Brazil to Require Tourist Visas for Some Visa Waiver Countries

I'm a Canadian and I don't want to pay for  visa, but if my government won't grant free visas to Brazilians, why should Brazil give me a free visa?

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Bhavna

03/25/23 Some thoughts on the upcoming change to visitor visa policy in Brazil.

I have some information and thoughts on Brazil's announced return to its old visitor visa policy that some expats may find interesting.

First and most importantly, this action is a return to Brazil's traditional policy of absolute reciprocity. From my personal experience that's been the policy for at least fifty years, and probably for much longer. The one-way loosening of the Bolsonaro years was the aberation and, outside the tourism industry, had very little support in the rest of society. Most Brazilians won't care much about the change, but it will probably be more popular than not.

Second, pushing the implementation date out to October means that the government is serious about negotiations. Placing it in October, though, also means that they want the new visa routines securely in place well before Northern Hemisphere Winter increases the number of tourists.

Third, notice the justification for continuing to negotiate: "In attention to the interests of Brazilian citizens, the Brazilian government will be ready to continue negotiating". This is the touchstone of all Brazilian immigration policy, the benefit to Brazil and to Brazilians. It's good to keep this guiding concept in view outside the tourism sphere, specifically when applying for residency: the more immigrants can show that their presence benefits Brazil or Brazilians, the more likely they are to be approved.

Fourth, while Brazil may be serious about negotiations, I'm doubtful about the other three countries, so I wouldn't bet much on any of them changing.

-- Australia has a very, very good immigration system in terms of matching immigration policy with the country's needs, but it's very restrictive. Reciprocal free entry of tourists isn't consistent with the logic of that system;

-- Japan is even more restrictive than Australia, and skeptical of immigration in general. Unless the Japanese-Brazilian community has more political influence in Tokyo than I perceive, that will be a non-starter, with expressions of mutual regret all around;

-- Canada, along with Brazil and Australia in my view, has one of the best immigration systems in the world. It is also more welcoming than either of them. If it were in Australia's geographical position, I could see Canada and Brazil coming to an agreement. Unfortunately, Canada shares a long, undefended border with the country that is the world's biggest illegal immigration target, and that has a largely dysfunctional immigration system. "Like a good neighbour" (with a "u"), Canada will probably end up saying "no".

-- As every American and most of the world knows, there are more people trying to get into the United States than anywhere else, the immigration system barely functions, and political disagreement has frozen it in place. The problem of illegal Brazilian immigration there is small in relative numbers, but like everything else, formidable in raw numbers, and migrants from democratic Brazil almost never qualify for refugee status. I would bet money that Americans will need visas after October 1, and I only bet on sure things.

Finally, this change will resolve an internal problem for Brazil that the Bolsonaro policy caused, between the Foreign Ministry and the Justice Ministry. The logic of the Brazilian system has always been that immigrants obtain the proper visa at a Consulate, the Consulate does most of the vetting, then if approved, they present themselves to the Federal Police on arrival to finish the job. Visa waiver, as we've seen frequently on this site, has allowed people to short-circuit that system, come in on a waiver, then go to the Federal Police to try to regularize their status, leaving the Federal Police to do all the vetting. The end of that workaround will have strong support at the Justice Ministry, which counts for a lot with any Brazilian government..

-- As every American and most of the world knows, there are more people trying to get into the United States than anywhere else, the immigration system barely functions, and political disagreement has frozen it in place. The problem of illegal Brazilian immigration there is small in relative numbers, but like everything else, formidable in raw numbers, and migrants from democratic Brazil almost never qualify for refugee status. I would bet money that Americans will need visas after October 1, and I only bet on sure things.

I know that Argentina had it's Visa Waiver status revoked due to many people abusing the system and staying beyond the 90 days. As far as Brazil is concerned, to my knowledge the problem is that Brazil has yet to meet the requirements of the Visa Waiver Program. Chile has. Yes, Brazil is saying if you won't let our people visit without a Visa, we won't let yours, but the real question is why Chile can meet the requirements but Brazil can't or won't.  Seems to me that the whole reciprocity thing in this instance is a red herring.

