For Australians considering going overseas for cosmetic surgery — how to do it safely, sensibly and with your eyes wide open.
Written by Chloe Walker, Director — Medical Tourism, with co-authors Dr Leandro Gregório, Chief Medical Officer, and Ash Frenken, CEO & Co-Founder.
56 Pages
And the information nobody else publishes
The real prices
Every procedure, in Australian dollars
Brazil, properly explained
The country that performs more of these operations than anywhere on Earth
Free e-Guide
No cost, no obligation and read it in your own time.
WHO THIS GUIDE IS FOR
Is going overseas worth it?
The all-in numbers, the surgeon checks, and the risks — laid out honestly for Australian
You're weighing up going overseas
You want to know whether the savings are real once flights, accommodation, insurance and proper aftercare are counted, and you want the number without the marketing around it.
You've been quoted in Australia and it stopped you
Cosmetic surgery here is a wholly private purchase: Medicare and private health insurance generally don't contribute a cent. The guide sets Australian prices against overseas all-in totals, honestly.
You want to know how to check a surgeon
Every clinic in every country claims its surgeons are internationally certified. Section 10 shows you how to verify that yourself, for free, in about ten minutes, in six countries.
You want to know what happens if it goes wrong
Complications, revision, who pays, what Medicare will and won't do, and why standard travel insurance almost certainly doesn't cover you.
WHY THIS ONE IS DIFFERENT
A guide that argues against its own author, on purpose
Nuviya is not a neutral observer. We match Australians with board-certified plastic surgeons in Brazil and we are paid to do it. Rather than bury that, the guide opens with it — page five is a full disclosure of all four ways we make money, before you read another word.
That disclosure sets the standard for everything after it. The price tables include the procedures where Brazil is the weaker buy. The risk section includes the data that makes our own industry look worst. The checklists work perfectly well if you take them to a clinic in Bangkok or a surgeon in Bondi — and we would be pleased if you did.
“
Nothing in these pages is written to move you toward Brazil. A guide that only made sense if you chose us would be worthless to you and, frankly, worthless to us.”
WHAT YOU'LL FIND INSIDE
Sixteen sections, 54 pages, and the tables nobody else publishes
Real prices, in Australian dollars
Eleven procedures, Australian low–median–high bands against a Brazil all-in total that includes surgery, flights, accommodation, transfers, the visa, insurance and our service fee. Plus the same treatment applied to Turkey and Thailand.
The column nobody publishes
How many recovery nights each overseas package actually bundles, against how many nights the procedure clinically needs — and exactly how many nights you would be funding yourself.
The verification directory
Who regulates doctors in Australia, Brazil, Turkey, Thailand and South Korea, which specialist body to cross-check, and the exact public registry URL for each. Bookmark this page.
Insurance — read this twice
Why your standard travel policy excludes the procedure, excludes complications arising from it, and may void the whole policy. What a genuine medical-travel policy adds, and how to tell insurance from a provider warranty.
How many nights before you can fly
A procedure-by-procedure recovery matrix built from airline medical clearance rules, professional-body guidance and clot-risk evidence. The flight home is part of the surgery.
Thirteen questions to ask before you sign
Written to be answerable in writing, by any provider, anywhere in the world — including us. If one goes unanswered, that tells you something.
THE CLINICAL VOICE INSIDE THE GUIDE
Six of the sixteen sections were written by a Brazilian plastic surgeon
“Ask any prospective surgeon for their registration numbers, then check both yourself. A credentialed surgeon will expect the question and answer it proudly. Anyone who bristles at it has just told you everything you need to know.”
Dr Leandro GregórioBoard-certified plastic surgeonCRM-SP 231278 / RQE 136020
Dr Leandro Gregório is a board-certified Brazilian plastic surgeon, Nuviya's Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder, and the clinical authority behind this guide. He has practised in São Paulo for most of his career and spent the last two years explaining the Brazilian system to Australians.
He wrote the sections where getting it wrong costs the most: how Brazil's credentialing system actually works, the risks and how to manage them, how to verify any surgeon's credentials yourself, how long you genuinely need before flying home, what happens if you come home with a complication, and his own rules before you sign anything. Every clinical section in the guide carries his medical review.
