Effective April 10, Canadians travelling to Brazil will again require a visa after the South American country reintroduced requirements for travellers from this country, as well as the U.S. and Australia. E-visas may be obtained online via the authorized VFS Global site at https://brazil.vfsevisa.com/ .

Visas for Canadian tourists arriving in Brazil by air, sea or land are required to obtain a visa granting permission into the country for stays of up to 90 days; the documents, however, do not apply to students or those travelling to Brazil for business.

Prior to this, tourists were allowed to stay in the country without a visa for up to 90 days.

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, had scrapped the visa requirements in a 2019 decree as he sought to boost the country’s tourism industry, though that went against the South American country’s tradition of requiring visas from travellers based on the principle of reciprocity and equal treatment. (Canada requires visas for Brazilians).

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.

However, 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.

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