Starting January 10, 2024 Brazil will require Americans, Canadians, and Australians to obtain a visa for entry to the country. The cost will be approximately $80 and allow multiple entry for 10 years (Canadians and Australians only get 5 years).
To apply electronically you’ll need:
- a flight reservation showing arrival and departure
- two free visa pages
- a bank statement showing a balance of at least $2,000 and the most recent 30 days of transactions
Brazil had warned of a reinstated visa requirement that was supposed to start October 1 but was pushed off.
It’s a move by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (“Lula”) reminiscent of Cleavon Little holding a gun to his own head in Blazing Saddles. The U.S. didn’t eliminate visa requirements for Brazilians, so he’ll… reduce tourism and business travel to his own country in response. There’s no question that the U.S. makes it irrationally difficult to visit legally, so Brazil will make it irrationally difficult (but not as difficult) in response.
However the hassle and cost of the visa isn’t the real problem for Americans. It’s the requirement to send a bank statement.
- My transactions for the last 30 days are none of Brazil’s business. Sharing that data alone is reason enough to prefer avoiding the country.
- But providing financial details, including account balance, seems like an invitation for a member of the Brazilian civil service to sell that information to kidnap and ransom gangs.
Here are 2021 incidents of kidnapping, and note that Brazil’s population isn’t quite double Mexico yet had four times the kidnappings. And Mexico isn’t a place immune to them.
Some of you will surely respond by pointing out the amount of personal information that the U.S. collects both as part of its visa process and through covert and sometimes illegal means. That’s fair, but not really on point. I am not comfortable providing bank records to the Brazilian government as a condition of entry.
Anyone choosing to do so might be advised to use an account with limited funds (don’t have much more than the required $2,000 in it) and that isn’t your primary account for transacting.
On the one hand, it’s Lula – he’s a leftist with bad ideas that don’t yield any success or growth (just as any of the left’s ideas), and he’s also pandering to anti-American sentiments with some.
On the other hand, since the US seems to be letting anyone and everyone in through their land border it does make one think – what is the point of having a large, expensive apparatus for visa requests, handling, approval etc? Just let anyone in via airports as well (and “terrorism” prevention isn’t valid in my opinion since the US really has little clue who are the millions that have come in to it’s soil via land and not via air)
This has been on my radar.
And with my luck, I have an EZE-GIG flight on January 12.
There’s a reason the US requires a visa. The number of overstays is at least an order of magnitude greater for Brazilians visiting the US versus Americans visiting Brazil.
I actually agree that u don’t want to provide data to brazil. But here what I’d do. I would transfer exactly $2000 into an account I don’t use and send in my 30 day transaction history 🙂
Nothing.worse for any economy than leftist ideas. Anything with the word social in if (except for bars ) is bound for certain failure.
Brazil’s policies are ridiculous and I agree the U.S. has made it absurdly difficult to have a normal visit. But regarding “social”–ah yes, those awful socialist democracies like Norway, Sweden and Denmark where people go bankrupt with paying into a private health care system, where student debt destroys the possibility of a good education for many, where corporations are treated like people who can buy politicians…oh wait, I must have them mixed up with another country.
The U.S. didn’t eliminate visa requirements for Brazilians, so he’ll … ask Americans to do exactly the same as what Brazilians have to do for US entry.
Thank you, Gary for this info! I had a trip to São Paulo scheduled for January 12. Just cancelled it. I will not give them my bank statement! And just gave the info to the Key desk!
I remember back in 2013 I had to apply for a Brazilian tourist visa and I don’t recall them asking for bank details. Brazil got rid of the visa requirement for Americans around 2016 or 2017 to increase tourism but I’m guessing they miss the cash cow from visa fees?
With the rise in cost of living I don’t think I maintain a $2000 average. Guess I’ll be going Destin vs Brazil.
The world’s premier shitholes require visas of the one country their residents want to move to and politicians want to hide money in.
Speaking of which, on a dating app in any U.S. city it’s as if there are no Brazilian, Mexican, Colombian, Korean, Indian, or Chinese women left in their respective countries.
Works for me, as dipping my stick in the locally-sourced tattooed soup is depressing.
You realize the US requires this same information… And agreed, it’s none of their darn business just like the US has no right to look at bank statements, social media posts, etc. But that’s why it’s reciprocity. Calling out one side is pure hypocrisy.
