Lula government postponed the start of the requirement until April 10th to get the system working; travelers from Canada and Australia will also have to use the app
The Minister of Tourism, Celso Sabino, stated this Monday (22 January 2024) that the government is working to make the application available for issuing visas to travelers from the United States, Canada and Australia before April. He stated that the plan is for the system to start working “well in advance” on April 10th, when the visa requirement for tourists from these countries comes into effect.
The government postponed the deadline at the beginning of the year. Initially, the requirement would begin on January 10th. It was the 2nd postponement, as the measure would initially come into force on October 1, 2023. Sabino stated that the time was necessary to correct problems in the application.
“The application for issuing electronic visas for tourists should be working well before January 10th. When we were approaching January 10th and there were still difficulties in accessing the platform and uploading passport image photos, the Brazilian government decided to extend the exemption from the visa requirement for another 3 months, until April 10th”he stated in an interview with journalists.
Sabino said that the system will be simplified and without bureaucracy so as not to repel foreign tourists. The requirement for the 3 countries is due to “principle of reciprocity”since they require a visa from Brazilians.
“We are working to ensure that this application is working quickly and efficiently well in advance of April 10th to ensure safety for foreign tourists who have purchased travel packages to Brazil. And if the platform does not present stability and functioning in the way the government expects, we will advocate for an extension once again”he said.
UNDERSTAND
The government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) had unilaterally overthrown in 2019, through the decree 9,731requiring visas for travelers from the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan. He said that this would help to increase international tourism in Brazil.
The decision of the president's government Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to require visas for the USA, Canada and Australia should have come into force on October 1, 2023. The deadline was postponed to January 10. Now, it is scheduled for April 10th.
The decision does not apply to Japan. The Japanese government announced in May 2023 that it was considering removing the visa requirement for Brazilians. Tokyo confirmed the decision in August, valid from September 30th and only for trips lasting up to 90 days. In a reciprocal manner, Brazil stopped requiring visas for Japanese people.
HIRED COMPANY
The Brazilian government, through the Consulate General of Brazil in Miami, hired, on October 31, 2023, the company VFS Global to “to develop and operate an online platform for processing electronic visit visas for citizens of the United States, Canada and Australia”.
In other words, the company that was supposed to create and manage the website for foreigners to request Brazilian visas was hired on the day that the requirement was supposed to come into effect for the first time.
According to the contract extract published in Official Diary of the Union, on October 31st, the company will receive US$ 184 thousand per year, for a period of 5 years. Until 2028. The cost estimate is calculated with a unit cost of US$0.90 per visa issued and an expected issuance of 205 thousand visas per year.
Applications for Brazilian visas can be made on the website controlled by the company at this link. Although the contract provides for the creation of a “Communication Center to serve applicants in English, Spanish and French”only the English version was available until January 4, 2024.
According to the platform, applying for a visa is done in 3 steps: sending the documents, paying a fee of US$80.90 and downloading the digital visa. The company fee is $0.90.
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