Brazil Waives Entry Visa Requirements for US and Canadian Citizens

by Jessica Montevago March 19, 2019

Brazil will allow visa-free entry for Americans and Canadians beginning June 17, doing away with the current required e-visa, the country’s government announced earlier this week.

The news means that citizens of the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Japan, all considered “strategic for the development of tourism” in Brazil, will no longer need to apply or pay for a visa.

Travelers will be able to stay in Brazil for 90 days from the date of first entry in the country. That can be extended for an equal period, as long as it does not exceed one hundred and eighty days, every twelve months.

The initiative is part of a series of measures that Brazil has taken to facilitate visitor access to the country. Last year, the government launched an electronic visa program through which travelers could obtain a visa more efficiently and considerably less expensive (at $40, it’s a quarter of the fee charged for U.S. passport holders applying for the traditional visa through a consulate).

Brazil has already seen an increase of about 35 percent in the visa application in less than a year since implementing e-visa. According to the Foreign Ministry, in 2017, 169,910 visas (either for business, tourism or transit) had been issued to citizens of the four countries. With the implementation of e-visa, the number rose in 2018 to 229,767.

Foreign applicants can apply for the e-visa and obtain it online, via the website or through apps for mobile phones or tablets.

The Ministry said that “tourism is being seen as a vector of economic and social growth of the entire nation.”

U.S.-Brazil travelers now have access more flights thanks to the long-awaited approval last May of the Open Skies agreement between the two countries, increasing services, routes and competition between the two countries. Since the agreement, American Airlines implemented a joint business agreement with LATAM Airlines Group; and United Airlines increased stake in Brazilian low-cost carrier Azul. Delta Air Lines and GOL Linhas Aéreas also have an alliance.