If you find you need a visa to travel to Brazil, please click in links to find Brazilian Embassies and Consulates in your country. Most of them have websites with specific information on visa requirements for your nationality.

VACCINATION
YELLOW FEVER INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION CERTIFICATE

This certificate is mandatory if applicant traveled within the last 90 days to any of the following Countries: Angola, Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guyana, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Peru, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo (ex-Zaire) or Venezuela.

It is advisable if applicant’s destination in Brazil includes any of the following States: Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, Tocantins and the Federal District.

IMMUNIZATION RECORD AGAINST POLIO
This certificate is mandatory for children between ages of three months and six years.

Countries
Tourist Visa
(VITUR)
Business Visa
(VITEM II)
Exemption of other visas (except Permanent Visa)

Afghanistan
Yes
Yes
None

Albania
Yes
Yes
None

Algeria
Yes
Yes
None

Andorra
EXEMPT
Yes
None

Angola
Yes
Yes
None

Antigua and Barbuda
Yes
Yes
None

Argentina
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
Vitems i, iii, v (only specialized technicians) and vi

Armenia
Yes
Yes
None

Australia
Yes
Yes
None

Austria
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
all visas except Vitems iii and v

Azerbaijan
Yes
Yes
None

Bahamas
EXEMPT
Yes
None

Bahrain
Yes
Yes
None

Bangladesh
Yes
Yes
None

Barbados
EXEMPT
Yes
None

Belarus
Yes
Yes
None

Belgium
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Belize
Yes
Yes
None

Benin
Yes
Yes
None

Bhutan
Yes(laissez-passer)
Yes(laissez-passer)
None

Bolivia
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Bosnia and herzegovina
Yes
Yes
None

Botswana
Yes
Yes
None

Brunei
Yes
Yes
None

Bulgaria
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Burkina Faso
Yes
Yes
None

Burundi
Yes
Yes
None

Cambodia
Yes
Yes
None

Cameroon
Yes
Yes
None

Canada
Yes
Yes
None

Cape Verde
Yes
Yes
None

Central African Republic
Yes(laissez-passer)
Yes(laissez-passer)
None

Chad
Yes
Yes
None

Czech Republic
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Chile
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

China
Yes
Yes
None

Colombia
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Comoros
Yes(laissez-passer) Yes(laissez-passer)
None

Congo
Yes
Yes
None

Congo Dem. Rep. (Ex-Zaire)
Yes
Yes
None

Cook Island
Yes
Yes
None

Costa Rica
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Côte d’Ivoire
Yes
Yes
None

Croatia
Yes
Yes
None

Cuba
Yes
Yes
None

Cyprus
Yes
Yes
None

Denmark
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Djibouti
Yes
Yes
None

Dominica
Yes
Yes
None

Dominican Republic
Yes
Yes
None

Egypt
Yes
Yes
None

El Salvador
Yes
Yes
None

Ecuador
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Equatorial Guinea
Yes
Yes
None

Eritrea
Yes
Yes
None

Estonia
Yes
Yes
None

Ethiopia
Yes
Yes
None

Fiji Islands
Yes
Yes
None

Finland
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
all visas except Vitems iii and v

France
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
all visas except Vitems iii and v

Fyrom (Macedonia)
Yes
Yes
None

Gabon
Yes
Yes
None

Gambia
Yes
Yes
None

Georgia
Yes
Yes
None

Germany
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Ghana
Yes
Yes
None

Greece
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Grenada
Yes
Yes
None

Guatemala
EXEMPT
Yes
None

Guinea
Yes
Yes
None

Guinea-Bissau
Yes
Yes
None

Guyana
EXEMPT
Yes
None

Haiti
Yes
Yes
None

Honduras
Yes
Yes
None

Hong Kong
Yes
Yes
None

Hungary
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Iceland
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
all visas except Vitems iii and v

India
Yes
Yes
None

Indonesia
Yes
Yes
None

Iran
Yes
Yes
None

Iraq
Yes
Yes
None

Ireland
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Israel
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Italy
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Jamaica
Yes
Yes
None

Japan
Yes
Yes
None

Jordan
Yes
Yes
None

Kazakhstan
Yes
Yes
None

Kenya
Yes
Yes
None

Kiribati Island
Yes
Yes
None

Kuwait
Yes
Yes
None

kyrgyzstan
Yes
Yes
None

Laos
Yes
Yes
None

Latvia
Yes
Yes
None

Lebanon
Yes
Yes
None

Lesotho
Yes
Yes
None

Liberia
Yes
Yes
None

Libya
Yes
Yes
None

Liechtenstein
EXEMPT
Yes
None

Lithuania
Yes
Yes
None

Luxembourg
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Madagascar
Yes
Yes
None

Malawi
Yes
Yes
None

Malaysia
EXEMPT
Yes
None

Maldives
Yes
Yes
None

Mali
Yes
Yes
None

Malta
Yes
Yes
None

Mariana Islands
Yes
Yes
None

Marshall Islands
Yes
Yes
None

Mauritania
Yes
Yes
None

Mauritius
Yes
Yes
None

Mexico
Yes
Yes
None

Micronesia
Yes
Yes
None

Moldova
Yes
Yes
None

Monaco
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Mongolia
Yes
Yes
None

