Help -- Lost Immigration Form

[williewanker2]

I am on my third visit to Rio and managed this time to lose the piece of paper that Brazilian immigration gives you when you enter the country. It is supposed to be returned to immigration when you leave.

 

Does anyone know what I have to do to fix this problem. I don't want to go the airport to catch my flight and discover that they won't let me leave.

 

The deskman at the Atlantico said that I should go to the Tourist Police Office at the airport immediately. He said that they make you pay a fine and jump through other hoops. He said it is less trouble to lose your passport.

 

Anyone else experience this problem?

 

By the way, I hope to post about my experience in Sao Paulo and Cirutiba.

 

Bob

[trilingual]

I'm not sure what the proper procedure is, but you definitely need to contact the Policia Federal, which is responsible for immigration and issues the form you lost. They have offices downtown, as well as at the airport.

 

Since you DIDN'T lose your passport, it seems, all may not be lost. Be sure to look through your passport for the entry stamp you received on this trip, and put a paper clip on that page to help you find it in a hurry. Then take your passport with you so you can show the date you arrived in Brazil and that you haven't overstayed your 90-day entry. Possibly they can just issue you a new form without too much hassle. In any event, you're about to get an introduction to Brazilian bureaucracy in all its splendor!

 

SUGGESTION: You can avoid this happening in the future if you put a paper clip on the passport page that contains your Brazilian visa. If you didn't need a visa, put a paper clip on the back page, or someplace handy. Use the paper clip both to be able to find your visa rapidly upon arrival in Brazil, and to secure the immigration form you receive on arrival within your passport. (It's OK to fold the form so it fits inside your passport.) Your chances of losing the exit form are much lower if you do this!

[imrthr]

He said

>that they make you pay a fine and jump through other hoops. He

>said it is less trouble to lose your passport.

>

>

>

 

Last year I was with a group of guys, one of whom lost his copy of the Brazilian INS document.

 

At check-in, the airline agent asked my friend for his passport and also asked for the copy of the INS document that was given to him when he went through Brazilian immigration upon arrival.

 

My friend told the airline agent that he had lost the document. The agent then gave my friend a replacement form and requested that he complete it. After the form was completed, the agent made some notes on the replacement form then finished checking in my friend for departure. The agent returned the passport and annotated replacement form then advised my friend to proceed to passport control.

 

At passport control the Federal Police agent asked my friend for the original stamped document that was returned to him when he arrived. My friend responded by stating that he had lost the form.

 

The Federal Police agent looked through my friend's passport and determined that my friend had not violated the 90-day stay rule. My friend's passport got stamped with an exit stamp and he proceeded on his way to the United States without any delay. He was not fined for losing the document.

 

Trilingual's suggestion appears sound. However, going to the Federal Police would require a lot of your time and it may not be necessary to go there at all.

 

Given that my friend had no problem and could confirm his arrival date, you might want to call your airline carrier and explain the situation. Doing so might save you a lot of time and worry.

 

I conclude that many people lose that document, which is one reason why the airlines keep a supply of them at the check-in counter on departure from Brazil.

[+ Lucky]

This happened to me and the bf last summer. We never got the paper, in our memory at least. At the airport, the customs agent was quite nasty about it. Nonetheless, we simply filled out a new one and turned that in, without any penalty. Fortunately the lines were short that day as well.

[trilingual]

All of that may be true, but please remember that it's the PF that enforces immigration in Brazil, and not the airlines. That means it's up to the PF official who's checking your exit documentation what he does about your lost exit form, and not the airline.

 

The suggestion of contacting your airline is a good one. In this case, however, I'd strongly suggest going in person to their city ticket office in Rio to see if they have copies of the exit form that you could get before going to the airport, or if they have any other advice.

 

The main issue the PF will be concerned about will be whether you've overstayed your 90 days. If you only lost the exit form, but not your passport, that shouldn't be so hard to determine. If you lose both you're in for a lot of administrative headaches and running around, because in that case it can be much harder to prove when you entered Brazil. (A copy of your plane ticket might help, in this case.)

 

I cannot emphasize this often enough: once you leave the U.S. you're subject to the laws of the country you're in. NEVER assume they can be flouted, or that they're mere formalities. In this case, if the immigration authorities tell you to keep the exit form because you'll need it when you leave, take them at their word. Make every effort to keep it in a safe place (see my paperclip suggestion above). You can save yourself endless headaches and panic by acting like a responsible adult. Obviously, no matter how careful you are the form could still get lost, but it's much less likely than if you just treat the form as something unimportant. To the Brazilians it's important, and you're a guest in their country, so it needs to be important to you, too.

