I heard that if an American wants to get a visa to Brazil they are required to leave their passport with a Brazilian Consulate. Is there any truth to this?
Brasil = Brazil
It would seem that you are surprised by this. In my experience, most countries that require a visa also require that you leave your passport with the embassy or consulate for that country for processing. They don’t want our felons and crazies anymore than we want theirs.
I think that’s right. When I went to Brazil a few years ago I’m pretty sure I left my passport at the consulates office. They turn it around in 48 hours or less.
Yes, as others say, you generally have to leave your passport at an embassy or consulate for a couple of days if you need a visa. It’s standard procedure. Some countries are quicker than others, and some offer an “express service” for an additional charge. Basically you go to the embassy, fill in some forms (or you can get them mailed to you beforehand) and hand them over with your passport and the visa fee, and sometimes some passport-size photos too. Then you go back at the specified time and pick up your passport complete with visa.
Go to the Brazilian Embassy website at http://www.brasilemb.org/ (assuming you are a US citizen) for more information:
This page is the one with the info for tourist visas. ($100? Sheesh!)
Yeah I had to do the same for India. Send off my Passport to the nearest consulate (San Francisco) and wait for it to be sent back with the Visa pasted to one of the pages.