The guide is written by Chloe Walker, Nuviya's Director — Medical Tourism, with Dr Leandro Gregório and Ash Frenken as co-authors. Authorship is stated on every section.
FREE DOWNLOAD
A comprehensive guide written for Australians considering cosmetic surgery abroad
No cost, no obligation, and no one will pressure you. We'll email you a copy and you can read it in your own time.
THE SERVICE BEHIND THE GUIDE
Everything Australians worry about, handled before you fly
Travelling for surgery only works when the surgeon, the price, the support and the cover are all settled up front. That's the whole of what we do — and here's exactly how each part works.
Matched, not listed
A surgeon chosen for your case — not a directory to sift through
You tell us the procedure, the result you want and when you'd like to travel. We come back with a shortlist of SBCP-verified specialists whose training and case history actually fit what you're asking for.
Every surgeon is credential-checked against the Conselho Regional de Medicina and speaks English well enough to consult with you directly by video before you book anything.
Experienced specialist plastic surgeons
CRM and RQE registration verified, not self-reported
Video consultation with your surgeon before you fly
Nuviya estimates your total cost up front — surgeon, hospital and anaesthetist fees, flights, accommodation, transfers, your Brazilian e-visa, Nuviya's support fee and your complimentary medical travel insurance.
Through our Australian finance partner, Total Lifestyle Credit, a A$15,000 package comes to about A$60.50 a week over seven years.*
Funding from A$2,000 to A$70,000, terms from one to seven years
Employed, self-employed or receiving Centrelink — all assessed
Extra repayments and rebates added to your plan at no extra charge
A personalised repayment plan in about two minutes
Nuviya is a referrer only — Total Lifestyle Credit assess your application, not us
A real person on the end of the phone, in your time zone
From the first call to the day you're home, you have a named Australian coordinator. They brief your surgeon, build your itinerary and stay reachable while you're away.
In Brazil you're met at the airport, driven to every appointment and checked on daily through recovery. Nothing about the trip is left for you to work out in a second language.
Named coordinator from enquiry through to recovery
Airport pick-up, transfers and appointment escorts included
Daily check-ins while you recover, and support once you're home
Every Nuviya patient travels with complimentary medical travel insurance: US$25,000 of surgical complication cover that stays active for 180 days after you land back in Australia.
It sits alongside standard travel cover for medical events, cancellation and baggage — arranged before you fly, with the policy documents in your plan rather than buried in an inbox.
US$25,000 surgical complication cover, included at no cost
Written by an Australian who moved to Brazil and has an obvious commercial interest in your decision. The risks that are real, the ones that are overstated, and the people who genuinely should not travel.
A surgeon explaining how to check other surgeons — including his own registration numbers, and the four things a before-and-after gallery has to show before it means anything.
The article nobody wants to read before booking, and everybody wishes they had. What to do right now if you are worried, and what to arrange before you fly if you are not.
The stay lengths on our site are not comfort thresholds. They are clot-risk thresholds, and this is the one number in your whole plan you should not negotiate.
One title requires accredited specialist training. The other historically required nothing beyond medical registration. What the reforms changed, and how to check any surgeon yourself in about two minutes.
Australian quotes for a mummy makeover run from A$22,000 to A$47,000, and almost none of them are like-for-like. What the operation actually is, what drives the range, where Medicare fits, and how the all-in Brazil figure compares.
Quotes for the same abdominoplasty can differ by more than $15,000. The three types of tummy tuck, what the Australian quote leaves out, what recovery is really like, and how the all-in Brazil figure compares.
See which verified Brazilian surgeons you'd be matched with, and what your all-in Australian-dollar price would be. About three minutes, no obligation.
This page is general information for international patients, not medical advice, and does not create a doctor–patient relationship. Cosmetic surgery carries risks; results vary and no specific outcome is guaranteed. Any decision should follow an individual consultation with a qualified specialist. Costs, fares, visa rules and timelines are indicative, current at time of writing (2026), and subject to change.