Morocco
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Mozambique
Yes
Yes
None

Myanmar
Yes
Yes
None

Namibia
EXEMPT
Yes
None

Nauru
Yes
Yes
None

Nicaragua
Yes
Yes
None

Nepal
Yes
Yes
None

Netherlands
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

New Zealand
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Niger
Yes
Yes
None

Nigeria
Yes
Yes
None

North Korea
Yes
Yes
None

Norway
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Occidental Samoa
Yes
Yes
None

Oman
Yes
Yes
None

OSM Malta
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Pakistan
Yes
Yes
None

Palestine Auth.
Yes
Yes
None

Panama
EXEMPT
Yes
None

Papua New Guinea
Yes
Yes
None

Paraguay
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Peru
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Philippines
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
all visas except Vitems iii and v

Poland
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
all visas except Vitems iii and v

Portugal*
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
Vitems i and vi

Qatar
Yes
Yes
None

Romania
Yes
Yes
None

Russia
Yes
Yes
None

Rwanda
Yes
Yes
None

San Marino
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

São Tome And Príncipe
Yes
Yes
None

Saudi Arabia
Yes
Yes
None

Senegal
Yes
Yes
None

Sierra Leone
Yes
Yes
None

Seychelles
Yes
Yes
None

Singapore
Yes
Yes
None

Slovakia
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Slovenia
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Solomon Islands
Yes
Yes
None

Somalia
Yes
Yes
None

South Africa
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

South Korea
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Spain
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
all visas except Vitems iii and v

Sri Lanka
Yes
Yes
None

St Lucia
Yes
Yes
None

St Vincent And the Grenadines
Yes
Yes
None

St. Kitts and Nevis
Yes
Yes
None

Sudan
Yes
Yes
None

Suriname
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Swaziland
Yes
Yes
None

Sweden
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Switzerland
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Syria
Yes
Yes
None

Taiwan
Yes(laissez-passer)
Yes(laissez-passer)
None

Tajikistan
Yes
Yes
None

Tanzania
Yes
Yes
None

Thailand
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Togo
Yes
Yes
None

Tonga
Yes
Yes
None

Trinidad and Tobago
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Tunisia
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Turkey
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Turkmenistan
Yes
Yes
None

Tuvalu Island
Yes
Yes
None

Uganda
Yes
Yes
None

Ukraine
Yes
Yes
None

United Arab Emirates
Yes
Yes
None

United Kingdom
Exempt for stays up to 180 days
Exempt for stays up to 180 days
all visas except Vitems iii and v

United States
Yes
Yes
None

Uruguay
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Uzbekistan
Yes
Yes
None

Vanuatu
Yes
Yes
None

Vatican
EXEMPT
EXEMPT
None

Venezuela
Exempt for stays up to 60 days
Yes
None

Vietnam
Yes
Yes
None

Yemen
Yes
Yes
None

Yugoslavia
Yes
Yes
None

Zambia
Yes
Yes
None

Zimbabwe
Yes
Yes
None

Airport Transfer
The transportation services from the Curitiba International Airport to downtown are:
Shuttle Bus : A convenient bus service with air conditioning and TV set from the airport to the downtown (link in Portuguese). The ones who will take this line are able to ask the bus driver to stop in front of Grand Hotel Rayon (at Rua vinte e quatro horas = 24 Hours Street). The ticket of this line costs R$6 (~US$3) and can be purchased at the airport or with the bus driver. It is scheduled to leave on each 20 minutes.
Taxi: From the airport to downtown. It costs about R$60 (~US$30). Taxi drives and bus personel at Curitiba only accept Brazilian currency in cash.
Public Transportation: From the airport to downtown from each 25 min there is a Bus called “Ligeirinho”, a grey bus which costs about R$2 (~US1).

Conference Venue (PUCPR)
The conference will be held at the PUCPR campus in Curitiba. The Pontifical Catholic University of Parana (PUCPR) is one of three largest universities in the city with 22 thousand students. The facilities available at the campus are:
one auditorium for 575 persons
two auditoriums for 265 and 235 persons
two auditoriums for 117 and 165 persons
two meeting rooms (60 persons each)
free internet access for attendees
three hall for posters & demos
HSBC Bank branch with ATMs (Cirrus, Maestro, Plus)
Travel agents
Free parking
Restaurants and snack bars on site

During the conference, a shuttle service between both hotels and PUCPR, where the conference will be held, will be available. The taxi fare between both hotels and PUCPR is about R$15 (~US$8).

You can check the location of the venue in Google Maps.

Workshop and Tutorial Venue (Hotel Rayon)
The workshops and tutorials will be held at the Grand Hotel Rayon in Curitiba.

You can check the location of the workshop and tutorial venue in Google Maps.

Promotional Video
A promotional video preseting the country, the state, the city, and the conference venue is also available. A pop-up window will open and the ICDAR 2007 promotiona video will be loaded. Please, be patient because it may take a while to start playing.

