International Patients — Surgery in Brazil, Step by Step
Visa, length of stay, accommodation, hospital standards and follow-up after you fly home — the honest answers before you travel
Every month I receive messages from patients in the United States, Europe and other countries considering a Deep Plane facelift, blepharoplasty or facial fat grafting in Brazil. The questions are almost always the same — and they deserve direct answers, not marketing. This page consolidates, in one place, how treatment works for international patients in my practice in Londrina: entry requirements, how long to stay, where to recover, what the hospital structure actually is, and — the question few clinics answer — what happens if a complication appears after you return home.
One principle organizes everything else: medical travel is only worth doing when the surgical plan is right and the safety structure is complete. Currency exchange makes Brazilian fees attractive for many international patients, but price should never be the reason to choose a surgeon or a country. My credentials, registrations and diplomas are published — with the scanned documents — on the credentials page, and everything on this page can be verified independently.
How does treatment work for international patients?
The pathway is deliberately conservative, and it starts before you buy a ticket:
- 1. Online consultation. A video consultation with photographs serves as a preliminary assessment: whether a trip is reasonable, which procedures might be discussed and which questions need answering first. It does not replace in-person evaluation.
- 2. Trip planning. My team helps you plan dates that fit consultation, preoperative exams, surgery and the early recovery period — with margin, not against the clock.
- 3. First consultation (paid once) and mandatory in-person evaluation. The first consultation is paid — R$900 (approx. US$180) — whether it happens online or in person. If your first consultation was online, the in-person evaluation when you arrive in Londrina has no additional cost. Before any surgery I examine skin quality, tissue mobility, scars, medical history and expectations in person.
- 4. Preoperative workup. Laboratory tests, cardiologic evaluation and medication review are completed in Londrina before the operation is confirmed.
- 5. Surgery. All surgeries are performed at Hospital do Coração — Unidade Bela Suíça, in Londrina, with an anesthesiology team and full monitoring.
- 6. Early recovery in Londrina. The first postoperative visits happen in person. Your return flight is scheduled only after I have assessed your early recovery.
- 7. Follow-up at a distance. After the early in-person period, follow-up continues by video call, with my team available through the same channels you used before the trip.
Do I need a visa to travel to Brazil for surgery?
There is no special "medical visa" for a private consultation or surgery — international patients enter Brazil under the ordinary tourism rules for their nationality. Since April 10, 2025, citizens of the United States (as well as Canada and Australia) need an electronic visa (eVisa) to enter Brazil. The application is made online through Brazil's official eVisa portal (brazil.vfsevisa.com); fees, validity and processing times are set by the Brazilian government and change over time, so check the portal itself before booking flights.
Citizens of the United Kingdom and of European Union countries currently enter Brazil visa-free for tourism stays of up to 90 days. Whatever your nationality, confirm the current entry rules on the official portal or with the nearest Brazilian consulate before travel, and make sure your passport remains valid for at least six months from arrival.
How long should I stay in Londrina?
Long enough for surgery and for me to see your early recovery — not a fixed number sold in a package. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons, in its guidance on cosmetic surgery tourism, recommends waiting at least 7 to 10 days before flying after facial procedures such as facelift, eyelid surgery or rhinoplasty — and that is a floor, not a target. Surgery and long flights each increase the risk of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, and combining them too early adds risk that no itinerary is worth.
In my practice, the reference is concrete: for a Deep Plane facelift, I ask international patients to plan a minimum of fifteen full days in Londrina — two days before surgery, the day of surgery, and twelve days after it. That is a minimum, not a target: the release for travel depends on my in-person assessment of your early recovery, and factors such as combined procedures, blood pressure or early swelling can extend the stay. For other procedures the stay is defined individually — and whatever the operation, do not book a return flight your surgeon has not cleared. When we plan your trip, we plan the return with the same seriousness as the surgery.
