Brazil to reinstate visas for US, Canadian and Australian citizens

MAURICIO SAVARESE

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil will reintroduce visa requirements Thursday for U.S., Canadian and Australian citizens, a move that ends the country's open entry for people of those nationalities after six years.

The United States Embassy in Brasilia said Monday that Americans will still be able to request visas electronically if they visit from April 10 onward.

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, scrapped the visa requirements in a 2019 decree as he sought to boost the country’s tourism industry.

That went against the South American country’s tradition of requiring visas from travelers based on the principle of reciprocity and equal treatment.

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva suspended the free entry of Americans, Canadians and Australians in March of 2023, shortly after he defeated Bolsonaro. The leftist leader said then it was based on the principle of reciprocity as Brazilians still need visas for those countries.

Lula's decision was postponed from coming into force three times as the government negotiated to get reciprocity for Brazilians, but no change was made.

Brazil's Senate approved a bill earlier this year to keep the visa exemption for the three countries, but the mood changed in the lower house after Trump imposed a 10% tariff on Brazilian goods last week. Allies of Speaker Hugo Motta have said the bill will not come to a final vote any time soon.

Last week, Brazil's Congress swiftly passed a reciprocity bill so the country's executive has leeway to impose retaliation tariffs on countries that impose barriers to Brazilian goods. The bill is yet to be sanctioned by Lula.