03/25/23 @mikehunter.  I don't know what the requirements of the US Visa Waiver Program are, but if Brazil and Brazilians have to satisfy any requirements on the US  end that the US and Americans don't have to satisfy on the Brazilian end, that doesn't meet Brazil's definition of reciprocity.

@abthree Here are the requirements: https://www.dhs.gov/visa-waiver-program-requirements

I just don't understand why 40 other countries (including Argentina at one time) and Chile can do it but Brazil can't or won't.

I also found this:

A country* must meet various requirements to be considered for designation in the Visa Waiver Program. Requirements include, but are not limited to:

    enhanced law enforcement and security-related data sharing with the United States;

    issuing e-passports;

    having a visitor (B) visa refusal rate of less than three percent;

    timely reporting of both blank and issued lost and stolen passports; and

    maintenance of high counterterrorism, law enforcement, border control, and document security standards.

Designation as a VWP country* is at the discretion of the U.S. government. Meeting the objective requirements of the VWP does not guarantee a country* will receive VWP designation.

03/25/23 @abthree
I just don't understand why 40 other countries (including Argentina at one time) and Chile can do it but Brazil can't or won't.
-@mikehunter

Since Brazilian passports meet the requirements, I would guess that ESTA is the hangup.  I doubt that either country sees anything to gain in bending.   We'll know by October 1st.

@abthree I agree with you that nothing is going to happen regarding Visa Waiver, especially not by October.  My point was IMO Brazil doesn't appear to want to join the Visa Waiver program.  I'm sure they could if they really wanted.  This whole reciprocity stuff is just a distraction.  Of course if you don't have a bilateral Visa waiver agreement, you're going to require Visas - and they seem perfectly fine with that. 

I read an article recently which more or less stated that the amount of tourism, etc., from the USA, doesn't justify the cost of entering into any sort of VWP/ESTA programme. 

The current waiver program in place appears to have been Bolsonaro's way of trying to ingratiate himself toward the West; however, as with the proposed new automobile restrictions and the changes to the Bolsa Família programme, it is a very real possibility that this will be tossed by Congress.

@JesusChrysler Interesting... I just read this:

The chief executive of one of Rio de Janeiro's top tourist attractions, the cable cars on Sugar Loaf Mountain, criticized the decision. Sandro Fernandes told Folhapress before the official announcement that the decision would be a “setback.”

“Instead of closing the door to four nationalities, we should be discussing which are the next four to release visa exemptions. And then four more. This should be the government's agenda,” Fernandes said.

Before the pandemic hit, Brazil received 6.4 million tourists in 2019, far below Mexico's 45 million and less than Argentina's 7.4 million, according to data from the United Nation's World Tourism Organization.

Data from Brazil's tourism ministry indicates that entries of Americans, Australians, Canadians and Japanese people fell between 2019 and 2021, but the pandemic caused the global tourism industry to grind almost to standstill and is largely responsible for the drop.

03/25/23. @abthree I agree with you that nothing is going to happen regarding Visa Waiver, especially not by October. My point was IMO Brazil doesn't appear to want to join the Visa Waiver program. I'm sure they could if they really wanted. This whole reciprocity stuff is just a distraction. Of course if you don't have a bilateral Visa waiver agreement, you're going to require Visas - and they seem perfectly fine with that.
-@mikehunter

The Brazilian viewpoint has always been that reciprocity means that neither side can impose unilateral requirements on the other.  They're totally serious about it, it's no "distraction".