I respectfully disagree with the notion that expressing concerns about trusting the Brazilian government equates to discrimination. Similarly, when applying for a US B1 B2 visa, Brazilian citizens are expected to provide a bank statement, ensuring they can cover travel and living expenses. This practice is reciprocal and aims to maintain the integrity of visa processes globally, emphasizing financial responsibility and ties to one’s home country.
Plenty of other countries. No need to go to Brazil for me. Most other countries are much safer when it comes to street crime.
Gary you so you and I’ll do me.
I have idea why the US even has Passport control and hassles alot of folks to spend alot of time and money to get a Visa
The other week at JFK it looked like a 10 mile line for CBP, yet we are letting in Millions over the Mex border w/o Visas, Passport or any $$$ in their pockets who will be relying on The US to provide for them.
So we hassle those who can afford to come here and spend good money and welcome with open arms who knows who
Just happy with went to Iguazu in Aug, but it was a crap shoot if they would let you into the Brazil side w/o a Visa when they had a Visa requirement yrs ago
FYI to ‘drrichard’ above: “Socialist” Denmark (9th), Sweden (10th), Norway (11th) and Finland (12th) rank very high on the conservative Heritage Foundation’s 2023 Index of Economic Freedom {link below) – the US comes in at 25th; even the former Soviet vassal states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania rank higher on this index than the US. Various of the Nordics have no minimum wage, they’ve school choice (vouchers), no inheritance/gift taxes, and privatized public services. Most all of the aforementioned seven countries even have lower corporate tax rates than the US (although individual tax rates in some are very high); all of them are considered very market – oriented and “pro – capitalist”. Those who call the Nordics “socialist” need to stop listening to Bernie Sanders, lol…
https://www.heritage.org/index/ranking
This is nothing new, Brazil has required a credit card statement showing that you have the required funds available whenever extending your 90 day entry stamp. Believing that the police are going to sell your credit card info to kidnappers makes me think you have some mental illness, you should consider taking a beach day or talking to a mental health specialist. With the average apartment cost in Ipanema starting at $500,000 USD your credit card statement isn’t going to look very appealing to these imagined kidnappers. I like a idea of less foreigners coming to Brazil because they are usually annoying delusional and entitled people but this article is just ridiculous.
@drrichard – Right on!! 100%.
The United States border is OPEN! No need for a visa.
Stupid, but not a big deal. As you say, if you’re paranoid, set up a separate travel expenses account.
First time I went to Brazil I had to apply by “snail mail” and get a visa attached to my US passport.
If Brazil wants the revenue, just collect the fee at the airport!
If you can’t scrape together US$ 2000 you probably shouldn’t be vacationing in Brazil. If it’s a family matter, yes Brazil should allow that exception. But yes, infamous stupidity of Brazilian bureaucracy…
I am now a legal resident of Brazil, so I am familiar with some of this.
For some strange reason Brazil thought that by eliminating the visa requirement for Americans we (USA) would eliminate it for Brazilians. Yeah right. The number of overstays by Brazilians is so high Brazil will never qualify for visa free status. That is their own fault. If they would start obeying the visa rules and not overstaying their visas they would get visa free status but that will never happen.
Due to family reasons I have to travel to Brazil but I did what Gary suggested. Opened an account. Placed 2,000 there. Left it alone. As soon as my visa is approved I’ll close the account. I don’t trust Brazil with my information.
I see an opportunity for some enterprising teenager with basic technical skills to start up a “Brazil visa bank statement” service to provide statements for anyone not savvy enough to create their own fake bank statement
Thank you, Gary, for staying away from Brazil! Please spend your vacations in Saudia Arabia, or Guantanamo Bay, or wherever you feel more welcome.
Lula never thought that instituting visas would convince the USA to eliminate the requirement of visas for Brazilians. It’s purely a sop to his leftist constituency who will get a charge out of sticking it to Americans, even knowing that it will harm Brazil far more than it will ever harm Americans.
Lula is a criminal who was jailed for bribery – freed only on a technicality by politically activist judges from his own Party – and his leftist clique are a bunch of evil kleptomaniacs too, so the welfare of the average Brazilian means nothing to them. This is purely about Brazilian domestic politics, and not it’s foreign relations.
Brazil in my opinion is in the top three most interesting countries to travel to, and by margin the most beautiful country in the world, but I wouldn’t blame anybody for giving it a miss until Lula is gone.
