Brazil postpones visa requirements for people from the US, Australia and Canada

BRASILIA, January 4 (EFE).- Brazil has once again postponed visa requirements to enter the country for citizens of the United States, Australia and Canada, which were scheduled to begin on January 10 and will now be on April 10, this report said. Thursday government.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained in a statement that this measure comes “to complete the process of implementing the electronic visa system, which will facilitate and speed up the issuance” of visas.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the new postponement comes on the basis of the sufficiency of allowing visas to be granted “for a period of up to 10 years and with multiple entries,” based on the “principle of reciprocity.”

The ministry said that 42% of the 30,000 visas requested, so far, contain “inaccurate information when filling out the application form and in the documents submitted.”

For its part, the presidency said in a statement that another reason for the postponement was “to avoid problems during the high tourism season” in January and February, when the carnival will be held throughout the country.

In May 2023, Brazil set the requirement as of October after holding “consultations” with those countries, to no avail, on “the possibility of granting visa exemptions” to Brazilian travelers “in respect of the principle of reciprocity.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that the fourth country on the list was Japan, but last August an agreement was reached to exempt citizens of the two countries from entry visas for “short-term” trips.

In September, Brazil postponed the entry into force of the measure, which was initially scheduled for October, and set January 10, 2024 as the new date.

In March 2019, the government of former President Jair Bolsonaro did not apply the principle of reciprocity followed by his predecessors and abolished the visa requirement for citizens of those four countries, without the same pay.

Bolsonaro's argument was to facilitate tourism and business.