This post has been updated with new information.
Just a few years after visiting Brazil got easier for Americans, traveling to the South American nation is about to get harder again.
On April 10, Brazil's government will return to requiring visas for tourists from the United States, Canada, and Australia.
The visa will cost US$80.90 per person and can be acquired online.
The electronic visa will remain valid for U.S. citizens for 10 years, and will remain valid for Canadians and Australians for 5 years each. During the validity period, visa holders are entitled to multiple entries in Brazil. In other words, Americans won't have to keep reapplying if they want to visit Brazil more than once a decade.
To apply for a visa, go to the official website and enter the required information, including passport details, your flight confirmation, and some personal financial info that at least one consumer protection group says could put you at risk of identity theft or worse.
The final step in the application process is paying the fee with a credit or debit card.
Once approved, you'll receive an email with your electronic visa as a PDF attachment.
Be sure to download and print the visa as a hard copy to present to border authorities upon arrival in Brazil. The visa instructions advise printing two copies and saving another as a screenshot on your phone, which seems wise.
"The average processing time for an eVisa application is typically 5 working days," according to the online instructions. To be on the safe side, however, the government "strongly advise[s] applying for your eVisa two months before your planned travel to Brazil."
Last year Brazil announced that citizens of the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Japan would need visas starting in October 2023. Japan was later excused from the requirement and the start date for the other countries was pushed back to January 2024.
Another postponement delayed the launch to April in order to give officials time to finish implementing the system and to "prevent the change from interfering with the flow of tourists from these countries to Brazil during the high season," according to Brazil's tourism board.
As Frommer's explained at the time of the initial announcement, Brazil's justification for resuming the visa requirement, which had been lifted in 2019, has to do primarily with reciprocity.
If the U.S., Canada, and Australia want their citizens to be let into Brazil for vacations sans visa, Brazil's government wants those other nations to lift their own visa requirements for Brazilians.
So Brazil's changed policy amounts to a tit-for-tat, vice-versa visa. And, true to its word, the Brazilian government did drop Japan from the visa requirement in August, when the two countries reached an agreement on reciprocal exemption for visas, meaning Japan no longer requires Brazilians to get special permission for visits of less than 90 days.
But, barring further delays, travelers from the other three nations, including the U.S., will need to complete the online process, which resembles the one in effect from 2017 to 2019.
Count your lucky stars that Brazil isn't bringing back the burdensome system in place before November 2017. Back then, prospective travelers had to make an in-person appointment at a Brazilian consulate and pay a steep charge of $160.
For more information about the relaunched visa, go to Brazil.VFSeVisa.com.
