In October Brazil announced that in 2018 they’d begin issuing electronic visas for citizens of the United States, Australia, Canada, and Japan. This is such a huge step in the right direction, given that previously getting a visa to Brazil was both costly and time consuming. Well, there’s great news — as of today, US citizens can apply for Brazilian e-visas. The cost to apply is just $40, plus a $4.24 service fee, which is a huge reduction over the previous fee of $160.
You can apply for a Brazilian e-visa here, and read all the frequently asked questions here. To apply you’ll need to register on the site, complete the visa application form, upload mandatory documents, answer a set of questions, and then make the online payment for the fee.
The application page indicates that visas should be approved 4-5 business days after the completed application is submitted. E-visas should be valid for two years from when they’re issued, or when the passport expires, whichever comes first. They’re valid for multiple entries, though you can’t spend more than 90 days per year in Brazil with an e-visa.
The only slight downside is that previously visas were valid for 10 years rather than two years, though that’s a small price to pay for the convenience of being able to get a visa online for just over a quarter of the cost.
Brazil hopes that their simplified visa process contributes to a 25% boost in visitors. That might be optimistic, though I do imagine they’ll see a significant boost in interest, especially given what a pain the visa process previously was. From a traveler’s perspective, though, we just don’t see that many amazingly low fares to Brazil. While it seems like $400-500 roundtrip fares to Europe are the norm nowadays, it’s rare to see fares that low to Brazil.
Does Brazil’s new e-visa policy make you more likely to visit?
if brazil really want to increase tourism they should do away with visas all together...
The link is not working for me either.
Jericoacoara is one of the most incredible destinations in the world -- like in the top tiny handful -- but I wouldn't recommend it for somebody who is looking for a beach destination, unless they have a very broad view of that term. The tide goes out for hundreds of meters (maybe thousands) and it is not really perfect for sunbathing. This is a better destination for people interested in scenic beauty and nature more...
Jericoacoara is one of the most incredible destinations in the world -- like in the top tiny handful -- but I wouldn't recommend it for somebody who is looking for a beach destination, unless they have a very broad view of that term. The tide goes out for hundreds of meters (maybe thousands) and it is not really perfect for sunbathing. This is a better destination for people interested in scenic beauty and nature more generally, exploring the dunes, swimming in the lagoons, horseback riding on the beach, etc. I'm afraid the new flight will likely change that place forever, and I wouldn't wait to go for anybody interested.
For those looking for the best beaches near Rio, I suggest Ilha Grande, which is a two hour or so drive from Zona Sul, followed by a 25 minute boat ride. Many of the beaches there compare to the best of the Northeast, and the best (Lopes Mendes, reachable only by water taxi and a hike) is one of the top beaches in the world as far as I'm concerned.
One bad thing about the new visa which needs clarification is the 90 day per year limit. The old visa had a 180 day per year limit, with a maximum of 90 days per stay. Have they really reduced this?
@Trup I recommend flying to Jericoacoara and staying at Essenza Hotel, they have individual plunge pools in all the 2 level apartments facing the beach. Jeri is a small village that has a huge tourism structure right now. Fernando de Noronha is also an option, it's our version of Hawaii. A tropical island off the coast of Pernambuco, it's basically paradise, plenty of American politicians and celebrities have visited. For closer beaches to Sao Paulo,...
@Trup I recommend flying to Jericoacoara and staying at Essenza Hotel, they have individual plunge pools in all the 2 level apartments facing the beach. Jeri is a small village that has a huge tourism structure right now. Fernando de Noronha is also an option, it's our version of Hawaii. A tropical island off the coast of Pernambuco, it's basically paradise, plenty of American politicians and celebrities have visited. For closer beaches to Sao Paulo, I recommend flying to Florianopolis and staying in Jurere area, a rich neighborhood with the most beautiful beaches. Also, churrasco (famous brazilian bbq) is from the south, so no better place to indulge ;)
Hi, the link is not working for me. I get an error message. Has anyone actually had any luck using this?
Thank in advance!
Funniest circumstances: being asked for your travel history in the last five years when donating blood at a bank. That might take a while. Somehow I qualified given I spent my time in 27 countries with CDC warnings in 2017, including pretty much everywhere with a zika alert.
cool. I may consider it. a high visa fee is a real turn off to me. I never know how much I'll spend when going to a country, but if they have a high visa price, I'll go elsewhere every time.
If the reais dropped a bit then I would consider going to GRU. I want to check out the pizza scene there also drink a dozen cafezhinos.
@Trup: you should consider going to Florianopolis in south brazil, as known as the "island of magic" with 42 amazing beaches and verry cheap flights from GRU, accomodation and food, which is delicious. Look at some pictures in google.
Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm Brazilian but my wife doesn't have visa. I will ask her to apply tonight.
