26 August 2016

Brazil on Strike - NO BRAZILIAN VISAS

Effective immediately, staff of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, and the Brazilian embassies and all consulates general of Brazil world wide are on strike for an indefinite period.

1)  NO VISAS WILL BE ISSUED by the Brazilian authorities anywhere in the world.

2)  Only emergency visas, as strictly and closely defined by Brazilian law, will be considered. Emergency visas do not include business or conference or student or researcher or cruise or tourist or family visit visas.

Canadians are warned to avoid all attempts to travel to Brazil until the strike has been settled and visas are once again being issued.

Once again, there are NO VISAS being issued by Brazil due to a strike by the foreign ministry staff.

There is NO WAIVER to allow Canadian to enter without a visa during the strike. Do NOT attempt to enter Brazil without a visa.

11 August 2016

China Requires Your Old Passport

Effective immediately, the Embassy of the People's Republic of China requires that all persons seeking a Chinese visa of any type provide their previous (old / cancelled) passport, in addition to their current valid signed passport.

1)
The new rules state that if your current valid signed passport was issued on or later than 1 January 2014, you must provide the original of your previous passport.

or,

2)
If you no longer possess the old passport, you must provide a typed and signed original letter explaining why you do not have the previous old passport,

and,

3)
You must also provide a typed and signed original letter with a full and complete list of all countries visited in the last two (2) years in the following format:
“FRANCE - Paris, June 2015, 10 days”
"KENYA - Nairobi, January 2016, 5 days"

All three requirements are mandatory. Any application without the second passport, or the letters, will be automatically rejected by the Chinese visa officers.

Click here for China visa forms.