Brazil plans to drop visa requirement for US citizens

[Primetime21]

BRASILIA: Brazil plans to eliminate visitor visas for Americans, the country's tourism minister said on Wednesday, as President Jair Bolsonaro seeks to turn around the lagging tourism sector and engineer cozier relations with the United States.

The visa initiative is part of the Foreign Ministry's plan for the first 100 days in power of Bolsonaro, who assumed office on Jan. 1, Tourism Minister Marcelo Alvaro Antonio told Reuters in an interview.

"Our intention is really to eliminate visa applications for Americans," Antonio said.

Bolsonaro won the presidency running on a right-wing populist platform and is an open admirer of U.S. President Donald Trump. He has sought to realign Brazil with the United States, unlike the leftist Workers Party government that led the country for 13 of the past 15 years and favoured relations with fellow developing economies.

"The left has treated the United States as an adversary, but not our government," Antonio said. "President Bolsonaro wants to embrace the United States as a partner of Brazil."

Brazil is Latin America's largest economy but has long punched below its weight in tourism. The country currently receives 6.6 million foreign tourists a year, roughly half that of New York City alone.


Brazil will also seek to eliminate visas for Canadians, Japanese and Australians but the timeline is up to the Foreign Ministry, Antonio said. A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman declined to comment.

Currently, U.S. citizens pay US$44 for a two-year visa, or US$160 for a 10-year one.

Antonio said bureaucracy increased for Americans seeking to visit Brazil under the Workers Party government, which supported equally strict treatment for Americans seeking Brazilian visas as Brazilians face when going to the United States.

Other plans to overhaul tourism policy include doubling the country's spend on foreign tourism advertisements to more than US$34 million by 2023, said Antonio.

An existing target of doubling international visits to 12 million annually by 2022 remains in place, he said.

The government also is seeking to convert its national tourism board into an agency, allowing it to partner with private enterprises like airlines, which is currently forbidden, Antonio said.

Brazil May Drop Visas for U.S. Travelers

 

[OfTheCross]

great news

 

[88m3]

seems practical, I doubt our government reciprocates however

 

[Primetime21]

seems practical, I doubt our government reciprocates however

you know they arent.

 

[Ethnic Vagina Finder]

Brazil about to have a civil war


I'll pass

 

[Strapped]

The US about to set up shop & take it over by destabilizing it

 

[Berniewood Hogan]

this weakness on their border security ensures Brazil will soon be flooded with Americans, taking their jobs, bringing in drugs, and raping their women

 

[Primetime21]

this weakness on their border security ensures Brazil will soon be flooded with Americans, taking their jobs, bringing in drugs, and raping their women

This is just for tourism. You still need a work visa to work in Brazil

 

[DonKnock]

Hit me up when that fuccboy Bolsonaro lets Lula out how about that

 

[Berniewood Hogan]

This is just for tourism. You still need a work visa to work in Brazil

that's how it starts. give them an inch, they'll take a mile. the sovereignty of Brazil has been shattered by SOROS!

 

[Perfectson]

Yall some fools


Besides that, great news and actually very smart to get people natural hospitality and tourism jobs. Brazil has an untapped market , Brazil is beautiful, beaches, mountains, jungles, everything you could want and is less than 7 hours away ...

 

[hashmander]

seems practical, I doubt our government reciprocates however

why the hell would we reciprocate? brazilians actually illegally immigrate to america. notice with the countries listed their citizens aren't interested in taking up illegal residence in brazil. when countries try that tit for tat with the US it's out of pettiness and not any practical reasons.

 

[88m3]

why the hell would we reciprocate? brazilians actually illegally immigrate to america. notice with the countries listed their citizens aren't interested in taking up illegal residence in brazil. when countries try that tit for tat with the US it's out of pettiness and not any practical reasons.

"illegal"

 

[hashmander]

"illegal"

visa overstays

 

[88m3]

visa overstays

Yeah. They're not an equal footing economically...

Our sex tourists go there but Brazilians can't come here because they're all prostitutes. Doesn't sit well with me



Then obviously wealthy Brazilians, Europeans, and North Americans can choose to live wherever they want.