NOTE: The tutorials listed below will only be offered if there is a minimum enrollment of twelve for each tutorial. Further details about cost etc. will be available shortly. For further information please contact Tutorials Chair: M. Shridhar, University of Michigan-Dearborn, USA (mals@umich.edu)

TUTORIAL 1: Sunday, September 23, 2007, 8:00 am – 12:00 noon
FORENSIC DOCUMENT EXAMINERS APPROACH TO HANDWRITING COMPARISONS / IDENTIFICATION
by
Marc Gaudreau, Forensic Sciences Division, Canada Border Services Agency.
Samiah Ibrahim, Forensic Sciences Division, Canada Border Services Agency.

Forensic document examination is a diverse field that includes the analysis and comparison of information that appears in many forms on documents. Topics for the tutorial include: history of the discipline; class versus individual characteristics; variation; statistical approaches; genuineness versus spuriousness; opinions and conclusions. This tutorial will serve the following objectives:
Provide instruction on established practices and methodologies – specifically forensic document examination approach to handwriting and signature identification.
Motivate and explain an ICDAR topic of emerging importance – to broaden the scope of both disciplines.

Marc Gaudreau Manager, Forensic Sciences Division, Canada Border Services Agency
Marc is presently manager of the Forensic Document Section of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) with responsibility for overseeing the national delivery of forensic document examination expertise to clients from within the CBSA, to other federal government departments, provincial and local governments, and certain international government bodies. The CBSA team of ink dating specialists, lead by Marc, has been recently nominated to receive the Government of Canada Award for Technical Excellence. He is a member of the Canadian Society of Forensic Sciences, a member of the American Board of Questioned Document Examiners, and the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners.

Samiah Ibrahim Forensic Document Examiner, Canada Border Services Agency
Samiah is presently a forensic scientist with the Forensic Document Section of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). In this function she is responsible for conducting forensic analysis of questioned document cases involving multiple facets of examination including, but not limited to: handwriting, signatures, typewriters, impact and non-impact printing devices, photocopiers, decipherment of latent impressions, detection and decipherment of obliterations, commercial and security printing processes, wet and dry cachets, and examination of official documents (e.g., passports, birth certificates, driver’s licenses). She is an active member of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners.

TUTORIAL 2: Sunday, September 23, 2007, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
COMPUTATIONAL FORENSICS: Techniques, Applications and Challenges in the Computed-Based Analysis of Questioned Documents
by
Katrin Franke, Norwegian Information Security Lab, Gjøvik, Norway.
Elisa van den Heuvel, Netherlands Forensic Institute, Netherlands.

The aim of this tutorial is to lay the foundations and to encourage further discussions on the development of computational methods for the forensic analysis of questioned documents. Researchers and practitioners from the field of computer science will be introduced to the special demands, the procedures and the techniques applied in forensic casework. Questioned documents studied cover ID- and travel documents, bank checks, contracts, last wills and tax declarations. Also, the tutorial exposes current forensic challenges demanding experts developing next generation equipment and tools. The principal objective of this tutorial is to provide a solid basis for researchers own computational method designs. Not only the feasibility of computer science methods as toolset for forensic investigations is discussed, but new computational algorithms are reviewed in order to study the impact of these technologies. In this way participants will learn to design their own approach and to apply it in the appropriate manner.

Katrin Franke is presently an associate professor at the Norwegian Information Security laboratory in Gjøvik, Norway. She obtained her Ph.D. degree at the Artificial Intelligence Institute, University of Groningen, The Netherlands in 2005. She also holds a degree in electrical engineering from the Technical University of Dresden, Germany (1994) and a banker’s diploma (1989). After finishing her studies in 1994, Mrs. Franke began to conduct research at the Fraunhofer IPK in Berlin, Germany. Mrs. Franke focused on digital image processing and pattern recognition for computer based document and signature analysis. Until December 2006, she worked as a project manager at the Department of Security Technology, in charge of founded research and industrial projects on document processing, signature analysis and custom-stamp analysis, applied in banking and in forensics. Mrs. Franke has published several scientific journal articles, peer-reviewed conference articles and edited books. She is a member of international program committees and is actively involved in the organization of international conferences.

Elisa van den Heuvel started in 2005 as scientific forensic handwriting expert in training at Netherlands Forensic Institute. Her scientific background lies primarily in human motor control with special emphasis on handwriting/signature movement execution. In chronology, she received her M.A. from Radboud University of Nijmegen in 1996, and her PhD at Free University of Amsterdam (FUA) in 2000. During her PhD research she also worked at Motor Control Lab, Arizona State University, Tempe, USA.

TUTORIAL 3: Sunday, September 23, 2007, 8:00 am – 12:00 noon
MARKOV MODELS FOR HANDWRITING RECOGNITION
by
Gernot A. Fink, University of Dortmund, Robotics Research Institute, Intelligent Systems Group.
Thomas Plotz, University of Dortmund, Robotics Research Institute, Intelligent Systems Group.

The use of Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) for recognizing machine printed or handwritten text is motivated by the success of this method in the field of automatic speech recognition. In contrast to classical approaches to character recognition that rely on a combination of explicit segmentation and classification steps, HMMs allow for a classification of characters or words with implicit segmentation. Therefore, the approach is especially attractive for handwriting recognition where reliable character segmentation is extremely hard to achieve. However, HMMs are not able to describe long distance dependencies as they occur within texts, e.g., at the word level. For this purpose, so-called language models realized as Markov chain models are suited extremely well. Combining both model types in an overall statistical framework allows for the integrated solution of challenging recognition problems. In this tutorial the theoretical concepts behind HMMs and n-gram language models will be presented. For both techniques the mathematical foundations, the algorithms used for estimating the models’ parameters from sample data, and the techniques for applying them to solving segmentation and classification problems will be described.