03/25/23  I read an article recently which more or less stated that the amount of tourism, etc., from the USA, doesn't justify the cost of entering into any sort of VWP/ESTA programme.
The current waiver program in place appears to have been Bolsonaro's way of trying to ingratiate himself toward the West; however, as with the proposed new automobile restrictions and the changes to the Bolsa Família programme, it is a very real possibility that this will be tossed by Congress.
-@JesusChrysler

Unlike those other items, Congress won't have a say on the end of the visa waiver program:  it was an executive action not subject to Congressional consent, and its cancelation is, too.  In addition, it was never broadly popular politically.  Most of the political spectrum, from the Far Left to the Center-Right, saw it as a compromise of a core value of Brazilian diplomacy in order to score points with the United States, which basically brushed it off.  For those people it's been an embarrassment, and they'll be glad to see the end of it.  Only the hardcore Bolsonaristas and the tourism industry will have their noses seriously out of joint over this.

@abthree IMO in this context it doesn't make much sense. Each country has the sovereign right to determine the requirements for visitors. My point was that Brazil doesn't seem interested in coming to an agreement.

03/25/23 @abthree IMO in this context it doesn't make much sense. Each country has the sovereign right to determine the requirements for visitors. My point was that Brazil doesn't seem interested in coming to an agreement.
-@mikehunter

Brazil has visa waivers in place with every country in the Western Hemisphere except Canada, the United States, and Haiti. It has visa waivers in place with every country in Europe except Azerbaijan and Kosovo, including both Russia and Ukraine. It has visa waivers in place with Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Qatar, the UAE, Kazakhstan, the Seychelles, and Mongolia, It has visa waivers in place with Israel, Namibia, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and New Zealand.

Brazil is always interested in coming to agreements, but under normal conditions, has no interest in unequal ones. We have returned to normal conditions, that's all.

Thanks for the update, Abthree. Not unexpected.  When average Americans (and consular officials) welcome visitors from Brazil to the US with the same degree of civility, support and tolerance that Brazilians welcome Americans, THEN maybe we can institute reciprocal waivers.

@abthree Yeah, I'm just curious as to what is the issue.  The US AFAIK isn't asking for different terms.  The Visa Waiver program is bilateral.

03/26/23 @abthree Yeah, I'm just curious as to what is the issue. The US AFAIK isn't asking for different terms. The Visa Waiver program is bilateral.
-@mikehunter

"Reciprocity" means and always has meant for Brazil that no one-sided requirements are acceptable.  I don't know any simpler way to explain it.

03/26/23 @abthree Yeah, I'm just curious as to what is the issue. The US AFAIK isn't asking for different terms. The Visa Waiver program is bilateral.
-@mikehunter

"Reciprocity" means and always has meant for Brazil that no one-sided requirements are acceptable. I don't know any simpler way to explain it.
-@abthree

@abthree, I understand reciprocity. What I'm curious about is why, after so many years, what is the issue that is preventing an agreement. I'll see if I can find an explanation. Thanks!

P.S. on the plus side I see that Brazilians can now apply for the US Global Entry program.  At least that's a start I suppose.

I found this:

https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R46300.html

The report is 2 years old, but seems to indicate that the issue is the "Nonimmigrant Visa Refusal Rate".   

Advocates of expanding the VWP contend that the 3% nonimmigrant visitor visa refusal rate criterion, which has been a significant barrier to entry into the VWP, should be replaced with the overstay rate, or the refusal rate threshold should be raised and used in conjunction with the overstay rate.

Some advocates have called for the return of the nonimmigrant visitor visa refusal rate waiver, which was available from October 2008 to July 2009.19 The waiver allowed DHS to admit into the VWP countries that had met all of the security requirements if they had a low overstay rate and a declining nonimmigrant visitor visa refusal rate that was below 10% in the previous fiscal year. Due to this waiver, eight countries that otherwise would not have qualified for the VWP were added in 2008. For current aspiring VWP countries, a complicating factor is that the Secretary of Homeland Security's authority to waive the nonimmigrant visitor visa refusal rate is suspended until the airline passenger exit system is able to match an alien's biometric information with relevant watchlists and manifest information.

Bolsonaro did away with the need for US citizens to have visas as a way of toadying up to Trump. trump didn't reciprocate the favor though, and Brazilians have always had to have visas. Just setting the playing field back to even.

