12, 2018

    I just came back from the Belmond last week. If you are there during the full moon, they will have a special Lunar Moonbow walk at 10:30 at night. Ours was unfortunately cancelled due to cloud cover and…..jaguars. Make sure you book with a Virtuoso travel agent and you will get lots of perks including, if available, an upgrade in room locations/size of room. I also stayed across the river at the Melia (formerly the Sheraton) and I enjoyed that very much as well. IF you have any questions, email me.

    • Miles March 12, 2018

      Jane – great info! That moonwalk sounds incredible. How many nights did you end up staying? We were originally looking to stay just 1 night. Arrive early, depart late. Definitely going through Virtuoso 🙂 What kind of upgrade did you get?

  • Michael March 12, 2018

    Good call staying on the Brazil side – and at the Belmond no less! That hotel is amazing! No disrespect to the view from Argentina, but the view from Brazil is definitely a jaw dropping experience. The viewing platforms on the Argentine side are very cool too so you wont want to miss that, but you don’t get the panoramic view that you get on the Brazil side.
    If you want to be amazed by a man made wonder of the world, you should check out the Itaipu hydro elecric dam that is about 15-20 minutes outside of town. That is an engineering masterpiece. I was hesitant to go there but I’m glad I did. The tour is not cheezy and the dam is really cool (and really big). And since the dam straddles the boarder, you drive over into Paraguay, so you can check that country off your “list” if you have not been there before.
    I look forward to reading your trip report.

    • Miles March 12, 2018

      Michael – fantastic comment! It’s shaping up to be a great trip, and I”ve had my eye on the Belmond for a few years – happy that it’s looking to work out. Thanks so much for the info and the dam sounds like a must-do!

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