Where do I recover? Accommodation and logistics
Patients sometimes ask whether I operate a "recovery house". The honest answer: no — and by design. Early recovery happens in a hotel near the clinic, with a responsible companion, and with scheduled in-person postoperative visits. My team coordinates the logistics for out-of-town patients: recommendations for hotels close to the office, guidance on transport from the airport, and follow-up care planned around where you are staying.
What matters clinically in the first days is rest, medication, dressing care and quick access to the surgical team — not a spa environment. Londrina is a calm, mid-sized city; the clinic at Rua Engenheiro Omar Rupp, 186 and the hospital are both easily reached from the main hotels. Bring a companion for at least the first days: this is a medical requirement in my planning, not a suggestion.
Is the hospital JCI-accredited? An honest answer about standards
International patients — especially from the United States — often ask about Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation. The honest answer: JCI accreditation in Brazil is concentrated in a small group of large private hospitals, mostly in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and no JCI-accredited hospital is listed in Londrina. I will not inflate that credential, because trust built on inflated claims does not survive the first complication.
What I can state precisely: all my surgeries are performed at Hospital do Coração — Unidade Bela Suíça, a private hospital in Londrina with a fully equipped surgical center, dedicated anesthesiology, multiparameter monitoring and inpatient structure. Brazilian hospitals operate under the regulation of Anvisa, the federal health-surveillance agency (Brazil's counterpart to the FDA for health products and services), and under state and municipal health-authority inspection. And the surgeon-side credentials that protect you — CRM registration, RQE specialist qualification, SBCP membership — are all published and verifiable on my credentials page.
When you compare hospitals across countries, compare what actually determines safety in elective surgery: the surgical center, the anesthesia team, monitoring, availability of intensive care, and the surgeon's qualification — not the logo on the lobby wall.
What if a complication appears after I fly home?
This is the question every medical-travel patient should ask — and the reason serious planning front-loads the risk window. Most early complications of facial surgery, such as hematoma or infection, concentrate in the first days to weeks: that is exactly the period you spend in Londrina, under my direct care, before any return flight is confirmed.
If something worries you after you return home, the protocol is simple: contact my team first, through the same channels you used during treatment. We assess by video, review your photographs, and orient the next step. When hands-on care is needed, we help you find a qualified physician where you live and share your complete surgical records so that nobody treats you blind. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons warns that tourism "packages" often provide limited follow-up once the patient returns — a defined follow-up channel is precisely what separates structured medical travel from a package holiday with an operation inside.
Two practical recommendations before you travel: check whether your health or travel insurance covers complications of elective surgery performed abroad — many policies exclude it — and keep every document we give you (surgical description, medication list, contact channels) accessible during the trip home.
Brazil, Turkey or Mexico? Comparing like an adult
Medical-travel comparisons usually degenerate into marketing. The verifiable facts: in the most recent ISAPS Global Survey (2024 data, published June 2025), Brazil ranks first in the world in surgical aesthetic procedures (about 2.35 million per year) and second in number of plastic surgeons (6,497, behind only the United States — versus 1,991 in Mexico and 1,200 in Türkiye). Brazil's tradition in plastic surgery is not a slogan; it is the scale on which surgical judgment is formed here.
That said, scale is an argument for a country, not for a surgeon — good and bad surgeons exist everywhere. Wherever you consider going, compare the same five things: the surgeon's verifiable specialist qualification (in Brazil, the RQE — check mine on the credentials page), the hospital where surgery actually happens, the anesthesia team, how long you must stay for early recovery, and what follow-up exists after you fly home. A quote that cannot answer those five questions is not cheaper — it is incomplete.
