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Starting on April 10, Brazil will require Canadian tourists to apply for a visa to be in the country for up to 90 days.
The federal government updated the entry and exit requirements section of its travel advice page for Brazil to reflect the upcoming change. Canadians, as well as Australians and Americans, will have to fill out a form online for an electronic visa (eVisa) and pay a fee of US$80.90. This applies to passport holders from those countries who are arriving by air, land or sea.
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“You can enter Brazil at any time within the validity period of the eVisa, starting from the date it is issued,” according to Brazil’s eVisa website run by technology service company VFS Global. “Once in Brazilian territory with an eVisa, you are authorized to stay for up to 90 days per year. If you need to extend your stay beyond 90 days, contact the Federal Police.”
Those who already have a valid physical visa in their passport for the purpose of their visit do not need to apply for a new visa, per the website.
“If your arrival is scheduled on or after April 9th, we strongly recommend applying for your eVisa in advance to prevent travel disruptions caused by delays or missed connections,” the website says. It takes an average of five business days to process the visa.
A valid passport is the only document that can be used for the application process. For Canadians, passports must be valid for at least six months beyond the date travellers expect to leave Brazil, per the Canadian federal government.
According to the Brazilian government, Canadians, Australians and Americans were previously exempt from visitor visas — including for travelling to Brazil for tourism, business, transit, or sport and artistic-related activities.
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In 2019, former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro got rid of the visa requirements in an effort to bolster the country’s tourism industry, per the Associated Press. Bolsonaro was also an ally of President Donald Trump.
When current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva came into power, he tried to bring back the requirements for Canadians, Australians and Americans in March 2023, citing the fact that Brazilians needed visas to enter those countries. After being postponed three times, the visa requirements are finally set to be in place this week.
The move, although in the works for years, comes after Trump imposed a 10 per cent tariff on imports from Brazil, along with around 90 other nations.
The Canadian federal government, in the recently updated travel advisory, urges Canadian travellers going to Brazil to “exercise a high degree of caution” because of “high crime rates and regular incidents of gang-related and other violence in urban areas.”
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