@sjpetzold Well, it that is the case, he should have known that Trump couldn't reciprocate.  It's explained in the link above.

03/27/23 @sjpetzold Well, it that is the case, he should have known that Trump couldn't reciprocate. It's explained in the link above.
-@mikehunter

They're both notorious for basing policy initiatives on what Charlie Sykes of the Bulwark calls "wishcasting" rather than knowledge of the relevant laws and then backing off when they run into obstacles, so this should come as no surprise.

Global Entry provides some advantages for eligible Brazilians, but implementation was messed up by the pandemic. My husband has been provisionally approved for two years, but we have never managed to be in a gateway airport long enough for him to get his interview, and they weren't doing them at interior airports. Now I see that they're doing them part-time at our usual destination airport, so we'll give it a try the next time we're there. He'll need to get a new visa next year, though (ten year expiration), and we're not looking forward to THAT process. Afterwards, he'll probably have to start a new Global Entry application.

@Drjmagic

exactly.

why should they.

olympics were done in Brasil years ago.

@abthree

Goodafternoon, I plan to go to back by November 2023 to Brazil on a pasport to be with my wife and start the process of obtaining a CRMN card. According to the update regarding " visiting visa " do I have to obtain a Visa? If yes, where and how?

Sincerely,

Hocytek

03/29/23 @abthree Goodafternoon, I plan to go to back by November 2023 to Brazil on a pasport to be with my wife and start the process of obtaining a CRMN card. According to the update regarding " visiting visa " do I have to obtain a Visa? If yes, where and how? 
-@hocytek

Hi.  Yes, if you've been traveling on a visa waiver up to now, you're going to need a visa of some kind to return in November as the regulations now stand.  If you're returning to become a permanent resident by virtue of being married to a Brazilian, I would strongly urge you to obtain a VITEM XI family unification visa.  You will need basically the same documentation that you would need if you came on a visitor visa and applied to the Polícia Federal for an Authorization for Residency, but you won't need apostilles or Sworn Translations at the Consulate, and with the change of visa, the days that you've already spent in Brazil will not count against you anymore.  When you arrive in Brazil, you should just have to register with the Polícia Federal and be processed for your CRNM.

See the list of required documents on the website of the Brazilian Consulate responsible for your state.  If your wife will not be with you when you apply, you will need copies of some of her documents, authenticated at a cartório in Brazil; they'll be on the list.  All visa applications are done online, so whether you're requesting a VITEM XI or a tourist visa, it will start the same way, on the Consulate website.  They may have some technical issues for tourist visas with the change back to the old system in October, but that shouldn't affect the VITEM XI.

When I needed a similar visa, I applied for it in July, received it three weeks later, and traveled in November, so you should have ample time between now and November to get everything done.

@abthree

Thank you. You are so thorough.

Sincerely,

Hector

@abthree
Goodafternoon, I plan to go to back by November 2023 to Brazil on a pasport to be with my wife and start the process of obtaining a CRMN card. According to the update regarding " visiting visa " do I have to obtain a Visa? If yes, where and how?

Sincerely,

Hocytek
-@hocytek

In total agreement with Abthree. If you are in the USA, absolutely go the VITEM X1 route now, starting anytime now, while in the USA. It will be so much easier, you have no idea.

I want to thank you for your input and I apologize for Misspelled words. I don't know what docs I need entirely because I know I submitted a lot of documents over in brazil. I'm on my way right now to go. Take a photograph so I can upload it even though I do have a digital I d inform of a state I d. I do have some time right now ample time to get all the docks in place. I just don't know what else what docks I need.

Once again thank you for your input.

Hector

@hocytek

Where do you live? This is needed to determine which Consulate you would use. However, if you are headed to Brazil now, that won't help. When are you coming to Brazil?