Operative time and Brazil's safety culture
Well-informed patients sometimes ask about a "six-hour limit" for cosmetic surgery in Brazil. The precise answer: in 2026, the medical council of the state of São Paulo (CREMESP, Resolution 400/2026) barred scheduling extensive, multiple or combined elective aesthetic surgeries expected to reach six hours or more in a single surgical act — except in situations of extreme necessity, with a detailed, well-founded technical justification recorded in the medical record — and recommends staging large multi-procedure plans. Two clarifications matter. First, the rule covers elective aesthetic surgery only: it does not regulate other specialties, where a long operation — a complex neurosurgery, for example — simply takes the time it needs. Second, it is a state-level rule: it applies in São Paulo, not directly here in Paraná. Even so, it points in a direction I already practice: operative time is a safety variable, and convenience does not justify stacking unrelated procedures into one act.
In practice: components of the same facial plan — eyelids or fat grafting alongside a Deep Plane facelift — can be combined when the combination is medically coherent and the total operative time remains safe. Unrelated procedures, such as a rhinoplasty on top of a facelift, are planned as separate operations.
Costs, quotes and what to prepare
Costs for international patients follow the same logic explained on the pricing page: the first consultation is R$900 (approx. US$180) — paid once, whether it happens online or in person; if your first consultation was online, the in-person evaluation in Londrina has no additional cost. The surgical quote is individual — it depends on the procedure, hospital, anesthesia, team and follow-up plan. For a detailed discussion of what composes a facelift quote in Brazil, read Deep Plane facelift cost in Brazil.
Budget the whole journey, not only the surgery: flights, accommodation for the recommended stay, a companion, meals, and margin for the unexpected. A medical-travel budget with no margin is a plan to fly home too early.
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Considering surgery in Brazil? Start with an online consultation for a preliminary assessment, or contact Clínica Zamarian to plan your first in-person visit to Londrina.
Dr. Walter Zamarian Jr.
Plastic Surgeon in Londrina - Brazil
Rua Engenheiro Omar Rupp, 186
Londrina - Brazil
ZIP 86015-360
Brazil
YouTube Channel: Dr. Walter Zamarian Jr.
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Frequently asked questions — international patients
Do I need a visa to have plastic surgery in Brazil?
You enter Brazil under the ordinary tourism rules for your nationality — there is no separate medical visa for private surgery. Since April 2025, U.S., Canadian and Australian citizens need an electronic visa (eVisa) requested through Brazil's official portal; UK and EU citizens currently enter visa-free for stays of up to 90 days. Confirm current rules on the official portal before booking.
How long do I need to stay in Londrina after surgery?
For a Deep Plane facelift, the minimum is fifteen full days in Londrina: two days before surgery, the day of surgery and twelve days after it. The return flight is confirmed only after the surgeon has assessed early recovery in person. For context, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons recommends waiting at least 7 to 10 days before flying after facial procedures — a floor, not a target, since surgery and long flights each increase the risk of blood clots.
Do you have a recovery house?
No. Early recovery happens in a hotel near the clinic, with a responsible companion and scheduled in-person postoperative visits. The team recommends hotels close to the office, orients transport from the airport and plans follow-up care around where the patient is staying.
Is the hospital JCI-accredited?
No JCI-accredited hospital is listed in Londrina; JCI accreditation in Brazil concentrates in a few large hospitals mostly in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Surgeries are performed at Hospital do Coração — Unidade Bela Suíça, a private hospital with a fully equipped surgical center and anesthesiology team, under the regulation of Anvisa, Brazil's federal health agency. The surgeon-side credentials are published and independently verifiable on the credentials page.
What happens if I have a complication after flying home?
Contact the surgical team first through the channels used during treatment: assessment starts by video, with review of photographs and orientation of the next step. When hands-on care is needed, the team helps locate a qualified physician near the patient and shares the complete surgical records. Most early complications concentrate in the first days to weeks, which is why that period is spent in Londrina before the return flight.
Is an online consultation enough to schedule surgery?
No. The online consultation is a preliminary assessment for planning the trip. The first in-person consultation is mandatory before any surgical procedure, because indication depends on physical examination — skin quality, tissue mobility, scars, medical history — and on a risk assessment that cannot be completed by video.