Requirements for Brazilians Traveling to UK

[Neil T]

My friend is traveling from Brazil to the UK to stay with me next month and has heard that she needs a letter confirming that she is my guest to be allowed to travel. Does anyone know anything about this? Is this a requirement of the Brazilian border authorities before they will let her get on an international flight or is it at the UK passport control?

Thanks

 

[robh]

My friend is traveling from Brazil to the UK to stay with me next month and has heard that she needs a letter confirming that she is my guest to be allowed to travel. Does anyone know anything about this? Is this a requirement of the Brazilian border authorities before they will let her get on an international flight or is it at the UK passport control?

Thanks

If there is a problem then the airlines won't let her board as otherwise they get fined by the UK government, so best to check it out with the UK embassy first.

Regards,
Rob.

 

[JMBroad]

When entering Brazil on an international flight you get two papers to fill in on the plane - the first is for customs and used to declare or not and the second is immigration services.

If you are not a resident in Brazil you must fill in the immigration services paper with the following details:

Reason for visit: Business or Tourism
How long you are staying
Arrival flight details
Where you will be staying while in Brazil (name of the hotel or pousada)

You may also have to show that you have brought enough money to support yourself financially while in Brazil. That is of course debateable but if you do not bring any credit cards and you only have R$ 100,00 on you and are staying for three months they may decide it is not enough and may not accept it. They may also request your return ticket flight details. If you do not have a return flight booked and are not a resident then they can stop you coming into the country.

However as long as you put down an address I've never heard of them giving you problems but it may be a new law I've not heard of but I'd be very surprised - we did a lottery for investors and the winner was invited out to Brazil at our expense. We put him up in one of our investors apartments so the address he gave was not for a hotel or pousada - it was for a private residence and he had no issues getting in. This was about a week and a half ago so if it is a new law it's so new that the border police here in Natal don't know about it yet.

Of course it all depends on where he is arriving to I guess - possibly the border police are more stringent in larger cities.

 

[JMBroad]

Ok I woke up a while ago and have already had coffee but seems my brain is still suffering from "post-public-holiday-disorder" and hasn't quite shifted into gear yet.

However, I'll leave my diatribe up in case anyone gets around to wondering about the UK visitors to Brazil.

With regards to Brazilians to the UK it should be the same as Brazil has a "however you treat us we'll treat you" policy. Therefore Brazilians visiting the UK will have to show proof that they have brought enough money to support themselves during their stay and either a hotel reservation or proof that they have somewhere to stay during their visit as well as a return flight ticket.

Probably the most noticeable difference is that the UK Border Police probably enforce it quite a bit more stringently. For example - if you are coming to Brazil you need to put down an address but there is no need to back up that address with proof (hotel reservation or invitation letter)

In Spain for example, to invite someone from Eastern Europe to come and visit, a colleague of mine had to not only register her niece as a family member and sign a letter stating that she was responsible for the niece during her stay but also had to provide documented proof that they were either related (birth certificates) or that they knew each other (photographic evidence of the two of them together).

As Robh says, best check it out with the immigration services or the Brazilian embassy to the UK. I just hope it's not like the Brazilian embassy in Lisbon (where I dealt with my visa papers) - around 600 to 700 people are seen each day and the queues start at 4 am for the 9 am opening hour.

 

[Coqueiro]

A letter or printed email, is not a requirement but a very good idea, something like,

Hi Jose/Maria how great it is you are coming to the Uk we would love to have you stay with us for the time you are in the UK, I cannot wait to take you to see Big Ben/Ben Nevis. Its going to be great to have a chance of showing you around after you were so kind to me/my son/daughter when I/they were in Brasil etc etc. Let us know your flight details and we will meet you at arrivals. etc

A wad of cash and some credit cards shows you can take care of yourself, a return ticket is a requirment.

I would also recommend dressing low key smart. For women stay away from, looking too sexy low neck lines, short skirts gold bling etc.

 

[DGM42]

As JM has stated Brasil and UK have no visa requirement policy, you just need to have proof of address you are staying at, a return ticket and show enough funds for your stay. This could be a credit card and you should have no problems. My fiancee has never been stopped.

This also applies to France as My Fiancee flew to France from Brasil and met me at Eurodisney and we then got the Eurostar to UK. The UK Border patrol on the train had no problems with this and showed them her return flight ticket.

 

[debzor]

With regards to Brazilians to the UK it should be the same as Brazil has a "however you treat us we'll treat you" policy.

The technical term is 'reciprocity'. Citizens of both countries are treated (and charged for visas, etc) similarily when visiting the other country.