As a US citizen who is a frequent traveler to Brazil, this is no surprise. Except for the last four years, when it was briefly waived, Brazil has always required a visa for travel from the US. What’s new is the financial disclosure and that is, indeed, very dangerous. The numbers in the chart are vastly underreported. Most families do not report a kidnapping. They haggle with the kidnappers and then pay. This can take months. Kidnapping is such a real possibility there that my wealthy friends will not let me go out without the chauffeur driving, a bodyguard and an “auntie.” The chauffeur of this family never stops at traffic lights, just blasts the horn and goes through because of the risk of stopping. They’ve had far too many attempted and successful kidnappings. I’m sure there will be “Rich Americans Incoming” files for sale. It’s a very good idea to use a credit union or small bank account for the purpose of this visa.
I was about to use some Alaska miles to go there… thanks.
This is a really crazy article. I have lived in Brazil for five years as an ExPat. It is a wonderful and beautiful country. If you want to experience bureaucracy, the US puts such stringent rules on banks and the information they must share back to the US to move even modest amounts of money abroad. And you are not going to be kidnapped here. You are just going to enjoy better weather, eat really healthy food close to the source, and your money will go 3 times farther. I was in shock visiting Starbucks in the US. It costs more than a lobster dinner here to get a quase natural mango syrup lemonade. Don’t get me started.
@Karl Schieneman – (1) I have much enjoyed my time in Brazil over the years (2) comparing to the U.S., which I point out is pretty bad in this regard, is irrelevant for Americans considering whether they wish to submit to these requirements.
We have to pay hundreds and hundreds for a VISA so we can spend money in your country, answer questions such as “have you ever been a part of a terrorist cell” and you can’t provide a $2,000 bank statement?
We don’t need you,.don’t come.
We will be at the Iguazú Falls, Argentinian side, in June, and had hoped to see the Brazilian side also. If Brazil enforces this at land borders, we will not cross into Brazil.
Presenting a bank statement is a standard requirement for visa requests in most countries, to prove you have means to return to your own country. You are not as important as to assume your information would be sold to gangs; and the brazilian civil service is not as criminal as to assume they have connections with said gangs (they are actually quite professional).
While there can be a discussion whether its a good policy to apply reciprocity in international relations, stating that americans can apply certain standards that brazilians cannot, just reeks of imperialist prejudice.
As they say in Brazil: ‘o choro é livre’
I have a Visa from before it was waived that doesn’t expire until 2025.
Does anybody know if I can still only use that until it expires?
@Thomas – existing visas are still valid as I understand it
“There’s no question that the U.S. makes it irrationally difficult to visit legally, so Brazil will make it irrationally difficult (but not as difficult) in response.”
To quote the great Walter Williams.
“If you and I are at sea in a rowboat and I commit the foolish act of shooting a hole in my end of the boat, would it be intelligent for you to retaliate by shooting a hole in your end of the boat?”
I enjoy your blog, but are deeply disturbed about your comments about Brazil that have no context. There is no evidence EVER that Brazil Immigration or Customs Officials have been partners with drug dealers and criminals nor have the sold information about Americans to them. Also, Brazil is a very large country with 26 states and over 200 million people; it is wrong, and I would say prejudiced to paint the whole country as dangerous and crime ravaged especially since you haven not visited the country. It is incorrect to imply that the kidnappings are happening everywhere and put tourists at risk. Brazil is geographic and demographically as diverse as the United States. Would you stereotype Baltimore, D.C. the South Side of Chicago or parts of New York as representative of the entire country because of their crime rates? Of course not. Please don’t do that to Brazil that has some of the most beautiful and safe beaches in the world with wonderful resorts. and dynamic and safe cities such as Curitiba, Florianopolis and yes Sao Paulo.
As long as they take
George Santos back I’m good…..
I noticed he waited until
AFTER the Taylor Swift concerts…..
@James N – I knew Walter very well. He had an office down the hall and he much liked my wine picks.
The Visa processing is done by VFS Global. Which is a Dubai/Indian operation. They have a their share of data theft scandals. But Brazil won’t be processing your bank statement and not sure if Ragiv at VFS will be in cahoots with Rio gangsters (who tend not to be the smartest).
That being said, I’m unlikely to apply for a visa because of the many countries where I don’t have to. And because virtually all my brazilian friends now live in Europe. So your point is still correct.
