If you’re heading to Brazil in the new year, there’s an extra step to add to your to-do list. Beginning January 10, travelers from the United States, Canada, and Australia will need to acquire an e-visa in order to enter the country. Until then, citizens of these countries will be able to visit Brazil—for business as well as pleasure, per a press release—without these short-term visitor visas (so long as they are staying for no more than 90 days.)
The process for obtaining a visa will purportedly be a quick and easy one, although all that is known at this time is that applications and issuances will be handled entirely electronically. Procedures are still being finalized by the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which will provide additional details when available.
In 2019, former president Jair Bolsonaro waived visa requirements for these countries, as well as Japan, in an effort to boost tourism. Now, Japan and Brazil struck a reciprocal agreement that will take effect September 30 and will be valid for the next three years, wherein citizens of each country will be able to visit the other without obtaining a visa. The United States, Canada, and Australia did not introduce reciprocal measures in the last four years since Brazil waived the visa requirement. When traveling stateside, for example, all Brazilians still require a visa to enter the country, even when connecting onward to a third country destination.
The reinstatement of the visa requirement was first announced earlier this year in March, with an effective date of October 1. At that time, the foreign ministry said that the decision to grant visa exemptions marked “a break with the pattern of Brazilian migration policy, historically based on the principles of reciprocity and equal treatment,” and left the option open for affected countries to negotiate reciprocal visa waivers. Only Japan has struck such a deal thus far.
While the Brazilian foreign ministry and tourism board could not be reached for comment, they did state in the latest press release that the return to visas is not intended to make tourists feel unwelcome.
