BRAZIL: Need for Australians to get a visa to enter Brazil from April 2025 ~ probably

This is becoming a bit of a saga, with Australians and citizens of the USA and Canada again needing a visa to enter Brazil. The current implementation date is 10 April 2025.

If you already have a valid physical visa, you are OK. If you don’t, you need to apply online.

The other details as announced more than a year ago, seem to be the same and are reflected and updated below.

Previously . . .

I published a post on 8 January and 1 August in 2024, and back in September 2023 advising Australians entering Brazil of this change. The implementation has been delayed several times. We now have the full details published on the Brazilian government website.

It’s pretty much as predicted.

There is one portal to visit to make your application: https://brazil.vfsevisa.com/

What you need to apply

We now have a more definitive grip on what is required to apply for your eVisa:

1. Valid Passport (signed, valid up to the end of the travel to Brazil, 2 visa pages free)
2. Visa application form (completed online)
3. Passport-style photo (2” x 2”, white background)
4. E-visa fee payment (US$80.90)
5. Confirmation of flight reservation (showing entrance into and exit from Brazil)
6. Printed bank statement bank showing transactions for the last 30 days and showing at least US$ 2,000.00 AU$3,254) for travel

The cost of an eVisa for Australians, according to the Brazillian Government website, is US$80.90 plus US$0.90 processing fee (Total AU$133.09). For a physical visa, it is AU$228

All of those requirements seem fine, however, I do slightly gag at the need to show a bank statement. However, the bar is fairly reasonable for an ordinary tourist at US$ 2,000 (AU$ 3041 at today’s exchange rate). Maybe a stretch if your are a student travelling.

Previously…

The cost to Australians to visit Brazil has a chequered history. It went down during the Olympics in 2016, then back up, then was suspended in mid-2019, and then was going to be back on in October 2023, and has now been put back to 10 January 2024. Mind you, that might not be the end of it. In the final line of the notice on the Brazillian Embassy’s Australian website, there is a line:

‘The Brazilian government reserves the right to postpone the introduction of the visa condition at any point and is not responsible for the traveller’s decision to apply for a visa during the exemption valid until the 9th of January 2024.’

gov.br

If you arrive before 10 January but leave after, do you need a visa?

NO, you don’t. It only covers travellers arriving on or after 10 January. You don’t need a visa if you arrive on 9 January and leave after 10 January.

Cost of eVisa and physical visa

The cost of your eVisa will be AU$ 152, which you can apply for online. There is no link at the moment, but it is expected to be available around 10 December 2023. Here’s a link to a page about it. If you require a physical visa, that costs a little extra at AU$ 228.

History

Visa charges for Brazil have tended to reflect whatever Australia sets as conditions for Brazilians to enter Australia. And that includes the charges. If you are a Brazilian citizen seeking a tourist Visa for Australia, you would currently pay the equivalent of AU$190.

2PAXfly Takeout

Despite the dire warnings on the Smartraveller website about crime, health and unannounced changes to entry provisions, you should still go to Brazil, and you should go to Carnival – anywhere in Brazil, but particularly in Rio. I went back in 2019 for our honeymoon and can’t recommend it highly enough. You need to be cautious and heed the tourist advice. But it is wonderful and definitely should be visited.