[HotdadENYC]

tri's advice is all good, and I would add that I wouldn't wait until the last day (day of departure) to deal with this. Just because others were able to wrangle out of the lost-paper situation so close to departure doesn't mean that it will happen every time.

 

Don't count on officials--anywhere--being consistent.

 

 

hd NYC

[HooBoy]

This happened to me on my first visit there. It was no problem. The agent may have been annoyed, but I was nice and apologetic and he let me leave with no problem.

 

Now, I keep a large paper clip in my passport and keep my exit papers there.

[williewanker2]

Thanks everyone for the good advice. I am usually obsessive about keeping track of documents. This time I kept the form in the same pouch as the passport. I think what happened is that I dropped the form when I took out the passport when checking in at a hotel.

 

I will check with my airline (Continental) first and then probably take my chances at the airport.

 

Bob

[floridarob]

Tri, none of the immigration guys have ever told me to keep that document, they usually dont even speak to me...and they don't even know me!

 

Anyway, Many times I have been in line at passport control leaving and observed many people without the form, they all said "I didn't know I had to keep this" and they were either made to fill out another form or just stamped and waved through.

 

Now I can only imagine that this happens all the time and the Immigration guys from Brasil have been much easier than I could ever picture a US Immigration person. Fot the number of countries I have travelled to I think the rudest Immigration and Customs people are the ones here in the US...DTW,JFK,LAX wins the awards here...however whenever I come back from Thailand I make sure to enter through MSP they have probably the nicest that I have experienced.

[grweyers]

I work for an airline in the States and when some one has lost there immigration card we just give them another one, or advise them to pick one up at there exit point in the states. Your passort is stamped with your entry date so it is not a problem.......If you are given a hard time then it´s just that person giving you "up hill" is just an idiot.....Nothing to worry about.....Enjoy yourself and pick up the new form on your departure date.....

[williewanker2]

To end this discussion of how to deal with the lost immigration form, I took my chances at the airport and there was no problem. Continental gave me a new form to fill out.

 

I told the Brazilian official at the desk reviewing passports that I lost the original form. He looked at me slightly disgusted, took the form, and waved me through.

 

I am certainly glad that I did not follow the advice of the desk clerk at the Atlantico to go down to the Federal police office. I might still be there waiting in line.

[trilingual]

I'm glad to hear that you didn't run into any more problems than that. But people who find themselves in this situation need to understand that their fate is at the whim and discretion of the PF officer who is checking for the exit forms. If they're having a bad hair day, or there's a crackdown from Brasilia, things could be different.

 

Please guys, take care not to lose your original exit form to avoid hassles. Paper clipping it into your passport is simple and will cut the chances of losing the form way down! You'll also save yourself a lot of tension and grief, not knowing what will happen when you try to leave Brazil.

[grweyers]

Very good advise, may I also suggest that when the F/A give's you the form(s) you need, request a 2nd one...and place the 2nd one in another safe place in your carry on luggage.

[IamI2002]

I have gone through immigration on the way back without the form, and they just shrugged. Careful not to attact attention to yourself by going to the FEDS as TL suggests. If you do, at a minimum, be prepared to shell out "facilitating payments", go through red tape and pay whatever "fine" they think plausible. Expect to lose a day or two on this adventure, unless TL knows better and "escorts" you through the process. You can buy him a chicken dinner at Corujinha for his effort.

[IamI2002]

Mother Superior fails to control again!

[+ Axiom2001]

>Mother Superior fails to control again!

 

 

 

Was the above remark necessary? I see you're back and posting. At another thread you were positive; try to lend helpful hints instead of ones bordering on disparagement! That will get you much farther here!

[IamI2002]

LOL LOL LOL

 

"Get me much farther" ... and please do tell, meddling Milly, how I can get so far in this venerable environment? What am I, running for office or for Queen Mother Gossip of the year at M4M? Your unsolicited comment has got to take the proverbial cake ... wherever you choose to take it!

[imrthr]

How to "get you much farther here"

 

>At another thread you were positive; try to lend helpful hints instead of ones bordering on disparagement! That will

> get you much farther here!

 

________________________________

 

>LOL LOL LOL

>

>"Get me much farther" ... and please do tell, meddling Milly,

>how I can get so far in this venerable environment? What am I,

>running for office or for Queen Mother Gossip of the year at

>M4M?

 

___________________________________________________________

 

Hey, IamI2002, your response was "right-on" and humorous!

 

It is unfortunate that a handful of Americans from this M4M board feels that they must dictate to others in connection with what THEY believe should be written and what should be done or said.

 

The poster who wrote, "That will get you much farther here!" perhaps ought not lose sight of the fact that this is an information board, not a popularity contest.