Tourist Visa for Brazil from India: 6 Steps to Apply Easily

Brazil is a beautiful country that makes it everyone’s list of countries to visit. After all, it is home to one of the wonders of the world. But unfortunately, for us Indian passport holders, there is no e-visa or visa on arrival. Indians need to apply for a Brazil visa through the Brazil embassy in New Delhi or the Brazil Consulate in Mumbai, whether they have a US or Schengen visa or not.

While we were trying to figure out how to apply for a tourist visa for Brazil from India for our 6-month world trip, we chanced upon so many articles online mentioning different things. It was very confusing. So we’ve decided to jot down the Brazil visa requirements and the step-by-step application process for a Brazil Tourist Visa for Indians since we applied for the visa ourselves and got a 5-year visa!

First things first, let’s discuss two questions before we even start the process!

Where in India can you apply for a Brazil Tourist Visa?

There is an embassy and a consulate in India where you can apply for a Brazil tourist visa, depending on where you live. The steps to apply for a visitor visa are mostly similar at both, with one step being different, which we’ll discuss later.

1. Consulate General of Brazil in Mumbai, India: Apply from here if you live in Mumbai, Karnataka, or Goa. Note that you must either live in these states or have a passport of these states. Click here for the official site!

Personal experience: We live in Pune, Maharashtra. Before applying for the Brazil tourist visa, I spoke to a few agents who said that the passport compulsorily needs to be from these states (Mumbai, Karnataka, or Goa) to apply in Mumbai. My passport is issued from Pune so there would be no issue.

However, my husband’s passport is issued from Hyderabad, Telangana so we expected there to be a problem at the consulate. Our rental agreement had expired as well, which we weren’t renewing because we had to move out of the house anyway for our 6-month trip. To prove his residence, we carried a bank statement and his employment letter. However, at the consulate, no one raised any objections or asked for any document to prove his domicile.

2. Brazil Embassy in New Delhi, India: If you’re from anywhere else in India except Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Goa, you’ve got to apply from Delhi. Click on the official site of the Consulate General of Delhi for all rules and regulations.

Should you apply through an agent?

The Brazil Embassy in India has actually banned some agencies so you need to ensure that you’re choosing a legit agency. The benefit of applying through an agent is that they usually know the documentation that is needed, saving you the hassle of having to go to the consulate in person. The downside is that it costs extra money—over and above what you pay the consulate, which isn’t a small sum itself.

While it is an easy enough process to complete yourself, you might need an agent if you can’t visit Mumbai or Delhi or if the cost of transport and staying in these cities is more than just hiring an agent.

Steps to Apply for a Tourist Visa for Brazil from India

Step 1: Collect the required documents

Collate all documents you need in a folder on your laptop. You will need to upload these on your online Brazil visa application form so it is best to have them all handy. Here’s the required list as on June 2023 at this stage of application.

1. Personal Cover Letter: Ensure you mention your passport number, why you’re going, with whom you’re going, for how many days, dates and who is paying for your trip. Don’t forget to sign it with a blue pen.
2. Itinerary: Your detailed day-wise itinerary- stating the date, country, city, transport, hotel, and activities
3. Flight tickets: Tickets to and out of Brazil.
4. Hotel bookings for all days
5. Last 3 months’ bank statements: Signed and stamped by the bank
6. Leave letter from company: This is absolutely necessary. It should ideally be on the letterhead of the company stating that’ll your leave dates and that you intend to visit Brazil during said leave. Further, it much have the sign, name, and designation of the authorised signatory.
7. Passport copy: A scan of all your passport’s first and last page (new and previous passports)
8. Sponsorship letter (if you’re being sponsored by someone)
9. Digital Signature: sign on a piece of paper and scan it
10. Passport Size Photo: 35-45 mm with 80% of face showing

Note: Getting a Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificate is necessary for Indian citizens before going to Brazil. Honestly, no one checked whether we had one at any given point. But make sure you have it in case you’re ever stopped for inspection if the embassy or consulate suddenly requests it, and most importantly, to stay safe on your visit to Latin America.

Step 2: Merge files and reduce the Size

Merge files: If you have multiple air tickets and hotels, you’ll have to combine them into one pdf, category-wise. So at the end, when you’re uploading, you’ll have one document for each category—one PDF for hotel bookings, one PDF for airline tickets, etc. I usually use I Love PDF to do this.

Reduce the size of files: A total of 5 MB is allowed for the upload, meaning all the documents mentioned above should total 5 MB combined. This means you have to reduce the size of your documents A LOT. Use I LOVE PDF or similar sites to do this. The most problematic document can be the bank statement, if yours has too many pages.

