About three weeks before I was scheduled to leave the US, my agent sent me an email with a list of documents I needed to get together to apply for a visa to enter Brazil.
Side note: I feel like I should give a short update on what happened the past two years in Argentina. I had two more great years in Argentina with the past year ending in three championships!
Back to the Visa: When I saw the list of things I needed, I put my face in my palm and thought to myself, "Getting this visa is going to be a nightmare." Oh how correct I was. The first problem was that I was in Charlottesville working out (Go Hoos Go!) and not in Louisiana. Luckily I had my passport and other necessary documents with me, so I mailed everything from New York (spontaneous road trip) to the Visa Agency who would go to the Consulate on my behalf. And now I will list all of the problems that I had...
- Before I do list the problems I had, let me say this. A lot friends have told me that they would like to visit me. Great! But be warned, you must have a Visa to enter Brazil and my advice to all of you is to get your Visa at least two weeks before you plan on coming. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE!!!
Problem #1: I bought and sent two money orders--one made out to the Consulate and one to the Visa Agency. I bought them at a pharmacy in New York on a Friday evening because it was my only option and mailed them to the agency. But alas, I did not read the fine print! The Consulate only accepts money orders from USPS. Le sigh. So I had to send the money to the agency for them to buy a USPS money order on my behalf.
Problem #2: When the agency submit my documents to the Consulate everything was fine...except they rejected my passport. One reason was because there weren't any blank pages, and the second because it had some water damage.
Water damage story: I had my passport in a bag in my apartment in Argentina in a closet safe and sound...at least I thought. It was a December morning I was scheduled to leave Argentina to come home for Christmas break, I retrieved my passport from the closet, and I was shocked to realize that my passport was wet! I almost had a heart attack. Luckily I was able to leave and reenter the country. Here is a video that shows why my passport got wet.
Literally 30 seconds later...
Having received the bad news about the visa, I immediately bought a ticket back to Louisiana from DC. The day was Tuesday, July 23rd and the team wanted me in Brazil on August 1st. (Funny story I showed up at the wrong airport in DC and didn't have enough time to go to the other one. Luckily I was able to cancel that ticket and buy another one for the same price in time to catch the flight at that airport. Thank you Kayak.) I had to drive to New Orleans (about and hour and a half away) on Thursday to apply for my expedited passport and then back again on Friday to pick it up so I could send it express to the agency. I assumed that the representative would go to the Consulate on Tuesday because it only opened Tuesdays and Thursdays. WRONG AGAIN!
Problem #3: The agency received my passport, but didn't go to the Consulate on Tuesday because they had mislaid the money for the money order. Le sigh. After some detective work, I called the agency and the check was found! Problem solved...except that the visa application could not be submitted until Thursday, and if approved, could not be retrieved before the following Tuesday. I would then receive my passport on Wednesday and the earliest I could leave would be Thursday the 8th. Le sigh.
The application as approved! Finally! I was ready to leave on Friday. Bags were packed (70 lbs. instead of 50 and two free bags. Best thing ever!), made it to the airport, flew to Atlanta, aaaaaand the flight was delayed two hours. I just laughed. Compared to what I went through to get the visa a late flight was no big deal haha. I can only imagine what adventures lay ahead in Brazil!
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