In a reversal of a policy of allowing entry with no visa which was implemented on Monday, June 17, 2019, Brazil reintroduces visa requirement on Sunday, October 1 2023 for citizens of the United States, Australia, Canada, and Japan “in compliance with the principle of reciprocity.”
Brazil Reintroduces Visa Requirement October 1 2023
Visit visas for citizens of Australia, Canada, United States and Japan
The Brazilian Government has decided to resume the requirement of visiting visas for citizens of Australia, Canada, the United States and Japan. The decision was taken after consultations with these four countries on the possibility of granting visa exemptions to Brazilian nationals, in compliance with the principle of reciprocity. The measure will come into effect from the 1st. October 2023.
The exemption was established by Decree 9731, of March 16, 2019, in a break with the pattern of Brazilian migration policy, historically based on the principles of reciprocity and equal treatment.
Brazil does not grant unilateral exemption from visiting visas, without reciprocity, to other countries.
Citizens of the United States will once again be required to pay $160.00 for a visa for the privilege of entering Brazil; whereas citizens of most other countries will pay $80.00 — with the following exceptions:
- Algeria — $85.00
- Angola — $180.00
- Australia — $120.00
- China — $115.00
A Brief History of Visas Issued By Brazil
Due to the United States historically charging $160.00 for a visa to citizens of Brazil who want to visit, Brazil had reciprocated by charging the same amount for a visa for citizens of the United States who wanted to visit Brazil — thus the term reciprocity fee. However, the cost for a nonimmigrant visa to enter the United States has increased from $160.00 to $185.00 effective as of Saturday, June 17, 2023.
Dilma Rousseff — who was the president of Brazil until she was impeached and removed from office on Wednesday, August 31, 2016 — agreed to suspend the requirements for visas between Wednesday, June 1, 2016 and Sunday, September 18, 2016 in what was known as the “exceptional, unilateral visa waiver” for visitors from certain other countries and regions which purportedly have “a strong Olympic tradition, which have hosted the Games in the past and pose no migration risk or national security risks” for the 2016 Olympic Games in the city of Rio de Janeiro, which occurred from Friday, August 5, 2016 through Sunday, August 21, 2016; and for the Paralympic Games, which occurred between Wednesday, September 7, 2016 and Sunday, September 18, 2016.
Effective as of Thursday, January 25, 2018, the fee which citizens of the United States were required to pay in order to visit Brazil had been significantly reduced to $44.24; and the service fee of $4.24 — which was included in the reduced visa fee — was for the convenience of processing the visa application electronically in three simple steps, which substantially reduced the amount of time needed to apply and receive the visa. Electronic visas were implemented by Brazil at that time, which meant that visitors from the United States, Canada and Japan can apply for electronic visas from the comfort of their own homes and no longer needed to travel to the Brazilian consulate nearest to them and wait in long lines.
The government of Brazil permitted citizens of the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan to enter the country without applying for or paying for a visa in order to increase the number of visitors between destinations by as much as 25 percent effective as of Monday, June 17, 2019.
Final Boarding Call
Although I can understand why a country would want to impose restrictive visas on visitors for various reasons — keeping track of them while they are in that country; as well as to have a revenue stream — they do stand the chance of losing out on the economic benefits of the dollars of tourists and business people when the process of securing that visa is unnecessarily complicated and prohibitively expensive. Saudi Arabia, North Korea and Russia are three countries which immediately come to my mind when it comes to the hassle of getting a visa — although Saudi Arabia has been working on becoming friendlier to foreign visitors — but Brazil has been known to not exactly have the easiest or least-expensive process either.
For me, countries which have such restrictive visa policies indicate to me that they are not friendly countries; or perhaps they just do not want for you or me to visit for whatever reasons — and yes, I do understand that there are people who view the United States in that manner as well. In today’s “shrinking” world primarily due to technology, that is a potentially costly mistake, in my opinion. Restrictive visa policies may scratch the “tip of the iceberg” pertaining to greater issues within certain countries; but they do not help in promoting being part of what should be a peaceful global community.
By reducing — or, better yet, eliminating — the fees to secure a visa for a visitor, I believe that the economic benefits would more than make up for it. That $160.00 per person for a visa to visit Brazil could instead go towards patronizing businesses and other areas of the general economy, which in turn would increase tax revenues for the government as one of many benefits. I am by no means an expert on economic policies in global economies; but I believe that charging exorbitant visa fees actually does more harm to countries economically in the long term than helps them.
At the very least, countries should do whatever is possible to strike a realistic balance in ensuring their security and charging fees to visitors: attempt to have the visa process as easy as possible for visitors to enter countries without compromising on smart security; and lower the visa fees as much as possible — or even consider eliminating them. Entering Bahrain and Mozambique are two examples of costly visas and unnecessary harassment which soured my experiences in those two countries enough to the point of where I would be just fine if I never visited them again.
Idealistically, I would really like to see the day where you and I can travel anywhere in the world with few to no impediments; but with human nature being the way it is, I know that will not happen anytime soon — if at all…
For a limited time, you were able visit places in Brazil — such as Iguaçu Falls — without having to pay for any fees associated with obtaining a visa. That changes on October 1, 2023. All photographs ©2005 and ©2016 by Brian Cohen.