Gernot A. Fink received the diploma in computer science from the University of Erlangen-N¨urnberg, Erlangen, Germany, in 1991 and the Ph.D. degree (Dr.-Ing.) also in computer science from Bielefeld University, Germany, in 1995. In 2002 he received the venia legendi (Habilitation) in Applied Computer Science from Bielefeld University. From 1991 to 2005 he was with the Applied Computer Science Group at the Faculty of Technology of Bielefeld University. Since 2005 he is professor for Pattern Recognition in Embedded Systems within the Department of Computer Science at the University of Dortmund, Germany, where he also heads the Intelligent Systems group at the Robotics Research Institute (IRF).

Thomas Plotz studied computer science at the University of Cooperative Education, Mosbach, Germany, and at the University of Bielefeld, Germany. He received degrees in computer science in 1998 (Dipl.-Ing.), 2001 (diploma), and 2005 (Ph.D. – Dr.-Ing.), respectively. From 2001 to 2006 he was with the Applied Computer Science Group at the Faculty of Technology of Bielefeld University. In 2006 he joined the Intelligent Systems Group at the Robotics Research Institute of the University of Dortmund, Germany where he holds a post-doctoral research position.

TUTORIAL 4: Sunday, September 23, 2007, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
DOCUMENT IMAGE COMPRESSION AND COMPRESSED DOMAIN DOCUMENT PROCESSING
by
Utpal Garain, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India

With the advent of digital libraries, research in document image compression and compressed domain processing finds a new dimension. Document image compression serves an obvious practical purpose: it conserves storage in a database of document images by removing redundancy, it enhances utilization of available bandwidth in a network and it also improves computer systems performance by reducing accesses to storage devices. The first half of the tutorial would, therefore, cover the basics of data compression and then revisits the popular and frequently used algorithms for compression of scan-digitized document images. International standards like CCITT-IV, JBIG, and JBIG2 will be presented with some reasonable details. The role of symbolic compression in JBIG2 will be highlighted. Idea of residue coding will then be introduced and lossy and lossless versions of a JBIG2 compliant method are to be discussed. Apart from achieving high compression, designing of algorithms now-a-days needs to address another important aspect namely, processing of documents in compressed domain. With increasing amount of document images being stored in compressed format, efficient information retrieval in the compressed domain has also become a major challenge for proficient designing of digital libraries. Being able to randomly access and partially decode the compressed data is highly desirable for efficient retrieval. The second half of the tutorial will focus on this issue namely, compressed domain document processing. The discussion on the compressed domain pattern matching and retrieval will broadly be based on JBIG2 compression method. Requirements for designing a complete compressed domain document image retrieval system will be outlined. The existing research in the related area will be surveyed and then the prevailing studies on accomplishing several IR (information retrieval) tasks for document images will be reviewed. Several applications will then be discussed and research needed to realize these applications in the compressed domain would be presented. The application list will contain (i) stop word spotting, (ii) word stemming, (iii) summarization, (iv) keyword spotting, (v) duplicate detection, etc.

Utpal Garain received his bachelor and master degrees in computer science and engineering in 1994 and 1997, respectively from Jadavpur University, India and Ph.D. degree from Indian Statistical Institute in 2005. Dr. Garain started his career in software industry and later on, he joined Indian Statistical Institute where he is, at present, serving as an Assistant Professor. His research interest includes document image analysis including document compression and OCRs, technology development in Indian languages, machine learning, etc. Dr. Garain is one of the key scientists who first developed an Indic script (Devanagari-Hindi and Bengali) OCR system which was because of its high level performance, transferred to industry for commercialization. In the area of DIA, Dr. Garain has so far published more than forty research papers in international journals and conferences of high repute. He has been invited to serve in the program committee of several conferences including ACM-SAC’07, ICDAR’07, etc. Dr. Garain has been regularly reviewing papers for several international journals including IJDAR, IEEE SMC-B, Pattern Recognition, etc. For his significant contribution in pattern recognition and its applications for DIA and language engineering, Dr. Garain received prestigious Young Engineer Award in 2006 from the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE).

Please, check the Parana State Government website for more information.

CURITIBA CITY
The capital of Paraná State, established in 1693, is located in the South of Brazil. With a GNP (Gross National Product) of U$ 12.1 billion/year, it has a per capita income of approximately U$ 8 thousand/year, compared to a national average of U$ 5 thousand/year. The population is 1.587.315 inhabitants (IBGE 2000) OR about 1.6 million.

It is the only Brazilian city to enter the 21st century as a national and international reference of urban planning and quality of life. In March of 2001, a research sponsored by the UN pointed at Curitiba as the best capital of Brazil for the Life Conditions Index (LCI). The high standard of quality of life has attracted investments, allied to operational and living costs in average 30% inferior to those of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, although it enjoys the same central location, efficient logistics of distribution and communication besides the high level of education and professional qualification of its citizens.

