New evisa requirements for travel to Brasil

Originally maybe under Bush the US imposed similar requirements on Brazilians. Brazil responded in kind as well as to some other countries if i recall right. bolsonaro was under the illusion that waiving visas would lead to a windfall of tourism and commerce so he suspended visa requirements for a few years. It never materialized and the logic of diplomatic countermeasures remains so when he left it went back to as is. During the boom years the US almost fast tracked the process for brazilian tourists due to the amount of business brazilians were doing, but as always congress did nothing so the status quo persists.

@timhoffnagle The term of the evisa is also based upon reciprocity.  My understanding is the term could be 1, 3 or 10 years.  So I wouldn't necessarily assume that it's only good for 1 visit.

https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/embaixada- … sita-vivis

OK....thanks for the background.  I have only been going to Brasil since 2020.  But these new requirements are for every visit to Brasil.  For a Brazilian to come to the U.S., they can get a visa that lasts for (10?) years.  Having to get a new visa for every visit seems like a hassle that even bureaucrats wouldn't want to deal with.

You came during a brief window when it was good! it is unfortunate. fwiw the visa process for brazilians is a true nightmare so youre not alone in your suffering.

@timhoffnagle

The e-visa is for a multiple entry tourist visa for stay of up to 90 days and is valid for 10 years. Once you get the visa, you can enter and stay up to 90 days.  Since this is a multiple entry, the visa will last as long as you have your valid passport - which is typically 10 years.

@rnbtg

Bolsonaro thought that if he gave visa-waiver rights to citizens from the US, Canada, Australia and Japan, Brazil would receive more tourists and those countries  would reciprocate. But they did not, and Lula cancelled the program as it became unconstitutional.

Since then, Japan has done a separate deal to delay this by 3 years, but citizens of the other 3 countries do need an e-visa if entering Brazil on or after 10th April this year. Out of interest, the average delay at the moment for Brazilians to APPLY for a tourist visa to the US is 450 days! So not that easy for Brazilians!

It has always been a requirement for tourist visas that the traveler should have a return ticket and enough funds to support themselves while in Brazil. Exactly the same as tourists visiting the US, so completely fair. They stopped enforcing this in Brazil, so maybe they are just taking the opportunity to refresh the policies, although I have been told they only really need the dates of your travel to ensure they get the visa to you in time for your travel date.

03/12/24 @timhoffnagle.  At least since the 1960s and probably longer, Brazil's visa policy has been based on strict reciprocity:  Brazil extends visas to foreigners on exactly the same terms (or as close as possible, including fees) that the  countries of those foreigners extend to Brazilians. 

As several posters have stated, the Bolsonaro Administration made a temporary change to a more lenient policy toward citizens of Australia, Canada, Japan, and the US in an attempt to increase tourism, and in hopes that they would treat Brazilians similarly.

All four countries were offered the opportunity to make the arrangement permanent, and only Japan has shown any real interest.  So Brazil is returning to its traditional policy.  The visa, whether an eVisa or a consular visa in your passport, is a mulit-year, multi-entry visa, so you should not be paying a new visa fee for every visit.

03/12/24 During the boom years the US almost fast tracked the process for brazilian tourists due to the amount of business brazilians were doing, but as always congress did nothing so the status quo persists.
   
    -@rnbtg

The US State Department has a Congressionally mandated checklist of statistical criteria that the citizens of a country visiting the United States must meet for that country to be eligible for the Visa Waiver Program, and, in spite of Brazilian tourism in the US being modest in relative terms, it's high enough that Brazil consistently blows through the "Visa Overstay" category and is always rejected.

Brazil can't control the behavior of its citizens abroad so the criteria may seem unfair, but the US, like Brazil, has the sovereign right to determine visa policy, and chooses to exercise it this way.

@timhoffnagle Check out the link in the post I wrote.  As mentioned the evisa will be for multiple visits and the term will be up to 10 years.  The evisa remains valid for the term.  If your passport expires, you just need to bring the expired passport along with your current passport to use the evisa.

The e-visa is issued as a PDF that you need to print and bring with you.  I brought it in February during my visit to Rio and the Brazil immigration did not even look at the page and returned it to me. 

Since I will get back to Brazil on or about April 16 - a few days after the e-visa requirement has come into effect - unless it is delayed again - I will post whether this e-visa sheet is all that you need to keep with your valid passport or whether you need to bring your expired passport...

This is a brand new process.

@Pablo888 how long was the process to get your visa?

    @Pablo888 how long was the process to get your visa?        -@EricPau

It took 3 weeks for my visa (mid Dec 23 to mid Jan 24 - lost 1 week during the holidays).  I had to re-send my passport page. 

It took 4 weeks for my wife - mid Dec 23 to end of Jan 24.  She had to re-submit the bank statements - and she did not check her email from vfsevisa.com requesting the re-submission for 1 week as the email was in the spam folder. 

For my son, it also took 4 weeks - Feb 24 and I got it last week.  I had to re-submit the pictures twice as the passport picture size (described as  2 x 2 inches in the instructions) needed to be 3.5 cm x 4 cm with certain number of pixels (I don't remember).  I also had to re-submit the application form for a minor child because the form that was downloaded from the consulate that needed notarized was not the one that vfsevisa uses.

Definitely not the 2 weeks that was promised... Please start early...

