Effective October 1, Brazil will reimpose visa requirements on travelers coming from the U.S., Canada and Australia.
The reasons have to do with the reimplementation of reciprocity measures by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s new administration, which came into power at the start of 2023.
Seeking to increase inbound international tourism, Brazil’s previous president, Jair Bolsonaro, scrapped the massive Latin American nation’s reciprocity policy in 2019 and made these three countries visa-exempt.
But, since these foreign nations still require visas from Brazilian nationals, the new administration sees no reason to make visiting the sought-after South American destination easy for their citizens.
Although it was revealed a few months back that the Brazilian government plans to reverse its pre-pandemic move designating the U.S. Canada and Australia as visa-free, the foreign ministry has just divulged fresh details about these imminent policy changes.
From October 1, U.S. passport holders who plan on traveling to Brazil will need to obtain a Visit Visas, or ‘Vistos de Visita’ (VIVIS). The Ministry of Foreign Affairs disclosed, “the modality of the electronic visa, which was in force before the unilateral exemption, will be adopted.”
So, Americans will be able to apply for a visa online and the digital visa will enable U.S. travelers to remain in Brazil for up to 90 days for the purposes of tourism, business, transit, study, volunteer work, and artistic or sports activities, among other allowable reasons.
Visa requirements include a passport that’s valid through the end of their planned trip to Brazil, proof of residency for non-U.S. citizens, a letter stating the purpose of travel, payment of visa processing fees ($160 for U.S. residents), proof of an outbound transportation ticket within 90 days of entry, full trip itinerary with hotel reservation/host invitation and, finally, proof of sufficient financial solvency to sustain the traveler during their visit.
On top of securing a valid visa, Americans should also note that their passport must contain at least two blank pages or they risk being denied entry into Brazil, per international travel regulations.
According to Travel Off Path, these eVisas, once issued, could remain valid for up to a decade, if they wind up being similar to the tourism visas that the U.S. issues to Brazilians. This is only speculation at this point, since some specifics about the process have yet to be announced, including just how long visa processing is likely to take.
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