Just a few years after visiting Brazil got easier for Americans, traveling to the South American nation is about to get harder again.
On January 10, 2024, Brazil's government will return to requiring visas for tourists from the United States, Canada, and Australia.
At least that gives you through the end of this year.
Back in March, Brazil announced that citizens of those three countries and Japan would need visas starting in October 2023.
As Frommer's explained at the time of the announcement, Brazil's justification for resuming the visa requirement, which had been lifted in 2019, has to do primarily with reciprocity. If the U.S., Canada, and Australia want their citizens to be let into Brazil for vacations sans visa, Brazil's government wants those other nations to lift their own visa requirements for Brazilians.
In other words, Brazil's changed policy amounts to a tit-for-tat, vice-versa visa. And, true to its word, the Brazilian government dropped Japan from the relaunched visa requirement in August, when the two countries reached an agreement on reciprocal exemption for visas, meaning Japan no longer requires Brazilians to get special permission for visits of less than 90 days.
But starting early next year, travelers from the other three nations, including the U.S., will need to complete a process expected to resemble the one in effect from 2017 to 2019. That included filling out an online application and paying a fee.
Final details on applying and paying for the visa's comeback haven't been released yet. We do know, however, that the visa will be electronic, so count your lucky stars that Brazil won't be bringing back the burdensome system in place before November 2017. Back then, prospective travelers had to make an in-person appointment at a Brazilian consulate and pay a steep charge of $160.
In a statement announcing the postponement of the visa's relaunch, Brazil's government dangles the possibility of canceling the requirement altogether, saying officials are "open to negotiating visa exemption agreements with these three countries, based on principles of reciprocity and equality between states."
But if the governments of the U.S., Canada, and Australia don't respond to the proposed diplomatic samba, their citizens will again need visas to enter Brazil early next year.