I have a question.  I'm an American citizen with CRNM living in Brazil for 6 months.  I'm planning to travel to Mozambique for a week (April 6-13).  Do I have to apply for a visa when I come back to Brazil?  I couldn't find anything on websites that stating permanent resident must apply for a visa when returning to Brazil.

03/14/24    I have a question.  I'm an American citizen with CRNM living in Brazil for 6 months.  I'm planning to travel to Mozambique for a week (April 6-13).  Do I have to apply for a visa when I come back to Brazil?  I couldn't find anything on websites that stating permanent resident must apply for a visa when returning to Brazil.
   

    -@deafmgecko

No.  As long as you have a valid CRNM, you're a legal resident of Brazil, and do not need a visa to come back.  Just show your passport and CRNM to Immigration on arrival.

@timhoffnagle Brazil in the main bases its visa requirements on a reciprocal basis so if the USA requires abc then Brazil will require abc from US citizens. As an Irish citizen I require nothing for a three month stay and neither do Brazilians for three months stay.

    @timhoffnagle Brazil in the main bases its visa requirements on a reciprocal basis so if the USA requires abc then Brazil will require abc from US citizens. As an Irish citizen I require nothing for a three month stay and neither do Brazilians for three months stay.     -@Andre-P4

@Andre-P4, interesting that Ireland has a reciprocal agreement with Brazil.  As @abthree has explained, the reason that the US no longer has a reciprocal agreement with Brazil is based on past behavior.

Ireland has one of the highest standards of living in Europe and assuming that this is a desirable country trait, would Ireland not have the same issue as the US?

Just trying to understand the system here...

Thank you.

@Pablo888 Ireland is part of the EU.  The EU has a Visa waiver for Brazil.

    @Pablo888 Ireland is part of the EU.  The EU has a Visa waiver for Brazil.
   

    -@mikehunter

@mikehunter - thank you for the response.  AFAIK, Ireland is not part of the Schengen visa program. 

I could not find out about what is the exact reciprocal agreement between Ireland and Brazil.  Any details would be much appreciated...

03/19/24        @Pablo888 Ireland is part of the EU.  The EU has a Visa waiver for Brazil.        -@mikehunter@mikehunter - thank you for the response.  AFAIK, Ireland is not part of the Schengen visa program.  I could not find out about what is the exact reciprocal agreement between Ireland and Brazil.  Any details would be much appreciated...        -@Pablo888

Ireland had a pre-existing agreement with Brazil that is more generous (180/365 rather than 90/180) than the general agreement with the EU.  EU members with pre-existing agreements were allowed the option of grandfathering them, and most or all of them chose to do so, including Ireland. 

The Portuguese version of the QGRV distinguishes which regime applies to each member country.  The English version does, too, but has a typo that misstates the situation of  France.

@abthree, thank you again for the clarification. Makes sense that this reciprocal agreement is a grandfathered item.

Based on statistics, it appears that the US gets about a 20x number of tourists from Brazil than Ireland....

Numbers of Brazil tourists in US

https://www.statista.com/statistics/214 … om-brazil/

Number of Brazil tourists in Ireland

https://embassies.net/ireland-visa-for-brazil-citizens

This may be the reason for the policy change....

03/19/24    Ireland has one of the highest standards of living in Europe and assuming that this is a desirable country trait, would Ireland not have the same issue as the US?
Just trying to understand the system here...

Thank you.   

    -@Pablo888

Ireland is much better at controlling visa overstays than the United States is.  As it happens, my brother and SIL are legal expats in Ireland, and the hoops that they have to jump through to stay are incredible. 

In fairness, the United States is obviously much, much bigger, has far fewer internal controls, has large, established immigrant communities into which overstays can "disappear", and is the world's No. 1 immigration target.  The employment situation is Ireland is also not great, and the housing situation is terrible.  To say nothing of the weather! 

@Pablo888 @abthree gave the details of Ireland's specific agreement.  The Schengen area are the countries that allow borderless travel, i.e. without border controls.  That is different than Visa Waiver.  A Visa Waiver still requires an entry stamp and associated time limits.  Also, you can be part of the Schengen area without being a member of the EU.

   
   
Ireland has one of the highest standards of living in Europe and assuming that this is a desirable country trait, would Ireland not have the same issue as the US?
   

    -@Pablo888

I'm very curious where you got that information. I did not know Ireland was known for that

I'm very curious where you got that information. I did not know Ireland was known for that    -@rraypo

I was also surprised that Ireland has one of the highest per-capita GDP - 4th in Europe (https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankin … s/Europe/]

Productivity in Europe is #1

(https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankin … ive_to_US/)

Ireland had an international favorable tax structure that allowed large companies to be headquartered there - and bring lots of jobs there -> https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answer … haven.asp.

Economically, Ireland looks really strong on paper.

My brother-in-law lives in Dublin and he is doing extremely well.

But I could be wrong....

@timhoffnagle

Before Brazil set up this new evisa system and an American had to get a visa, it was a nightmare. I am under the Houston consulate and to take visas, they were only open for 4 hours on Wednesdays for visas. First come first serve so if you did not get in during those 4 hours, it would require you to come back the next week or weeks. You would be lucky IF you were able to get your visa that Wednesday. Where I live, I would need to fly or drive to Houston, stay at hotels and found I would pay more just to apply for the visa and all the travel and hotels than it cost to actually go to Brazil.