Brasília, March 21, 2007 Starting April 2, 2007, visa applicants can schedule their interview at any of the four U.S. consular sections in Brazil (Brasilia, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo), according to individual preference.  It will no longer be necessary to apply for a visa only at the consular section with jurisdiction over your state of residence in Brazil. 

For example, a person from Sao Paulo -- who previously would have had to apply for a visa at the U.S. Consulate-General in Sao Paulo -- could, under the new procedure, apply for a visa in Brasilia if he or she happens to have plans to be in Brasilia on other business on a certain day.  Likewise, a person from Belem could apply for a visa in Rio de Janeiro, if already visiting relatives in that city.

To accommodate the continued strong visa demand by Brazilians, persons applying for renewal of their visa no longer need a formal personal interview with a consular officer.  Applicants renewing the same type of visa that is still valid, or expired less than 12 months ago, generally still need to schedule an appointment as before, but only to submit their passport and application and provide an electronic, inkless fingerprint. 

This new procedure will significantly decrease the amount of time a visa renewal applicant (someone renewing a B2 tourism or B1/B2 business/tourism visa, for example) needs to spend at the consular section and will increase the U.S. Mission to Brazil’s visa processing capacity at all of our consular sections across Brazil. 

For some time now, the U.S. Mission's visa appointment system at http://www.visto-eua.com.br/ and call center at 0xx-21-4004-4950 have granted automatic scheduling preference to persons renewing visas as well as student (F, M) and exchange program (J) visas, resulting in significantly shorter visa appointment waiting times for those visa categories.

In addition, the U.S. Consulate-General in Sao Paulo already has successful visa renewal programs for business and student visa applicants that require no appointment scheduling for persons renewing valid or recently expired business, student, and certain exchange visitor visas (see The U.S. Consulate in Sao Paulo Facilitates Business Travel and Student Program Plus - SPP). 

These improvements reflect the U.S. Mission's continuing commitment to making the visa application process as efficient as possible for the growing number of Brazilians seeking visas to travel to the United States.