If it does cause you issues, just upload the bank statement for one month (this was suggested by the officers at the consulate since we were facing this issue).

Step 2 (a): Make the Payment (only for Mumbai applicants)

This step is only for Mumbai Consulate applicants. If you’re applying from Delhi, your process looks a bit different and will be detailed later.

For Mumbai Consulate applicants, the reason why I’m asking you to make the payment prior to filling out the form is that you’re supposed to make the payment via a bank transfer and then upload the receipt/screenshot as well when you fill out the form. A sum of INR 8,000 is to be paid if your stay is less than 90 days (vivis application)

Note that the applicant’s name needs to show up in the consulate’s bank account. Therefore, the bank transfer should be made from the applicant’s personal bank account. Any transfer of money that does not indicate the applicant’s name in the consulate’s bank account will not be accepted for the payment of Brazil visa fees and no money will be refunded. So be very careful! I added my name in the remarks section of the payment as well so ensure that my name would show up in the transaction.

You’ll find all the Brazil Visa fee payment details here.

Step 3: Fill out the online form and upload the documents

Fill out the Brazil Tourist Visa Form (VIVIS)

Note that the form has been converted from Portuguese to English so there might be some translation issues. Use Google to help translate.

Also, you’ll find options like Yes and ‘At The’/’Node’ inherently implying that ‘At the’/’Node’ means NO.

Fill in all the compulsory fields, and when you reach the last page, you have to upload your photo, signature, and all your documents.

If you can’t find the name of a particular document you wish to upload, choose ‘Other’ and then type down the name of the document clearly in the description box before uploading.

Once you’ve filled out the form and uploaded all the documents, submit the form.

Note down your recovery number somewhere and download the Brazil visa application form receipt as a PDF.

Step 3 (a): Send an email (only for Delhi applicants)

I’m writing this section for Delhi based on research because I myself did not apply from Delhi. If you need to check this information, have doubts, or need clarification, do call the embassy directly for clarification. You can find all the information here.

Step 3 (a) for those applying from Delhi, is to email your Brazil Tourist Visa Form Receipt (RER), signed and with a passport picture attached to it, to consular.newdelhi@itamaraty.gov.br with the subject:

(type of visa) – RER number (xxxxxx-xxx) – name of applicant –  mobile number

Attach all your documents (that you uploaded in the application form) in this email in a single pdf file. If all the uploaded documents are correct, you will receive an email with payment details and also be provided information about the submission of the original documents. 

Step 4: Print all required documents

Now, get all the documents printed. I’m mentioning the entire list again.

1. Personal Cover Letter
2. Itinerary
3. Flight tickets
4. Hotel bookings
5. Last 3 months’ bank statements
6. Leave letter from company
7. Passport with 2 black pages and 6 months validity from the date of entry into Brazil.
8. Passport copy: all your passports’ first and last page
9. Sponsorship letter (if you’re being sponsored by someone)
10. Visa Fee Receipt
11. Application Receipt (RER): After printing it, sign it and stick a passport photo on it.

Step 5: Submit your documents at the consulate or embassy

Now head to the embassy/consulate to submit your documents. There is no need to book an appointment.

Mumbai applicants: You just have to go to the consulate between 9 AM and 11 AM between Monday and Friday.
Find the Brazilian consulate address in Mumbai here.

Delhi applicants: You will be provided details of document submission by email.
Find the Brazilian embassy address in Delhi here.

We submitted our documents at the consulate in Mumbai and found the officers to be very helpful. They let us know what documents were missing for us and how we could edit our application. Hopefully, if you’ve read the above blog post, you’ll not be in the same situation as us and will have all your documents sorted. Either way, carry your laptop so that, in case there are any issues, you can easily edit your form.

After you submit your documents, you’ll be given a receipt with a tracking number and a tentative date as to when your visa decision will be made.

Step 6: Check application status and collect documents

You can check your Brazil visa application status online.

Once it shows that your passport with the sticker visa is ready for collection, go back to the consulate to collect it.

If you can’t collect it by yourself, you can ask a friend or family member to do it. The person going to collect your passport needs to present the receipt given to you after your submitted your documents, a letter mentioning that you’re okay with them collecting your passport, a photocopy of your ID, and a photocopy of their ID.

And you’re done and ready to head to Brazil!

This blog post on Brazil Visa for Indians is written to help you navigate the visa application process. We did not have any clarity when we applied so we thought to help others out. If you have any questions about the visa process, you can ask us in the comments below, but it would be best to directly ask the consulate or embassy for the most up-to-date answer!