Curitiba has a strategic position due to the fact that it has easy access to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, totaling more than 200 million consumers. Another important factor is its location: within 1300 kilometers of the main commercial, agricultural and industrial centers of the country, that add 70% of the Gross National Product. Companies such as Renault, Chrysler, Audi/Volkswagen, BMW, Volvo, Bertrand Faure and Detroit Diesel Corporation have invested more than 9 billion dollars in recent years, which haveprovided thousands of new jobs.

Curitiba is recognized nationally and internationally for innovative urban solutions, the city has the most efficient mass transit system in the country and boasts the index of 55 square meters of green area per person, which makes it to be considered the Ecological Capital of Brazil . (source: Curitiba Convention & Visitors Bureau website)

Distances:
450 km south from São Paulo
900 km south from Rio de Janeiro
100 km west from the sea
600 km east from Iguassu Falls

More useful information about Curitiba can be found in the Curitiba Convention & Visitors Bureau website and in The Geographic Guide.

Population
158.7 million is equal to that of the continent’s other nations combined, making Brazil truly the colossus of South America.

Size
8,511,965 sq km

Capital City
Brasília

People
55% European descent, 38% mulatto, 6% African descent (according to the 1980 census).

Language
The language in Brazil is Portuguese, not Spanish. Although the two language are distinct, common origins mean that many words are similar, and fluent speakers of Spanish will be able to make themselves understood. In most hotels, someone on the staff will speak English. Taxi drivers will rarely speak English.

Religion
90% Roman Catholic

Time
Three hours behind GMT in the east, north-east, south and south-east; four hours behind GMT in the west; and five hours behind GMT in the far west. Curitiba is three hours behind GMT.

President
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Arriving and Departing
By Plane
All international flights and most domestic flights arrived and depart from Rio de Janeiro – Galeão International Airport and São Paulo – Cumbica International Airport. You need to get a connection to Curitiba – Afonso Pena International Airport.

Getting Around
By Bus
The nation’s bus network, Ônibus , is extensive and highly efficient, compensation for the lack of trains and the high cost of air travel. Every major city in the country can be reach by bus and most of the small- to medium-size cities are also linked to the network. Buses are for the most part modern and comfortable, and the companies have excellent on-time records.

By Car
Brazil has more than 1.6 million km of highway, about one-tenth of which is paved. Recent developments and construction are improving the situation.
License Driver: Your national driver’s licenses are accepted in Brazil.
Gasoline: Cost around $1.30 a liter ($5 a gallon). Unleaded gasoline is called especial and carries the same price. Brazil also has an extensive fleet of ethanol-powered cars. Ethanol fuel is sold at all gas station, and cost a little less than gasoline. However, alcohol cars get lower mileage, so they have no advantage over gasoline-power automobiles. Gas stations are plentiful both within cities and on major highways, and many are open 24 hours a day. In smaller towns, few take credit cards and are sometimes closed Sunday.
Parking: Finding a parking space in most of Brazil’s leading cities is a major task. The best option is to find a parking garage and leave your car with the attendant. Should you find a parking space on the street, you will probably have to pay a parking fee. There are no parking meters. There is instead a system involving parking coupons, which are purchased either from uniformed street parking attendants or at newspaper stands. Each coupons is good for two hours.
Rules of the road: Brazilians drive on the right-hand side of the road, and in general, traffic laws are the same as in the United States.

By Plane
There is regular jet service between all of the country’s major cities and most medium-size cities. Flights can be long, lasting several hours on trips to the Amazon with stops en route. Planes tend to fill up on the weekends, so book in advance if you plan to fly anywhere on a Friday, especially to or from Brasília or Manaus. Is you are going to traveling, buy a Brazilian Air Pass from one of Brazil’s major airlines before you leave. These can only be purchased externally. Each airline offers its own versions of the air pass and prices fluctuate according to the season, the area of the country and the number of flights.

Generally, $440 buys five flights within Brazil over a period of 21 days. Better deals can be found off season, March through June. Prices multiply by about 10 if you are buying tickets in the country itself. Also, do your best to ensure that when covering great distances you have as few stops as possible.

Other option is you arranged all your trip in your country because in most of the case this is the cheaper way to travel and get a special rate.

You can also stop your flight in Rio de Janeiro and Iguassu Falls.

The major commercial airlines are:
Varig
TAM
Gol
Customs and Duties
Former strict import controls have been substantially liberalized as part of the Brazilian government’s efforts to open the nation’s economy to foreign competition. In addition to personal items, visitors are now permitted to bring in duty-free up to $500 worth of gifts purchased abroad. An additional $500 worth of gifts, including alcoholic beverages, may be purchased at the airport duty-free shops.

Dining
Dress: Informality is the rules of thumbs. Only at the top restaurants do Brazilians dress up, and men seldom wear jackets and ties.
Mealtimes: Lunch and dinner typically are eaten later. Lunch in a restaurants usually starts at around 12:00 and often lasts until 14:00. Dinner is always eaten after 8:00 until 24:00.
Prices: Rio is as expensive as any other large city worldwide; São Paulo more so. Outside of theses two cities , prices come down significantly. Prices ranges are for one person and do not include alcoholic beverages and tips, but do include the couvert or coberto , an appetizer course that includes bread, butter, and, depending on the restaurant, cheese or pâté, olives, quail eggs, and sausage.