I will not be applying if I have to send my physical passport to any agency of any country to which my traveling is a choice, which means all countries that I am aware of – in this day and age electronic visas are the norm. Too much anxiety awaiting the safe return of the PPT. Not too worried about sending a statement from a checking account containing just over $2k, which is easily arranged with online transfers.
Oh wait – not giving them 30 days of transactions …
Lula is so goddamm stupid
I wonder if the author of this article, who is uncomfortable providing to Brazilian authorities *one* bank statement during a *ten*-year period, is also a defender of FATCA. Under FATCA, people who do not live in the United States and may not ever wish to travel there are required to provide to US authorities *each year* detailed information about *ALL* their financial accounts outside the United States, subject to draconian penalties. Their financial institutions outside the United States who do not also provide such information *each year* are also subject to draconian penalties. I wonder how the author of this article would defend FATCA all while objecting to Brazil merely wanting confirmation that the people coming to their country can support themselves while they are there.
Why does the US need your entire bank history and so much more when you apply for a visa then? It’s the reciprocation that Brazil is doing.
Also u are allowed 10000 rias not 10000 usd. To take with cash
5 more reasons to not visit Brazil;
1. The incomprehensible language.
2. Less than 5% of the population speak any degree of English, comparable to Russia, China and Laos.
3. You cannot get a prepaid SIM card without a CPF, a Brazilian Tax Number, comparable to a US Social Security Number.
4. They eat boiled hot dogs with their eggs for breakfast.
5. They are cozying up to Iran, letting them dock their ships and refuel there.
On the other hand, I feel safer there than in my hometown of San Francisco. Of course, I don’t buy drugs, drink excessively or partake in their legalized prostitution. (Or eat the hot dogs).
PS, on average, the police kill 6 scumbags a day, without repercussion.
I don’t know why people get so butthurt with some reciprocity, then just don’t go. It has always been that way before 2016 and guess what, there were flights to Brazil every single day full of americans. Just show your cashapp statement and it’s cool or a savings accnt you don’t use much, they are not asking to see your 401k statement. The problem is that the average american don’t have 2k in a bank. As for the person who complained about how dangerous Brazil is, have you been to parts of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago or LA lately?
I’m currently in another country on a one year visa where the Immigration Police sent someone to our house to interview a neighbor. Oh, I had to deposit $11K in a local bank account for 6 months prior. Boo Hoo Hoo. I’m saving more money in my life, going on cheap vacations to islands with white sands beaches, food is great, no snow ever. If you can’t stand the heat, stay home and watch TV.
So in USA you have a criminal President about to spend a lot of time in jail and in Brazil you have a crazy left-wing dictator who is a criminal having spent time in jail, all wanting to know how I spend my money before I enter. Yeah, right, that’s going to happen LOL.
What a pair of clowns. But both were voted for by the people “Apparently” so the people of the USA and Brazil need to suck it up. Crazy lunatics running the joints and tourists will stop coming.
But here’s an idea Brazilians, head to the US-Mexican border, you can cross over for free and be set free to do what illegal activities you want, and even get aid from the crazy lunatic running the joint. But best do it in 2024, because in 2025 when President Trump, a real leader, gains power, the r to the USA will be shut and shut hard to stop illegals coming in.
What has happened to USA and Brazil. Used to be such great countries to visit, people are great…. but under radical left wing lunatics both of them can kiss my fat ass
Cuba had zero cases of kidnapping but visiting would support the regime’s repression of the Cuban people.
Thank goodness not on my bucket list.
Ah, as if America’s process for people to visit or move isn’t any easier? America by and far is a joke as it pertains to the overly complex, expensive and nuanced process for someone to visit here from Brazil.
I’m a US Born citizen and make no mistakes, living in Brazil is far better than the United States in nearly every way but cuck on, Gary. Stick to bitching about upgrades you aren’t entitled to anyway.
OMG. The visa is intended, above all, to avoid prejudiced and ignorant people like the one who wrote this article and those who agree with him. Brazil has one of the largest information and data systems in the world, interconnected with systems from different countries, do you really think they want your bank statement to sell data? Spare me, please I beg you, don’t go to Brazil and it will be a favor to them and the Americans (or British like me) who like to visit there.
