Effective as of today-June 17, 2019-tourists from the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia will no longer need a visa to visit Brazil.
Travelers from these four countries with a valid passport will be able to explore Brazil for up to 90 days from the date of first entry (extendable for up to 180 days upon approval) without acquiring a tourist visa.
This comes as the latest in a course of developments instated over the past few years aimed at facilitating the influx of international visitors into the country, and these four countries, in particular, are considered strategic markets for the growth of Brazilian tourism.
Only last year, an e-visa option was introduced, allowing travelers to obtain the necessary approvals with more ease and efficiency. According to the Brazilian Ministry of Tourism, the e-visa's implementation alone has brought about a 35 percent increase in its visa applications, and the ministry anticipates that this new measure may generate up to a 25 percent growth in tourism between destinations.
During the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil temporarily did away with its requirement for travelers from these four now-exempt countries to bolster tourism surrounding the event. An exit survey conducted by the ministry showed that, among those who had come to see the Olympic games, 88 percent expressed a desire for a return trip to the South American country, especially if the visa-free policy were to continue.
"This is one of the most important achievements of the Brazilian tourism industry in the last fifteen years and we are confident that it will be extremely beneficial to the country. This decision of the Brazilian government proves that we are living a new moment, and that tourism is being seen as a vector of economic and social growth of the entire nation," said Marcelo Alvaro Antônio, Minister of Tourism. "This is the first step; we still have much to celebrate."
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro first disclosed this decision back in March ahead of an official visit to the White House. A joint news statement issued by President Trump and President Bolsonaro soon following, stating: "the Presidents agreed to take the steps necessary to enable Brazil to participate in the Department of Homeland Security's Trusted Traveler Global Entry Program."
In the months since the announcement, interest in Brazil as a destination has already increased in the target markets. According to CNN, The number of Americans searching flights to Brazil saw a 31-percent boost and the amount of Australians searching for flights was up by 36 percent in March 2019, as compared with the same period in 2018.
Visa-free entry has long been available to Brazil's European visitors, and travelers from neighboring Latin American countries are able to move freely in and out of Brazil without a passport, as long as they present a valid identity card.
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