Entering Brazil/US Citizen

On average, how long is the new immigration procedures taking? Is the
"9hour" scenario mentioned unusual or is this becoming the norm?

Thanks

Its down to about 30sec. per person....


(= =) wrote in message ...
On average, how long is the new immigration procedures taking? Is the
"9hour" scenario mentioned unusual or is this becoming the norm?

Thanks

"David" wrote in message
om...
Its down to about 30sec. per person....


(= =) wrote in message
...
On average, how long is the new immigration procedures taking? Is the
"9hour" scenario mentioned unusual or is this becoming the norm?

According to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3391337.stm , it looks like
the waiting time is now of the order of 45min. It is about half of the usual
time it took me to go through immigration in my travels to the U.S. And if
you get to Rio you will be given a rose and a T-shirt!

I guess that we can't reciprocate the treatment given to us in the U.S. even
if we try. :-)

B.

Bruno wrote:

And if you get to Rio you will be given a rose and a T-shirt!


This is why I love Brazil

I've exchanged e-mails with four friends that arrived in Rio within
the past few days on different flights. Based on what they've
e-mailed me, it ranged between an extra 30 minutes to 2 hours to get
through the photo and fingerprinting process.

It looks like there are several factors to determine how long it'll
take to get through the photo and fingerprinting process. If you're
in first or business class, you can get through it fairly quickly
because you're the first to deplane. If you're in coach and seated in
the back of a crowded plane, you're screwed.

The friend who said it took 2 hours was seated on the back of the
plane so he was one of the last to deplane. On the day that he
arrived, the officials who took the photos and fingerprinting had
equipment "meltdown". Apparently, they got new equipment without
any training to troubleshoot when problems occurred. Well, problems
occurred and they didn't know of to fix it so they had to call in
technicians. The techs must have been on their lunch or dinner break
because they didn't respond very quickly. Everyone had to wait until
they got it fixed. He was not a happy camper.

Another friend e-mailed me and said the same thing happened on his
arrival, but they waved US citiizens through without taking their
photo or fingerprinting because the wait was getting too long.

In a nutshell, it looks like it depends on the urgency of the
Brazilian officials and luck on how long it takes to get you through
the entry process.