- Passport - our son did not have a passport, so as requested by the church, we payed extra for the expedited service and FedEx delivery. It took about 7 business days to get it back (I noticed it was sent to Philadelphia for processing). Some notes on this:
- USPS has an on-line form available for typing up the passport information (it's saved as a PDF). You won't be able to submit the application on-line, but it does come in handy for getting the application ready.
- Make sure the background for the passport photo is completely white and without shadows. They can be picky about this.
- In our area the closest post offices that process passports are on Airport Way (in Portland) and on Caples Ave (in the Bagley Downs neighborhood). The Caples Ave office did not process passports on Saturday, and the one on Airport Way only does Saturday by appointment.
- Once you get the passport, make sure to sign the passport the same way the name is printed on it. My son signed his name without his middle name, and then had to cross it out and sign it again with his full name (the passport service directed us to handle it this way). Also, the contact information is instructed to be done in pencil.
- Visa - this process involved more than I anticipated. Brazil currently requires a specific type of visa for missionaries, which includes a lot of notarized paper work. Here's our notes:
- Photos - we had the two professional photos done at Walgreens, which was easy and inexpensive.
- Notarized Police (Clearance) Letter - this was obtained from the downtown Vancouver police office in the basement of the courthouse building (707 W. 13th Street). The cost was $20 (cash only). I called a local police precinct that indicated this had to be obtained from the main records office downtown. Make sure to double-check the information on the letter before you leave, as I happened to notice a typo and they had to redo it.
- I called the church travel office to verify if we needed a state-wide report from the Washington State Patrol (which is more difficult to get), or if a local report was acceptable. They confirmed the local one was fine (its information is limited to Clark County).
- Priesthood Ordination Certificates - we were able to get these notarized by our stake clerk's wife. Don't wait until the last minute to get these, and they need to be signed by the Stake President and High Counselor (or other stake presidency member) before they are notarized.
- Seminary Transcripts - I believe Bro. Collier, the CES Seminary coordinator in our area, is normally involved in helping to get these notarized. Since we already had our stake clerk's wife involved with notarizing the priesthood certificates, we went ahead and got the transcripts from the seminary office (the Mt. View Seminary building) and had them notarized at the same time.
- Secretary of State Authentication - the Washington secretary of state's office seemed to be very familiar with the process of authenticating docs for missionary visas when I contacted them. We had to shell out $120 for this as you have to pay for every notarized document (even if you use the same notary for multiple docs). Be sure that every notarized copy is stapled separately.
- When I contacted the church travel office, they indicated a common issue is when two copies of the same notarized document get stapled together. This is a problem because the first copy is submitted right away to the Brazilian consulate for the first year's visa, and the other copy is retained for the renewal of the visa for the second year.
- I did confirm with the church travel office that for Washington the driver's license and birth certificate items do not need to be included in the authentication process.
- International Driver's Permit - the missionary booklet for my son's mission indicated that a International Driving Permit (IDP) was needed. In talking with the mission office, they indicated Brazilian missionaries (in this case, the Campinas mission) do not drive or ride bicycles, so a permit was not needed. I understand this is generally the case throughout Brazil.
- Travel Itinerary - a few notes on this:
- Review the flight itinerary to verify your missionary's schedule is doable, as well as when they get their final schedule (as it could have changed). On my son's first itinerary, he had 35 min. to make his connecting flight to Sao Paulo once in Atlanta (yikes). I contacted the travel office and they indicated they try to get missionaries on the same flight, thus the reason for the schedule. The travel person was able to find another flight connecting in Dallas. However, when we got my son's final itinerary it had changed again (going through SLC and Atlanta this time), but the layovers were fine.
- The travel itinerary includes the reservation number, so you can go on-line to make any seat assignment changes or update personal info. I noticed my son did not have anyone sitting next to him, so I assumed they don't have missionaries sit together (this was later confirmed by the church travel dept., as they want the missionaries to be conversing with others during their trip).
- The air miles might as well go to good use, so we made sure to get our son signed up on the mileage plan for the airline. He flew on Delta and fortunately the miles in the SkyMiles program do not expire.
- On my son's return flight home, I discovered Delta changed their award policy and he was given a reduced award due to the discounted fare.
You are welcome to contact us regarding any of the information above. Our phone number and email are listed on the on-line church directory and in the stake directory (Eric & Michelle Bradford).