I have lived here in Brazil for the last year, and I am a permanent resident. Love Brazil. It has its positives and negatives the responses by Brazilians. I am not surprised every Brazilian that I talk to complain about the government about the crime about the prices about the taxes, etc., but they do not like foreigners to say anything at all negative about their country. I’ve learned that. So there cannot be a conversation about the negatives of Brazil with a Brazilian because automatically they will become defensive but if you are here and you’re having a conversation they would agree with almost everything you said , it’s very strange again I love Brazil as I love the United States both have their problems but let’s be realistic what country in the world do most people try to immigrate to to work and live it’s not Brazil. It’s the United States. Yes there are people from other countries that come here because it is better than a lot of other countries, but in general, I can tell you, and if we’re being honest and realistic Not all countries are equal people are not immigrating to Afghanistan or Iran from around the world because they want a profitable and happy life in general. They are the United States though, so it would make sense that the United States would have stricter rules in order to try to limit those that do not plan to return to their country And to work under the table but for some reason we want to pretend that all countries are equal and all countries should have the same laws and rules that’s unrealistic and that’s not correct yes, it’s frustrating for me that Brazil is reinstating the rules or the visa I should say But in the end I have no problem with it but I would say that I don’t know too many Americans coming to Brazil that want to move here because they think it’s a place where they can finally live the Brazilian dream. Meaning they’re going to work under the table. The rules in the United States are for just that to prove that you are a tourist, and that you plan to return and not Work without paying taxes not too many Americans are doing that here in Brazil. One of the things that I do say about Brazilians often is that they shoot themselves in the foot all the time they throw the baby out with the bathwater and even though I have a doctorate in sociology, this is one of the most complex And difficult cultures and societies to understand why they do what they do with that said I’m not saying anything negative I’m just saying my observations because I live in Brazil not because I have to not because it’s profitable to me because it’s actually very expensive to live here. The taxes are Extreme the banking system charges the highest interest rates and worst service in the world in the bureaucracy is absolutely breathtaking but I love Brazil and I love this country and I love the people just like whenever you complain to your child that you love very much that they did something wrong doesn’t mean that you don’t love them anymore because you’re telling them of their fault. That’s the way I’m talking about Brazil , I have no problem with the visa being reinstated but I think the bank statements are a little bit ridiculous being that like I said there’s very little if any Americans coming here with no plans to return and that would be the only reason to do that other than to Punish Americans because Americ requires Brazil to do this Brazilians to do the same again not all countries are the same not all countries, financial position, or whatever is the same and I’ll repeat people from all over the world try to get into the United States to work under the table far more than Brazil Brazilians, go to America to work I get asked almost every day about how the situation is for working under the table in the US, but I know of no Americans here working under the Table I’m sure there are but I know of none and it’s not a pervasive problem just my two. Cents.
“ My transactions for the last 30 days are none of Brazil’s business. ” Dude, the US literally asks Brazilians the transactions for the last 90 DAYS. What do you think US people are soooo awesome that they won’t give a bank statement ? Wake the hell up
@Emerson Ricardo – how to miss the point completely.
Reciprocal only, also, Brazil don’t live with north american tourism money, so don’t worry, they won’t feel anything if americans stop going there.
we as brazilians have to pay 185USD to get the visa.
so they should charge the exact same amount too.
I agree some people just wanna travel to the USA to work and get money to send over to brazil.
but they are working hard and they deserve the money they earn.
I am a tour guide and unfortunately I have little work because I don’t wanna live in a big city and here in my hometown we don’t get many foreigners.
Could you share the source of the kidnapping information? Also reciprocity policies for visas are fairly common in the world so not sure why you’re admonishing Brasil for it. The visa was revoked for a period of time following the Olympics and World Cup and then covid but it is nothing “new”. Overall this article comes across as highly biased and prejudicial.
Hilarious reading about how difficult it is to get into the US, with about 30 million illegals now here and thousands more arriving daily.
I have little doubt you could simply black out part of your account number and the document would still be accepted. I don’t know what all’s the fuss about
And if u r that worried just visit a Consulate and get ur visa there.
Amateurly written article! Did you know that Brazilian laws provide for reciprocity in countries’ entry agreements? And not just Brazil but several other countries? Dumb! Why should the rules for Americans be easier and the rules for Brazilians should be stricter? Congratulations Brazil, don’t depend on stupid Americans!