03/30/23  I want to thank you for your input and I apologize for Misspelled words. I don't know what docs I need entirely because I know I submitted a lot of documents over in brazil. I'm on my way right now to go. Take a photograph so I can upload it even though I do have a digital I d inform of a state I d. I do have some time right now ample time to get all the docks in place. I just don't know what else what docks I need.
Once again thank you for your input.
Hector
-@hocytek

Here's the complete information, including required documents, from the Brazilian Consulate General in Chicago:

https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/consulado- … e-vitem-xi

For information about other types of visa, go to this page and just keep going down the menu, button by button:

https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/consulado- … -of-visa-1

@rraypo

Thank you for your input. I just sent an email to the consulate of Brazil here in Chicago. I actually even called and--to my surprise---someone picked up the call! I did fill out the application for a visa but it didn't give me an option to select for a VITEM X1.

Sincerely,

Hocytek

@abthree

QUESTION. One-way flight

(to be retained by the Consulate)

Present a hard copy of the one-way ticket or e-ticket bearing the applicant's name; or

A signed letter from the airline or travel agent, on their letterhead, with the itinerary, name(s) of the passenger(s), flight number or cruise information, and date of arrival in Brazil.

For airline employees and their dependents: a copy of their airline I.D. card and a letter from the airline, on company letterhead, with the itinerary.

Do I have to buy one-way airline ticket. Why not round trip? Is that an option?

@rraypo

November 2023

I am going to fill out the appy. Don't I have to submit the background documents when I along with the application when I finalize it?  In other words, all documents have to be submitted when I fill out the application correct?

Hocytek

03/30/23 @abthree QUESTION. One-way flight
Do I have to buy one-way airline ticket. Why not round trip? Is that an option?
-@hocytek

You're going to have to strategize this a bit.

-- You can try to complete your eVisa application without including a flight at all. If you're applying very early, it makes sense that you wouldn't make your arrangements too far in advance. You can explain this to the consular officer when you go in for your interview.

-- If the system won't accept your application without an airline reservation, you can make a one-way reservation, include the itinerary in your application, and change your arrangements after you have your visa, if you decide later that a different itinerary would be more convenient for you. In that case, you should be able to cancel that one and apply the credit to your new ticket.

-- you can put a round trip itinerary in your application, but if you do, you'll need a plausible explanation for the consular officer to convince him/her that you are not going to still be living in the United States after you supposedly leave for Brazil on a VITEM XI visa. If they conclude that you're not really moving to Brazil yet, they may tell you to travel on a tourist visa this time, and reapply for the VITEM XI when you really ARE ready to move.

The way airline schedules and pricing change, you may be altering your plans anyway, whether you want to or not. I got my visa in August and wasn't traveling until November, and I didn't have to include an airline ticket or itinerary. When I went to buy a one-way ticket, I ended up buying a round trip instead and throwing away the return, because for that day for my destination, a one-way ticket cost $1700, and a round trip cost $1300! Strange but true.

This makes a lot of sense.

Thank you,

hocytek

@rraypo

I live in Illinois. I am in the process of apply for a visa. How much is the fee for this?

I was provided a list of fees for a wide range of visas, but I just need at this time a standard visa.

@hocytek

you hit the nail on the head. its not about reciprocity, it's more about Lula's government trying to find ways to plug the deficit spending since they want to overspend on the budget cap.

@hocytek
you hit the nail on the head. its not about reciprocity, it's more about Lula's government trying to find ways to plug the deficit spending since they want to overspend on the budget cap.
-@jc1234

I don't believe it's that.  In the grand scheme of things, a few dolllars from Visa processing fees isn't going to do much for the budget.  Personally, if I was Brazil, I'd be more concerned about the impact to the tourism industry and take the increased tourist income and laugh at the US policy on the way to the bank.  It's the more pragmatic approach, IMO.  Lula has made the calculation that he'll get more votes by reinstating the policy, and he is probably correct.  It is a political decision.   After reading the report I linked to in item #20 the issue appears to be the Visa refusal rate, and I doubt there is much Brazil can do about that.  Brasil will never meet the requirements of Visa Waiver unless the US changes the criteria.