They must all have an address where they will be staying, a return ticket, and means of sufficient financial support while abroad. This is because basically all immigration laws are designed to protect national jobs.

The problem seems to be that there is a conception that it is more likely that poor Brazilians will visit the UK and stay illegally/seek employment, than Brits in Brazil. Therefore the UK authorites can be more stringent than their Brazilian counterparts.

 

[DGM42]

This is because basically all immigration laws are designed to protect national jobs.

The problem seems to be that there is a conception that it is more likely that poor Brazilians will visit the UK and stay illegally/seek employment, than Brits in Brazil. Therefore the UK authorites can be more stringent than their Brazilian counterparts.

Unfortunately this does happen a lot in the UK and not by Brasilians (although it does happen) but a lot of other countries. The UK is seen as easy to get lost and seek asylum, not that many get deported but some do. A very emotive thing in the UK from both sides of the fence.

 

[Neil T]

I started this thread so thought that I would post to let you all know what an unbelievable thing happened to us when my girlfriend arrived in the UK on Friday.

I was waiting for her to come through the arrivals at Heathrow Terminal 4 and got a call from immigration asking me to come and be interviewed. Half an hour after the interview I got a call saying that customs had taken an interest and had taken my girlfriend to a separate location and were "processing her" they would tell me know more than this and told me to go home and said she would be given one phone and the opportunity of contacting me.

A couple of hours later she phoned me saying that she was being held and accused of swallowing drugs! A few hours later I was contacted by a solicitor acting for her saying that she was being held at a detention centre and that customs were convinced that she was a "drug mule"! He said they had based this on the facts that she was a young woman travelling on her own from Brazil, that she had visited Holland the year before and that I bought her ticket for her. He said that they were allowed to her until she had been the to the toilet twice or for a certain amount of hours and that they would be taking her to court in the morning to apply for this period to be extended.

In the morning I found out where and at what time the case would be and turned up. As soon as my girlfriend came in the magistrate said that is was to be a closed hearing so I managed to see her for a couple of seconds and give her my best “everything will be ok” smile before I was ejected from the court. The staff at the court were confused because most of them had never heard of a closed hearing before. Apparently UK Customs have the right to do this since the changes of legislation from the terror threat. I was told later that the reason this had been done was that they were worried that I was there to intimidate the witness as the sort of person who runs drug mules!

If you ever meet me you would know that this was absurd and when the customs people and solicitors came out of the hearing they came up my girlfriend’s solicitor and me and said that they had realised that they had got it wrong but that they were now obliged to hold her until she had passed two samples.

Sorry for the long rant but if you think that this seems long you should have been there! Worst 24 hours of my life because it was me who talked her into coming over and told her everything would be ok bless her. Anyway, it goes on…..

Within less than an hour of the hearing my girlfriend called and said that she had done the sample and been cleared and was on her way back to immergration. I rushed back to Heathrow and phoned the immigration people up to find out what was going on. They said that they would interview her again and make a decision. After a two hour wait they called me and said that she had been refused entry to the UK and would be sent back to Brazil on the next flight. They would not give me any reason for this or even let me she her! The only time that I got to see her on her lovely visit to the UK was for about 2 seconds before they kicked me out of the court.

See has just arrived back safe and sound and said that the reason that the refused her entry was because I had bought her ticket for her. The immigration person that interviewed me and started all of this was not senior at all and probably is a lower level civil servant from Houndslow with four GCSE’s passes under his belt! How he concluded that we were drug smugglers I don’t know but it was amazing how heavy everything got just because of his guess work. It was also very frightening because I had now power to do anything or to be given any information which is mad given that there was no evidence that we had done anything wrong.

My girlfriend said that the Brazilian authorities to away her passport when she got back. She didn’t seem too worried about it as she was so relieved to be home and safe and say’s that she will never leave Brazil again. I am gong to contact the Immigration Advisory Service tomorrow to see what can be done to appeal and find out the ramifications of what happened, even though we were found to be innocent of any wrong-doing I have a feeling that this could cause us problems. For example I am even worried that I might have a problem getting into Brazil next time I come to see her…………….

 

[DGM42]

Wow - sorry you have had such a nightmare, unbelieveable how your girlfriend is treated.
I too have bought my girlfriends ticket on occasion, I think in future I will get her to buy her own ticket and pay into her bank account from mine.

Each time my girlfirend has visted UK there have been no problems, as I posted earlier last time was via France with no problems. and she was like your girlfriend travelling alone.
I am off to Brazil next week so hopefully I will have no problems, haven't to date.