The difference is that I doubt Americans will be coming to Brazil to look for jobs, contrary to Brazilians that come to America (illegally) hoping against hope that they’ll be able to stay and have a better life than back home. I believe they’re successful since countless stay for good and try to bring their families. And many stay working illegally, hiding from authorities. But the US bordering Mexico, has an invasion of south Americans that without control, there wouldn’t be many people left, south of the border. So, in that comparing Brazil with America is absolutely ridiculous because the only people who try to “invade” Brazil are the poor Venezuelans running away from terrible misery and dictatorship. What will happen is Americans will be upset enough to tell Brazil ” to get lost” because there are MANY beautiful options in other countries.
Hilarious thread. If you think that US visa rules are comparable to Brazil’s you’re disillusioned at best. No one goes to Brazil to stay illegally, Brazil is not in the visa waiver programs for obvious reasons. It’s of course a requirement to prove that you can financially support yourself to go to a first world country and you’re not required to if you’re from a first world country visiting anywhere.
If you don’t understand why, you’re a moron.
Brazil can grandstand all they want, Gary is completely right: Giving financial information to a third world country for going on vacation should be a hard pass
Wow, worse than the wretched India e-visa. While India is a lovely cultural destination, its tourist board leaves much to desired. What Brazil is doing here is disgusting, and worse than India.
I remember the French visa debacle, pre-internet year.
I think that I’ll put off touring Brazil for yet another year. Many other lovely South American destinagtions.
If Brazil isn’t smart enough to realize that being as accepting and working as hard as possible to encourage outside investment and tourism isn’t the best legitimate way to climb up the economic ladder in the world and claim their place as a first world nation, one just like the places they regularly leave Brazil for legally or not, they will be damned to continue on forever with everything necessary to accomplish more and the complete inability to pull themselves together and make it happen. I was here 90 days beginning in August and again beginning early December. I see the average Brazilian needlessly suffering because of greed, shortsightedness, classism, corruption, laziness, selfishness, delusion, lack of cohesion, lack.of clarity and the poor utilization of all the resources they have literally falling from the trees. I know LOT regular people and the rich will.suffer big time once 1/3 as many tourists come here and contribute many hundreds of millions, if not more, to the economy, if they had a system in place that allowed more in the way of personal rights and the system was operated in a way that lends Itself to giving investors a feeling of stability, billions could easily come in from investors, Brazil could be the ultimate destination for.millions.of people who want to escape the insane cost of living in the USA and many other countries who are capable of spending hundreds of thousands or real.each per yeqr if they were allowed to.cpme.here the way the Philippines allows people to fo.with verynlittle.red.tape.or restrictions, make it veryneasy amd friwndlynfor us tomcome and gomaswe.need to do and stop.pretending that Brazilians are not going to break the terms of a US tourist Visa, if you want get more Brazilians the ability to live in more prosperous places letting them.have more contact with people from outside is good, if everyone in the world moved to the USA that will.remove the reason for living in the USA. Brazil doesn’t grow as a nation because it’s like crabs in a bucket, people pull each other down… that’s according to my fiancee, this rule is going to be nice for the exchange rate though, Brazil will.be doing much less exchanging for Dollars, hopefully the exchange rate will.go.back to.6 Real a USD again, I.will.be very happy about that it will make my retirement income go much further and keep the cost of living here cheap because there won’t be so much outside money floating around in the economy. Shoot yourself in the leg Brazil and make sure all the passport bros like me choose somewhere else to enrich and invigorate. Don’t address the fact that criminal gangs terrorize everyone and make them want to leave by allowing people the right to self defense and ditch racist drug laws from 100 years ago that put cartels in business. Don’t encourage your people to own property and build real wealth. Don’t put a stop to shortsightedness, petty corruption and banish the communists that incessantly lie and never fix the problems that make everyone want to leave in the first place. I love my new family and I can live in a place where many luxuries aren’t available. I can also defend myself and now how to never have the need as well. I have nothing against average Brazilians, I have a problem with you “leaders” I see a civil war on the horizon here before the USA because life is getting that bad for people here, when your people have nothing left to lose you better be scared and if the US military can’t win an insurgency war what makes you think you can?
Frank says “Hilarious reading about how difficult it is to get into the US, with about 30 million illegals now here and thousands more arriving daily.”
Couldn’t agree more yet Sleepy Joe continues to allow our borders to remain unsecured and welcomes illegals with open arms. What a slap in the face for those persons patiently waiting to emigrate here legally.
