When you plan a Brazil vacation, it’s important to know that before you get to the beautiful places you chose to visit, one of the first challenges you may have to face is a long wait in line at your port of entry. Hour-long waits are not unusual and all the more boring if you're traveling solo.

Apparently, international visitors are not more investigated in Brazil than most non-nationals in any other country.

Your passport will be checked for a visa by the Federal Police. Data will be entered on a computer.

However, on any given day, Brazil airports may have fewer immigration officers than other airports you are used to. Add to that an accumulation of international flights arriving at about the same time, a higher number of travelers during the high season, or a possible Federal Police slowdown for better salaries, and you could be in for a long wait.

That Other Line

Unlike national flight delays, which affect Brazilian and international travelers alike, especially in the high season, the wait in line at international ports of entry can be more annoying because wait time for Brazil nationals and international visitors is often so blatantly different.

While the visitors’ line becomes a slow-moving maze, Brazil nationals zoom through, barely stopping to show green passaportes to the immigration officials.

Though you have as much control over this situation as you do over rain in your Brazil vacation, you can choose whether you will work up your stress levels, waving your head in disgust at those breezy Brazilians, or prepare yourself to make the best of your time in line.

More Lines Ahead?

Hopefully you'll speed through immigration and need think about no tips. But anything you do to make the best of an airport line will help you in long lines elsewhere in Brazil - at banks, for example.

And unlike lines at tourist attractions, where you need to watch your purse, or even the line at the luggage carrousel, where you'll have to watch for your suitcases – and where you’ll meet a lot of the Brazilians who sped through immigration, waiting for countless bags fit to burst with goodies from abroad – the line at immigration allows you to absorb yourself in your chosen relaxation or entertainment method.

Here are some ideas:

• Allow time for connections and meetings.
  
  If at all possible, allow ample time for connections. Long layovers may not be the most fun thing in the world, but they can't be as stressful as standing in line and knowing you've missed a connection.
  
  Airport delays should be a factor taken into consideration in any business travel arrangement in Brazil. Hopefully your schedule acknowledges this well-known national irritant.
  
• Relax before landing, then keep it up in line.
  
  Flying can be rough. Then you arrive in Brazil, maybe for the first time, and have to face a line. No fun.
  
  Things will be better if you've resorted to relaxation techniques while still on the plane and do some of them while waiting in line.
  
  Tap into the simple power of breathing with this two minute relaxation technique.
  
  Progressive Muscle Relaxation is another cool thing you can do for yourself even in cramped coach quarters.
  
  So is this self massage of the face.
  
• Plan ahead for physical comfort.
  
  Brazil is not keen on cold air conditioning. You may find the Brazil airport downright hot after the airplane cabin. Dress in layers so you can have a light top on as you wait in line.
  
  Try to go to the restroom on the plane not long before landing. But there should be a restroom near the visitors’ line - negotiate a return to your place in line with the people next to you if you need to go.
  
  Save one or two bottles of mineral water from the plane. When you pack your hand luggage, include chewing gum and snacks, if you don’t usually have breakfast on planes.
  
• Have something fun to read.
  
  Save something in your hand luggage just for the airport line – maybe a light novel or a brand new issue of your favorite magazine. Dont even flip through it before arriving at the airport.
  
  If you're an avid reader, books and magazines in your language are an essential so you don't pay import prices in Brazil. Before your Brazil trip, stock up at low-price bookstores and shed what you read as you go to lighten up your load and make room for souvenirs.
  
• Create a music bubble.
  
  Prepare your music files with favorites and some new stuff just for lines. Maybe you can include some Brazilian music to get you into a positive groove about the country. I, for one, can endure waiting in lines, not to mention other Brazil problems, much more easily when I listen to upbeat Skank, one of my favorite Brazilian bands, or any of the bossa nova/soft pop classics from a Pandora list I've been perfecting under the entry "Antonio Carlos Jobim". (Pandora is still not available in Brazil, so you'd need to create files.)
  
• Play, study, write, plan.
  
  When you're packing, make sure your hand luggage has paper, pens, your Sudoku puzzles, handheld games. In lines, study your Brazil guidebook and create to-do lists. Muse in your journal, write a love letter.