Safety
In Rio, São Paulo, Salvador, Manaus, Belém, and major cities along the northeastern coast – like in any other urban center tourist should take precautions to protect themselves from petty crimes. If this happened, please, don’t react. Smaller cities tend to be safer, Curitiba do not have the high crime rates of the nation’s other large cities.

Please, Curitiba is a safety place, but it is recommended don’t go walk alone in dangerous areas. After 22:00 walk only in a group.

Passport, Visa and Vaccination
Most foreign visitors entering Brazil must have a valid passport and a valid visa. Visas must be obtained before departure and applications should be made to a Brazilian Consulate or Diplomatic Mission in the country of residence. Brazilian consulate some times requires a letter inviting the delegates to the meeting, mainly in the U.S. In this case, you need to apply this in the registration form. Delegates are advised to check with their local travel agency about the time necessary for obtaining such a visa.

Please, check in your country if some special requirements are necessary like Yellow Fewer Vaccination.

Mail
Post Offices are called “Correios” , and branches are marked by the name and a logo; most are open weekdays 8-5 and Saturday until noon. Mailboxes are small yellow boxes marked CORREIOS that sit atop metal pedestals on street corners.
Many hotel offer the post office service, so you can ask about that in the hotel lobby.
Postal Rates: An airmail letter from Brazil to the United States and most part of Europe, including the United Kingdom, cost approximately R$1. Object of value-especially currency, checks, or credit cards-should never be sent through the mail.
Money and Expenses
All the places in Brazil only accepted Brazilian currency (Reais). Major credit cards will also be accepted, and the transaction processed in Reais.

Credit Cards
Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Diners Club and some other credit cards are accepted in most hotels, restaurants and some shops.

Changing Money
You can change money in the bank and in the international airport. Do not expect to be able to use Euro, American dollars or other hard currencies for taxis or other purposes.

Rate
The rate is changing. To see the daily rate check CNN

Currency
There are 100 cents (centavos) to each real. The lowest value of the new currency system is one cent (centavos). There are notes worth 1, 5, 10, 50, and 100 reais, together with coins worth 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 centavos, as well as one real, all of which feel and look similar.

Forms of Payment
Traveler’s check (well known names are best) and credit cards (mainly VISA, Mastercard, AMEX, and Diners Club) are accepted in Brazil.

Opening and Closing Times
Weekdays Saturday Sunday
Banks 10:00 – 16:00 Closed Closed
Churches during service during service during service
Stores 09:00 – 19:00 09:00 – 13:00 Closed
Malls 10:00 – 22:00 10:00 – 22:00 13:00 – 19:00
Public Offices 08:00 – 17:00 Closed Closed

Banks
Nearly all the nation’s major banks have automated teller machines (ATMs) scattered throughout the country. Most of the ATMs accept MAESTRO and CIRRUS ATM cards. Check with you bank to see what services they offer in Brazil.
Telephones
To call Brazil from overseas, dial the country code, 55, and then the area code, omiting the first 0.

Directory Assistance and Operator Information
For local directory assistance, dial 102. For directory assistance in another Brazilian city, dial the area code of that city plus 121.

Local and Long-Distance Calls
Public phones are everywhere, to use them, buy a telephone card, Cartão de telefone, at either a phone office, posto telefônico, a newspaper and magazine kiosk, post offices, or some pharmacies. Rates double during peak hours (9:00-12:00 and 14:00-18:00). The lowest rates are available after 23:00.

International Calls
To make a international call from the hotel follow the hotel instructions.
For international calls with the assistance of the operator, dial 000111.
For international information, dial 000333.
Collect international call, dial 000-111 and then asking for the long distance service of your choice.
To reach an AT&T operator, dial 000-9010. For MCI, call 000-8012. For Sprint, dial 000-8016.

How to Dial
To dial direct, dial 00 plus the country code, the area code of the city you are calling, and ten the number.

Tipping
In most of the case the tip is already include in the bill and it is 10%. It is not necessary to give tip to taxi driver.

Climate
On September the average daily maximum and minimum temperatures in Curitiba range from 12 to 22 degree Celsius. For additional information please check at CNN.

Sponsorship is sought from companies and organizations. Interested parties can help either by i) making a general contribution for ICDAR2007 event or ii) by sponsoring a specific activity such as contributing towards the student endowment fund, keynote speakers, best paper award, best poster award, young researcher award, outstanding achievement award or the competitions, etc.

We are using several means to ensure that our sponsors receive recognition for their contribution, including their logo in the official ICDAR2007 web page, proceedings, and final program. Although ICDAR2007 will not sell demo booths, ample space (a table with electricity) will be provided for sponsor companies who want to demo their products and display pamphlets. The benefits start once a sponsorship is confirmed so there are definite advantages to signing on early.