Just FYI. Here you can find the visa requirements for Brazilian citizens visiting the US: https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-br/niv/information/required_docs
They include:
Your ability to pay all the costs of your trip.
Evidence of your employment and/or family ties may be sufficient to show the purpose of your trip and your intent to return to your home country.
What Brazil seems to be doing is applying something called “reciprocity”.
I have visited Sao Paolo a couple of times, this time wanted to visit for 2 weeks in Jan, just happened to see this article, thank you! I was able to apply for the evisa. Seemed straightforward – the application clearly stated flight itinerary was OPTIONAL and to NOT book the tickets. But then after submitting the docs with bank statement ending Nov 15 (I am writing this on Dec 10), they are asking for statement until Nov 30 and also flight itinerary! Also, I have to submit within 12 hours (per email). I called to let them know that banks only provide statement every 30 days. They said to wait and then submit within 10 days.
Now I understand reciprocity etc. but this is not a good way to treat tourists. Since I have already booked the ticket, I will probably end up going, but will not take my family anymore due to all the minor child regulations and evisa requirement difficulties (bank statements for each family member?).
Hopefully the Brazilian govt will make it easier and not be as bureaucratic. Well, there are other countries I can visit – planning to go to Chile (Easter Island) and was just in Bogota – beautiful city. None of this e-visa formalities and challenges with latest bank statements, minor notaries etc. with either Colombia, Chile or Argentina for that matter.
I know the author meant well and he did give one important tip: don’t give anyone you don’t trust a copy of your bank statement showing $50k cash readily convertible to Bitcoin ransom.
BUT – the article title gives an air of entitled pettiness. Don’t tell people not to go to a country just because they decided to exercise visa reciprocity. Armed with the right information and exercise of common sense caution, a trip to Brazil can be as safe as your next road trip in the US (which has the highest traffic death among all developed countries – 3x the rate of western EU).
It’s very nice how U.S. citizens live in a bubble and think that they are the most amazing and important people in the world. Like, wake up, you are not that important for government to want to sell your information! Take this 2k in your bank statement and go buy a geography book, maybe you learn how to pop the bubble you live in!
The data I saw is a couple years old but the total number of visa overstays is highest among Brazilians. As a percentage of visas or of the population it is not highest, but still high. That is the reason for the US visa requirement.
You might remember the US added S. Korea to the visa waiver program, making everything much easier. I know a S. Korea who was ecstatic about this. The reason for the change was very low overstay numbers.
Please stop with the comments that the US does this out of delusion, self-importance, and unawareness. Even if all those things are true that’s not the reason. On the other hand, it is sort of refreshing to see Brazil stick up for its people. Brazil first.
The requirements are rather difficult to deal with, mainly because they provide inadequate guidance as to what is required.
If crossing at a land border, they decided to require a letter of some sort. They dont understand that the 1MB limit makes it impossible to add documents.
You need a bank statement less than 15 days old and it cant be more than 3 pages because it wont fit in the 1MB limit.
The Passport photo must be uploaded as a .png file ONLY (even though they say jpg is allowed) Theres a bug in the vfs site.
Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but there is currently (as of December 27, 2023) a serious problem with getting Brazilian visas. The third-part website that you use to apply (and where you upload all your documents) doesn’t work right. And once you have completed the application, and received a receipt, nothing further happens. We are leaving for a cruise that includes Brazil in 10 days, having spent three weeks trying to apply, and we still haven’t heard. There are probably hundreds of people just on our Regent cruise who won’t be able to get into Brazil. There’s frantic posting on the Regent fans’ website, and we’ve received two frantic emails from Regent itself. I feel there ought to be a story here. Not sure whether Regent will cancel the cruise, or reroute it away from Brazil.
We love visiting Brazil as a tourist from the U.S. We also frequent Argentina and Chile. On our last cruise, Brazil taxed our beverages purchased and also the free ones on the ship upon entering Brazilian waters. We don’t care about the money but it seems a little childish. Now the Visa process which is unworkable as Steven said in his post. So Brazil will force the cruise line to reroute or cancel. So we spend the money on the cruise, and cannot get the VISA from Brazil because they can’t figure out how to implement it and their approval process computing has crashed. If anyone has a site where they were successful, please post. Thank you.
Have you seen what the USA asks for when a Brazilian needs a tourist visa?