Confirmed! Brazil will again require visas for travelers from Australia, Canada and the United States in 2024

Posted On: September 8, 2023

As we announced in March this year, Brazil will once again require entry visas for citizens holding passports from three countries: Australia, Canada and the United States. The measure will come into force from January 10, 2024.

Itamaraty Statement

The Brazilian government, in an official statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that it will once again require visas for Australian, Canadian and American citizens.

In May of this year, the MRE began negotiations with these three countries and with Japan so that the same exemption applied since June 2019 to citizens of these four countries also applies to Brazilians entering their territory.

In the first announcement, it was informed that Brazil would again require visas from October 1, 2023. Now, Itamaraty informed that the resumption of the document requirement for the trio of nations has a new start date : January 10, 2024.

Exemption for Japan

When we announced the return of visa requirements for citizens of the United States, Canada and Australia in March, Japan was also on the list of countries. However, following the recent reciprocal exemption agreement, the country was removed from the list.

The measure will be valid for entries for up to 90 days from September 30, 2023.

Comment

According to Itamaraty, this decision is part of the so-called principle of reciprocity. Widely used in international law, this principle states that all states are equal in rights and duties towards each other, with no hierarchy between them. Therefore, the most common practice is for a country to exempt visas only for foreigners from countries that also do so for citizens of that country.

From 2019 to present, Brazil has deviated from this practice by providing a unilateral exemption to these countries, even though Australia, Canada and the United States require visas for Brazilian passport holders. The measure announced today comes after MRE consultations with these countries regarding the possibilities of guaranteeing such an exemption to Brazilian citizens.

The official press release that you can read here.