I'm from the US.  My drummer is in the US on a student visa from
Brazil.  He claims that his girlfriend from Estonia had trouble
getting a visa to visit him in Brazil over the Christmas holiday.  He
says that Estonia doesn't have a Brazilian embassy, and that the
closest embassy is in Finland.  He claims he had to go to the embassy
in Finland personally to deliver proof of where she was staying in
Brazil.  Is he telling me the truth?

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Clarification of Question by greg6668-ga on 17 Nov 2005 20:01 PST

Thanks for the comments.  I guess the main thing to focus on:

"He claims he had to go to the embassy in Finland personally to
deliver proof of where she was staying in Brazil."

In person?  Seems unlikely, but I'm not the International Man of
Mystery that he is.

To further clarify, he also said that if she were staying in a hotel
or something that information would've prevented him from having to
make the trip.

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Clarification of Question by greg6668-ga on 21 Nov 2005 09:23 PST

Why didn't he just get a hotel in Brazil to create the paperwork? 
Good question.  Without going into too much drama, there have been
recent questions regarding his integrity.  This all started with an
email from him saying he had midterms and couldn't practice on Sunday
& Monday... it was more important than normal since we had a
performance coming up that we've all been putting in overtime to get
ready for.

Well we found out the midterms were a lie and that he was actually in
Finland! An email was sent to him saying it's funny his school does
midterms on Sundays and that they do them in Finland.  So he admits he
lied but then told us this new story about the girlfriend's visa
issues.

I'm interested in finding out if this was a one-time lie mistake, or
if he's covering a lie with another lie.  I pretty much know it's BS
that he had to go to Finland personally, but I'd like some hard
proof... and I wanted to see how effective this Google Answer thing
is? two birds with one stone.

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Clarification of Question by greg6668-ga on 21 Nov 2005 12:29 PST

Thanks for the comment Myoarin! Let's hit your questions:

Does the Estonian girlfriend actually exist?  

-yup, seen her with my own peepers.

...he should be more savvy about visa matters.

-no doubt, right? 

Could he have been taking a "gig" in Finland? 

-No, I couldn't imagine him having a secret band overseas! My guess is
that he was skiing (or seeking companionship ;-) in Finland which he's
done before.

Well, I hope I am not maligning your drummer, and I have really only
asked some leading questions.

-And they were well enjoyed and appreciated.  

Sorry not to be more helpful, but still wishing you success with your performance

-Thank you! We were lucky to have been offered the fill-in slot, but
I'm afraid we had to back out due to this incident.  We play
ultra-technical music, and I've decided there's no way we'll be up to
speed in time to play a full set.

From this Brazilian govt. site it appears that Brazil does not an
embassy in Estonia:
http://www.mre.gov.br/ingles/endereco/embaixadas.asp

I cannot comment on his statement that he personally had to go to the
Brazilian embassy in Finland to confirm proof.

I do not see anything particulary unusual about this. If country A
requires visitors of country B to obtain a visa but does not have an
embassy in country B then people from country B wishing to visit
country A would normally have to go a third country to pick up the
visa (unless country A provide other arrangements)
Inconvenient yes but "C'est La Vie"    

Mongolia

Hmmm - to the clarification:  then why didn't the couple just agree
that she make a hotel reservation?  That would have been cheaper than
his flight to Helsinki, and probably could have been subsequently
canceled.
Or, if he has family in Brazil, they could have issued the invitation
and had it documented at the Finnish Embassy, which apparently
represents Estonia's diplomatic interests there?

Greg,
Your clarification asks for "hard proof", which I cannot provide, just
a "common sense" comment, at least, I hope it is common sense.
One could ring a Brazilian consulate in the States and ask what the
requirements for proof of an invitation for an Estonian to visit
Brazil are.  I  - like  you -  seriously doubt that personal presence
at the Embassy in Finland is required.
Does the Estonian girlfriend actually exist?  Where would he have met
her?  And if she does, they both would probably be more savvy about
visa matters.
Could he have been taking a "gig" in Finland (maybe contrary to a
contract with you)?  (I don't know if a Brazilian drummer could have
such wide-flung contacts and appeal, but maybe you do.)
Was he actually in Finland?  For some of us less imaginative folk, a
far-fetched story might seem more plausible than one closer to home
...
Well, I hope I am not maligning your drummer, and I have really only
asked some leading questions.
Sorry not to be more helpful, but still wishing you success with your performance,
Myoarin

Oh, well, sorry about that.
I seem to remember that drummers have a reputation for being the
eccentrics in bands  (that goes back 50 years, at least).

Don't know how else I can help you.

Cheers and good luck, Myoarin

Here you can find official information about relationships
betweenEstonia and Brazil
http://www.vm.ee/eng/kat_176/2119.html

If she had to get a visa from Finland, it wouldn't be a real problem
if she were going to get it before going to Brazil. A few hours trip
to Helsinki and back costs sometimes no more than 10 ?, so it is not
very difficult to go to Finland to get the visa. Communication is not
a problem. Estonian and finnish people can speak decent english in
general. Many estonian understand finnish well, since they are very
similar languages. The same cannot be said of finnish people
understanding estonian language.

I'am from Tallinn, Estonia.
Here is no Brazilian embassy, I confirma that.

I also confirm that many countries have their embasies only in
Helsinki, Finland and it is a common situation when someone should go
for visa to Helsinki. It is about 2 hours by boat (~20 EUR) or 30 min
by plane (~120EUR) from Tallinn.

Sometimes the people need to go to Helsink few times, usually 1st time
they give all papers to the embassy, pass few tests etc. And for
second time they go to take their visa.

Here is a page which embassies we have here (with links to to their
local pages): http://www.neti.ee/cgi-bin/teema/RIIK_JA_YHISKOND/Esindused/#Välisriikide_saatkonnad_Eestis
(Välisriikide saatkonnad Eestis).

So, it seems that a girls tells truth