 

[az08]

Wow - i have a similar story but not as bad as yours

Last may my girlfiend came from Brazil to stay with me. She has been here about 4 times before with her family, never had any real issues.

I bought the ticket as I had just started a new job.

She arrived in Heathrow, and I was sitting..waiting...when I get a call from an immigration office, asking me loads of questions about her, if Im expecting a woman, how did I meet her, what does she do etc etc.

I answered everything, and he said he would call back later with their decision. I won't go into the details but they interviewed her etc, searched her luggage, which only backed up her story she was coming to see her boyfriend, but the fact was they didnt believe her. That a woman from Brazil would be coming to the UK for 3 months to see her boyfriend, even though she works for the government in Brazil and managed to get 2 months extra holiday.

She was also denied entry. Luckily her flight was with TAP, so it was Via Lisbon the next morning at 6am. They wouldnt even let me see her, so I booked the 6am TAP flight to Lisbon so i could be with her for a few hours

 

[debzor]

I do not wish to gloss over the painful experiences of Neil T and AZ08, but we need to seek an explanation so this can be avoided in the future. To my mind the authorities have clearly stopped two Brazilian ladies who perhaps were never intending to flout the system, but maybe did not have the knowledge that so many others appear to have, who get allowed entry and then disappear and stay.

We know that to gain entry you need:
Reason for visit
Return ticket
Address
Sufficient means of support

However it is not good enough to believe you can satisfy these requirements, you have to convince an immigration official to this effect (lets imagine you are the person in question).

The first three are quite simple, but the fourth is much harder and without a wad of cash, bank statement with transferable funds or credit cards, especially if you have not actually paid for your ticket yourself.

Finally you may genuinely be visiting a close friend and have managed to get an extended holiday from work - but does the official believe you? How likely are your circumstances to be correct, and what is the possibility that he has seen this a thousand times before and 999 have disappeared?

Your admission to the UK is not a right, but a privilege, and if you fit a profile typical of immigration offenders without a fat file of information and evidence to support your story, what is the guy to do if he thinks he is just doing his job? Remember the vast majority of illegal immigrants entered legally - they just never left.

What do I mean by a fat file of information and evidence? I would say copies of everything you can think of putting your and your friend together for as long as possible, PLUS details of their own (ie the UK citizen's) financial situation, copies of bank statements, employment and residential history and a letter committing that they will be totally responsible for you financially during your stay, PLUS a reason to return to your home country, like a letter from your employer or other comitment.

Oh, and one other thing to make it harder - maybe you speak very little English, although this does not seem to have prevented others...

 

[JMBroad]

It can't hurt to try and speak to someone before hand confirming that you have a friend coming over and can they let you know exactly what is needed to assure entry (quoting these unfortunate cases as examples).

 

[Neil T]

I spoke to a specialist immigration lawyer today who explained that, since people coming from Brazil do not generally have entry clearance (i.e. a visa, entry certificate, letter of consent or work permit) because no visa is needed for them to enter the UK, there is no guarantee that they will be allowed in, even if they have everything 100% in order. It all depends on the immigration offical to decide on whether to let them in or not and if they are refused entry, and they do not have pre-arranged entry clearance, then there is absolutely no right of appeal.

If you can gain entry clearance in advance then you are in a very much stronger position legally and if you can't then, as the other post said, you need to be well prepared to make a strong case for entering the UK and hope that you encounter a reasonable and objective immigration official.

 

[az08]

Yea...its just the UK though...GF had no problem entering France, Italy and Croatia this Summer, with maximum 1 (ONE) question being asked!

 

[DGM42]

My Fiancee has had no problems entering the UK, possibly because she did have a UK student visa which ran out 2 years ago so lived in the UK while studying and has been back to the UK about twice a year since.
We had no problems with her entering France and into the UK via Eurostar, we spoke to the immigartion on the Train and they were fine and stamped her passport for entry.
As Debzor was saying about speaking the language, my fiancee is fluent in French and English so that is no barrier.

There are always horror stories and a lot are unfair, I hope this hasn't put legimate people off from travelling to the UK. The UK Border Control are really clamping down on people trying to enter the UK illigally, it is just unforunate that sometimes they stop legitimate people form entering the UK.

 

[jamphi24]

I would recommend being with your GF at immigration so you can speak with them. I did that for my gf and had all the documentation and proof ready - photos/tenancy agreement/bank statements/payslips- immigration were fine and we were on our way in 2 minutes.

 

[Frank_London]

:hmmmm:

Perhaps the immigration officers have watched the movie about Jean Charles (drama about a Brazilian man killed by police in London). The movie deals with visa issues and the Brazilian community in the UK. Worth to watch.