I want to preface this review by mentioning my personal situation, as it is probably different from most people seeking this type of visa services- I am an American citizen living Argentina, I was seeking to obtain my Brazilian tourist visa on a trip home for the holidays. Although you can obtain a Brazilian tourist visa from Argentina, it is only good for 1 visit lasting up to 90 days, where as if done from the consulate in the US it is good for multiple entries over the course of 10 years (and at the same cost).
Because I was coming to the US for only about a month, and over the holiday season I knew this would be difficult, so I began planning early. I began researching and contacting different visa services companies. Other companies had told me that they wouldn't be able to help in the timeframe that I had specified. I turned to Yelp, which is where I found great reviews for Anthony and 123 Brazil visa, which claimed to have visas for tourist and business processed in a short as a few days. After initially contacting him months ahead of time, he responded with a short email assuring me he was confident he could arrange for the visa within the timeframe I had specified. I decided to rol the dice and go with Anthony, which ended up being a bad wager!
As soon as I came into the US I sent all of my paperwork, money order, and passport into Anthony immediately, with plenty of time for the visa to be processed before I had to leave the country, or so I thought. When FedEx had notified me via email that my information had been delivered, Anthony did not. As someone who lives and works in a foreign country it is very scary to let your passport go even for a minute, as it is my lifeline, but not to acknowledge when customers' passports had been received seems very unprofessional to me. I emailed to ask if my passport had been received and I received no response, only by phone was I able to get a response from him that indeed it had been received.
During the whole process this type of unprofessionalism was all too common. I had to email, call, and followup very routinely myself, as Anthony and his team almost never willingly offered information on the status of my visa. When I had called Anthony on one such occasion he had informed me of some bad news- the consulate had given a return date of processing my visa for 1 week after my scheduled flight to leave the country. I asked if we had any other options at this point, to which I received avery interesting answer. The best way, he told me, was to offer a sign of "appreciation" in the form of gift cards in hopes that this would grease the wheels at the consulate- essentially this was a bribe.
Living and working in South America I know that this type of action in exchange for faster service through bureaucratic institutions is common practice, but it surprised me that the office of a consulate on American soil would function in the same way. Although this seemed strange. I thought that if a company who works in this type of service would recommend this, it was the best course of action- I authorized Anthony to charge my credit card to deliver the visa officers their signs of "appreciation".
Unfortunately not even the bribe was effective in having my visa furnished any faster. I was forced to change my flight and await for my visa to finish being processed on the original date offered by the consulate. I understand that Anthony and his team were not able to control the ongoings of the consulate, however I was personally assured by Anthony that he could get the visa in the amount of time I needed and he failed to due so. Not only that, but he was unprofessional and withholding of information that was very important to me about the time it would take for my visa to process.
Did Anthony get my visa? Yes- but instead of the short turn around time that he assured me was possible it took nearly 1 MONTH! If Anthony would have been more forthcoming with information about the status of my visa along the way I would be more sympathetic, but it is unacceptable because he works in a service industry in which that is his SOLE FUNCTION. Furthermore Anthony and the people at 123Brazil Visa cost me a lot of money both directly (through suggesting that I should pay for a bribe which never worked), indirectly (because I had to change international flight plans at the last minute). Probably what upset me most is that due to their actions, I missed out on 1 week of my vacation in Brazil, for this I don't believe this company deserves even 1 star, however Yelp won't allow me to offer a review of 0 stars.
Bottomline I would never use or recommend 123 Brazil to anyone, or any of Anthony's (the so-called serial entrepreneur) other start-ups companies. This may seem like a harsh review, but today every company is transparent, and I think it is very important that consumers are informed when making important decision like who to trust with your passport. read more
