Last week, my husband went to Brazil on a business trip. When he got there, they wouldn’t let him in the country because something was wrong with his visa. Not the kind of visa I have, that I have to put in a block of ice in the freezer to keep me away from, but the kind of visa that could save your life, or at least your job, from what I understand.
He had obtained his visa sometime last year, and then the trip to Brazil was cancelled for some reason. It was a five year visa, but apparently, it would only be valid if activated within 90 days of issue. Sure enough, right there in tiny print at the bottom of this document was a note that stated this. It didn’t occur to anyone that something called a “five year visa” wouldn’t be adequate. Lesson here: always read tiny print (unless it’s too long.)
When I first spoke with him, he in typical high drama claimed he was being “detained.” This is what I pictured:
Who can resist a good Midnight Express image? So what if this was Brazil and not Turkey? Besides, Turkey’s not that horrible anyway. Neither is Brazil. Not that I’ve ever been to either of them.
Sometimes people wonder if my husband is a spy, but that’s just because no one understands what he does for a living. He certainly isn’t a drug smuggler! Like I said, he just loves high drama, which out of necessity includes using colorful verbs. The following depiction gives a better idea of his 4 hours of extreme injustice. Brace yourself:
No, that’s not my real husband. Remember, he might be a spy. I don’t know much about spies, except for what I’ve learned in the movies. I’m pretty sure they don’t appreciate having their pictures pasted on the internet. I’m just trying to give you an idea of the hardship he was forced to endure at the mercy of a Delta Lounge.
After several hours of not hearing from him, another movie came to mind when I considered his predicament:
Phew! Right when I was getting carried away with that train of thought, he called again. Somehow, his Brazilian customer had “obtained permission for him to enter the country.” That’s exactly how he put it. High level government officials, faxes and phone calls were involved, he expounded. I could stop worrying about Catherine Zeta Jones or Dan Ackroyd.
Yeah, I know – that’s Tom Hanks, not Dan Ackroyd. But in this day and age, my husband might have lost his job, if he wasn’t allowed to enter Brazil. It could have led to all kinds of craziness that included Eddie Murphy and hookers played by Jamie Leigh Curtis. By Christmas, this could easily be how he ended up:
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{ 17 comments }
It’s weird that they wouldn’t check to make sure his visa was valid before he got on the flight. Or maybe it isn’t. I’ve never even been to Canada.
Well, I’m glad they let him in eventually.
yikes, Brazil isn’t the best place to have any kind of trouble!! I have a friend who just left yesterday to do some work there – I just remember all of the things my Dad used to tell me…. anyway, I’m glad he is no longer “detained”
Maybe the fine print should read: “This is a five year visa, valid only if used within 90 days of the issue date or 150 miles, whichever comes first, unless you have a customer who has naked pictures of Brazilian officials that he can use to force them to grant permission, thus making this disclaimer moot.” Or something very clear and non-bureaucratic like that.
Wow more than a little scary.
Yikes! Glad he was able to get into the country after all. We lived in Venezuela for a while and I can definitely understand what he was going through.
Only a spy could get in with a mere phone call … just sayin’
The whole idea of passports raise my blood pressure. I’d try to keep mine safe in one of those body-pocket contraptions they make for under your clothes, and then I’d drop it in a toilet somewhere.
I’m pretty graceful.
Glad your husband completed his mission!
Shawn, you’d think, wouldn’t you?
blueviolet, me too! AND they let him leave.
Fiona, I’ve heard a lot of stories about travel to Brazil lately. Thanks!
Jeff, I wish they made bureaucrats like you! Welcome and thanks for stopping by!
GND, yes! My daughter is traveling in Argentina this week and I’m just glad that something like that didn’t happen to her.
phd, you’re not alone in your suspicions. if you never hear from me again here, you can imagine what may have happened and probably be right.
vic, I’m looking forward to the day all our info can be stored on our eyeballs
I leave this post very confused, yet entertained!!
Hello from SpeedyCat
Gotta love Brazil. They are masters at bureaucracy. We got married at the Brazilian Embassy in DC just so we could expedite my visa. We were already legally married in the US, but to make it legal in Brazil would have required sending the documents certified to BrasÃlia and waiting for it to be processed and, we realized it was faster and cheaper just to get married again. And then there was the trick getting my daughter’s visa approved just as fast…
I’m glad to hear it all worked out fine. I hope he got to go someplace nice and enjoy the scenery.
Heh heh, My father was like this. Always somewhere different doing something odd. He, though, was in “air freight.” Or WAS he….?
What an exciting way to live dangerously without living dangerously. Where do I sign up for this spy business?
hahahaha! nice post.
Eeps!
I also have the other kind of Visa frozen in my freezer. It’s wayy in the back and I’m trying to forget that it even exists.
Speedcat, Good then, we confuse and entertain each other. I like it!
Heather, He should have consulted with your family before this. He said Brazil was very nice and beautiful once he was allowed in. I assumed they recognized our marriage. xxx ooo
Pricilla, sounds suspicious to me. Kiss the kid for me! xxx ooo
Wendy, Let’s go sign up! I’ll find out where we’re supposed to go
Deejay, Thanks! Nice to meet you
Whisperingwriter, We should definitely defrost and take both kinds of visas to Brazil.
Does anyone else out there suffer from writer’s block? I don’t think I ever had it until today. Okay, I have it often. I’ll visit your blogs now in search of a cure
When he was detained, do they at least let him watch Teleboobies?
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