@Trup You should definitely consider going to Jericoacoara. This small paradise was hard to reach in the past (you needed to combine air travel to a major city with a 4h transfer), but now there are direct flights from Sao Paulo (arlines: Gol and Azul). In Sao Paulo area you could also try Ilhabela.
Can you apply just for the sake of it even if you don't have any immediate travel plans or ticketed reservations?
I have specifically been holding off on Brazil since my last visa expired. I am booked for April. I went to Chile when they took away their fee, and went to Argentina before they charged a fee, but said I wouldn't go back during the fee days. Nice to see it easier to travel to south America, though I still know its a pain for a lot of them to get a visa to the US and Canada.
@Santastico. Thanks for the ideas. We are flying out of Sao Paulo and when we booked a few months ago they were not on the recommended area for yellow fever shot but Rio was. In looking at the CDC website today, pretty much all of Brazil is recommended for the shot now. So if we are going to Sao Paulo we will need a shot so might as well go to Rio now!
@Trup: are you looking for beaches only in the Rio area? If yes, Buzios, Angra and Parati are great places couple hours driving from Rio. Now if you want amazing beaches and travel by plane is not a problem (Brazil is a huge country) than go to the NE area and explore amazing resorts in Bahia, Pernanbuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Alagoas or even more amazing the island of Fernando de Noronha. I would definitely...
@Trup: are you looking for beaches only in the Rio area? If yes, Buzios, Angra and Parati are great places couple hours driving from Rio. Now if you want amazing beaches and travel by plane is not a problem (Brazil is a huge country) than go to the NE area and explore amazing resorts in Bahia, Pernanbuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Alagoas or even more amazing the island of Fernando de Noronha. I would definitely get a shot against yellow fever as unfortunately it is all over the place in Brazil now.
I’ve been searching for info on when this was actually going to be available (we have a Jan 31 trip to São Paulo) unfortunately we couldn’t keep waiting and had to do it the old fashioned way with a visa service. Total cost for two with Brazil Embassy fees and Visa Service fees $855. Ouch! We could have done it today for $88.48. Actually, when you realize our visas are good for 10 years, we didn’t do too bad.
Besides Rio, what are the best beaches to visit? We have half a vacation planned with just a flight booked home from Sao Paulo. While the state department doesn't have a travel advisory, the CDC recommends a yellow fever shot for visiting the city of Rio. Wife doesn't want to go without the shot and she is concerned of side affects, especially with kids. Looking for a nice resort town that is not part of the CDC shot recommended area.
For those of us in the business world who use visa services, this old visa was such a pain to get that with the service fees the visa service charged this visa was easily $500. So, the new option is much faster, and cheaper if you consider the full cost for a lot of us. (And spare me the "I do it myself and it's free" stuff, business people don't usually have that option, we need it easy and fast).
10 years was $160. 2 years now is $40. And you say it was a huge reduction? For business travelers that go often to Brazil I see a huge price increase here unless they kept th $160 option for 10 years.
@schar - jake p's wife might be pregnant, in which case zika is a legitimate concern, and countries where one can catch zika should be avoided. This is according to the CDC. I realize this sounds kind of patronizing (after all, there are plenty of pregnant women who live in countries where zika is a problem, and most of them don't have the option to just leave the area for 9 months), but the point...
@schar - jake p's wife might be pregnant, in which case zika is a legitimate concern, and countries where one can catch zika should be avoided. This is according to the CDC. I realize this sounds kind of patronizing (after all, there are plenty of pregnant women who live in countries where zika is a problem, and most of them don't have the option to just leave the area for 9 months), but the point is that if, while pregnant, you have a choice of avoiding regions where zika is a risk, you should.
@jake P - literally dont even worry about it, its as rare as getting bit by a shark while swimming in the ocean.
Lucky you should come back to Brazil and visit the beautiful beaches in the Northeast, review airlines like Gol and Azul, and the new lounges at T3 in GRU!
Im in Sao Paulo right now, its summer, you should come.
I attended the event sponsored by Brazil Tourism last night at the Conrad Hotel in NYC celebrating this!
Also, Zika. My wife and I had planned several trips to South America, the Caribbean, and other places that we're now reconsidering (and often rerouting to Europe). It's a bummer!
I wonder if the $160/10 Year visa remains an option for those who travel to Brazil often
Heading to Rio at the end of February on LATAM’s $1100 business class fare sale from Miami from last year.
Been waiting for this post for the last couple months!
Happy to report back how long it actually takes to process.
Yeah I agree that airfare prices have not been as cheap as going to Europe.
I already have the 10 year multiple entry visa to Brazil. Before the AAdvantage devaluation, I recall it was only 20,000 AAdvantage miles to fly to Brazil from USA during off-peak season. Such a great deal back then.
This is huge. Am going to Uruguay again in two weeks and this allows me to decide last minute if I want to visit old friends in southern Brazil. $40 is an excellent price point.