Please contact the conference secretariat for this business:

ICDAR2007 Conference Secretariat
Mara Christina Vilas-Boas
Rua Imaculada Conceição, 1155
Curitiba – Paraná – Brazil
CEP 80215-901
Phone: +55 41 3271-1543 / 3271-2582
E-mail: secretariat@icdar2007.org
http:// www.icdar2007.org

OTHER INTERESTING TOURS
Curitiba City Tour

Departure: (Monday) 10:00am – Grand Hotel Rayon
Duration: 4 hours.
Tour: A comfortable motor coach visit of the main tourist attractions of Curitiba.
Stops: Botanical Garden, Wire Opera House, Forest of the
Pope, Tangui Park, Tanguá Park, Felicidade Saint, University the Environment and Passaúna.
Panoramic Tour: Civic Center, Oscar Niemeyer Museum, Historical Sector and Street Flowers.
Include: Transport and tourist guide English language Exclude: Lunch
The Curitiba city tour on Monday (Sept, 24) leaves 10am from Grand Hotel Rayon and it takes about 4 hours. The registration will be on site and only cash will be accepted. It costs R$ 50 per person.

Vila Velha
City of Ponta Grossa

Departure: (Wednesday) 08:30am – Grand Hotel Rayon
Tour: Tour to Vila Velha State Park, with its sandstones
formations that date from the carboniferous period (approx 340 millions years). The itinerary the deep natural pits (furnas) with depths of to 100m the Golden Lagoon with its crystalline water)
Obs.: Tuesday the park is closed for visitation.
Include: Transport, Ticket to park and tourist guide English
language.
Exclude: Lunch
The Vila Velha tour on Wednesday (Sept, 26) leaves 8:30am from Grand Hotel Rayon and should be back in Curitiba by 1:30pm. The registration will be on site and only cash will be accepted. It costs R$ 70 per person.

All these interesting tours were thought as spouse programs. However, it will be open for all attendees as well.

Jardineira City Tour
Another interesting and cheap way to visit the main touristic attractions in Curitiba is possible by getting the touristic bus – called Jardineira – because of its wide glass area. You can buy your ticket with the bus driver and it costs about R$15. The schedule and places where you can get the bus will be available on the conference registration desk.

The tour covers around 20 interesting points in the city and takes around 2 hours. The tourist gets off for three stops in total, getting to visit three places a little bit longer and then take another bus and go on with the tour. Some info in English about Curitiba can be found at IPPUC website.

Iguassu Falls
The Iguassu Falls are located in the Iguassu National Park, at the border of Brazil and Argentina. In a horseshoe form, 2.700 meters wide between the two contries, the Iguassu Falls fill the visitors’s view with the spray of 72 meter-high falls – the number of them varies between 159 and 300, depending on the flow of the Iguassu river. The panorama overhelms the onlooker with a sensation of fright, fascination and respect for the perfection of nature. A visit to the Falls and the contact with wildlife and the spectacle of the waters awake an emotion that many hope to experience once in a lifetime. More information will be available on the site. However, it is better to buy the tickets in advance. There are two airlines flying Curitiba to Foz do Iguaçu: GOL (www.voegol.com.br) and TAM (www.tam.com.br).

The round trip with GOL costs about R$450 and you can buy your e-ticket on-line. Foz do Iguaçu has several hotels, but we could indicate the Rafain Palace Hotel.

When visiting Iguassu Falls, please consider spending two days to visit both sides of the falls (Brazilian and Argentinean) and Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant, the largest in production energy in the world. All the hotels in the city of Foz do Iguaçu can provide on-site info and services for these tours. We will provide additional information on the conference website and on-site during the conference. However, this tour must be organized by yourself.

IAPR Member
US$ 260
US$ 285

IAPR Non-Member
US$ 275
US$ 300

Student*
US$ 150
US$ 175

CBDAR 2007 REGISTRATION

The registration fee includes lunch and proceedings. The workshop will be held at Grand Hotel Rayon.
Registration
Until Aug 10
Late & On site

General registration
US$ 75
US$ 85

VISA INFORMATION

For international participants who need a visa to enter in Brazil, request your visa invitation letter as soon as possible. If you don’t receive a confirmation of your request within a week, re-send your inquiry immediately. More information can be found at the Travel Information link.

Click here to start your ICDAR 2007 registration through a secure page.

Click here to start your GREC 2007 registration through a secure page.

Click here to start your CBDAR 2007 registration through a secure page.

ICDAR 2007 REGISTRATION

Registration fees include all sessions, plenary sessions, proceedings, welcome reception, lunch, and one banquet ticket. Additional registration fees apply for the tutorials, workshops, and post-conference tour. ICDAR2007 will be held at the campus of PUCPR. All prices are in US dollars.
Registration
Until June 30
From July 1
to Aug 31
Late & On site

IAPR Member
US$ 580
US$ 670
US$ 700

IAPR Non-Member
US$ 630
US$ 720
US$ 750

Student*
US$ 375
US$ 425
US$ 475

Addtional Paper Proceedings
US$ 100

Additional Banquet
US$ 60

Tutorials**
(0ne) US$75 / (Two) US$110

Post-Conference Tour***
US$ 90

Refund policy: refunds will be accepted until July 31 with a processing fee of US$60. After this date, no refunds will be accepted.

*Student Registration
A letter of verification from the department chair must accompany student registration. Any registration received without a verification letter will not be processed. Copies of student identification cards are not acceptable.

When registering a paper for the best student paper award, the student MUST provide a letter from his advisor stating that he was the major contributor to the paper. This letter may be the same used to confirm the student status.

**Tutorial Registration
All tutorials are scheduled for Sunday, September 23, 2007, at the Grand Hotel Rayon.

Sunday Morning
1 – Forensic Document Examiners Approach To Handwriting Comparisons/Identification
2 – Markov Models for Handwriting Recognition

Sunday Afternoon
3 – Computational Forensics: Techniques, Applications and Challenges in the Computed-based Analysis of Questioned Documents
4 – Document Image Compression and Compressed Domain Document Processing

The cost for one tutorial is US$ 75. If you register for two tutorials, the cost is US$ 110.

***Post-Conference Tour
The organizing committee is planning a trip to the Serra do Mar coastal forests on September 27, 2007. Today, Serra do Mar is an important tourist destination in Paraná. Only Iguassu Falls (Foz do Iguaçu) surpasses the 150 thousand visitors that take the train tour through the coastal forests. This railway crosses the biggest Atlantic Forest preserved area of the country. Check some pictures.

The cost for this excursion is at your own expense. The fee is US$ 90 and it includes
- Transfer Hotel Rayon/Train Station
- Executive class ticket to the historic town of Morretes
- Lunch in Morretes
- Bus from Morretes to Curitiba/Hotel Rayon.

Access the IEEE CONF Publishing URL. It is a link to the “Author’s Final Paper Formatting and Camera Ready Instructions” Webpage (Online Author Kit) for ICDAR2007. In this link you will find all the information you need to prepare your final submission and send the copyright release form to IEEE Computer Society.

Please notice that your camera ready version is limited to FIVE (5) pages (like the original submission). No extra pages will be allowed. If you have uploaded your paper longer than five pages, please shrink it to five pages and upload it again.

Camera ready papers MUST be submitted by June 15, 2007.
Make your hotel reservation according to the information on the accommodation page.

Check the travel information page . The ICDAR2007 Organizing Committee is not responsible for establishing your travel arrangements or obtaining visas. However, in order to assist with the travel visa application process, we will provide upon request a letter of invitation to attend ICDAR2007.

All the papers have been reviewed in the same manner with the same standards, and no distinction will be made between oral and poster papers in the ICDAR2007 Proceedings.

The registration will the open soon.

IMPORTANT: No paper can be published in the proceedings without being accompanied by a completed IEEE Copyright Transfer Form. You must complete and submit this form to have your paper published in the conference proceedings. You must do so before the deadline for final submission.

IMPORTANT: Papers that do not have an associated registered author will not be included in the proceedings. For each paper to be included in the ICDAR2007 Proceedings, at least one of the authors must register for the conference. One student registration covers only one paper for which the student is among the authors. A maximum of three papers will be accepted for each full registration.

GENERAL INFORMATION
The ICDAR 2007 paper submission and review process will be conducted as follows:
Authors who wish to participate in the conference will create proposals consisting of a complete description of their ideas and applicable research results in a maximum of 5 pages.
Submit the proposal electronically and copyright form by fax by the deadline.
Paper submissions will be reviewed by three experts selected by the conference committee for their demonstrated knowledge of particular topics. The progress and results of the review process will be posted on this website, and authors will also be notified of the review results by email.
Authors of accepted proposals should upload the final, camera-ready version of their paper by the Camera-Ready paper deadline.
Prepare a lecture or poster presentation following the guidelines that will be included in this website.

Accepted papers must be presented at the conference by one of the authors, or, if none of the authors are able to attend, by a qualified surrogate. Each paper must have a registered author in order to be included in the proceedings. Failure to register before the deadline will result in automatic withdrawal of your paper from the conference proceedings and program.

PRELIMINARY PAPER UBMISSION SYSTEM
The ICDAR 2007 submissions will be managed through JEMS which is a service provided by the Brazilian Computer Society (SBC). JEMS (Journal and Event Management System) is an adapted version of the EDAS system. This version of JEMS is maintened by the Computer Networks Group (CNG) of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) and provided as a service to organizers of conferences.

The review process will conducted entirely online through JEMS. To make the review process easy for the reviewers, and to assure that the paper submissions will be readable through the online review system, we ask that authors submit documents that are formatted according to the instructions included here.

Access to JEMS Submission System

PROCEEDINGS
The proceedings of the ICDAR 2007 will be published by the IEEE Computer Society Press.

PREPARATION OF THE PRELIMINARY PAPER
Use the following guidelines when preparing your document:
You are allowed a total of five (5) pages for your document. This is the maximum number of pages that will be accepted, including all figures, tables, and references. Any documents that exceed the five page limit will be rejected.
Papers must be formatted according to the IEEE Computer Society Press guidelines. Acceptable file formats are: PDF (preferable) and Postscript.
All proposals must be in English.
All reviewing will be double blind, so the paper must not include any information which allows the authors to be identified. For example, this might require that some references to the author’s previous work be left blank. This is not optional. Papers that provide obvious identifying information may be rejected without review.
Do not put page numbers on your document. Appropriate page numbers will be added to accepted papers when the conference proceedings are assembled.
Papers must be submitted by the deadline date. There will be no exceptions.