Brazil e-visa: who needs it, the $80.90 fee and how to apply

Brazil ended visa-free entry for citizens of the United States, Canada and Australia on April 10, 2025. Travelers on those three passports now need a visit visa before they board, and most get it online as an electronic visa, the e-visa, through a single official portal. If you are planning a trip to Brazil, whether that means a week in Rio de Janeiro or a longer loop through several regions, sort out this document before you pay for anything nonrefundable.

Most other Western passports are not affected. British, Irish, New Zealand and European Union citizens still enter without a visa, and so do most South Americans. Every figure comes from Brazil's foreign ministry, its consulates or the official application portal.

Brazil's visa policy rests on reciprocity. The foreign ministry, known as Itamaraty, explains that nationals of countries that require visas from Brazilians need a visa to visit Brazil, and that exemptions come from agreements made on a reciprocal basis. One consulate describes the 2025 change as the resumption of a visa requirement, so it is a return to an earlier rule and not a new kind of permit.

The requirement is set out on the consulate pages, including the New York consulate's e-visa page, which was updated in late August 2026. The country-by-country position is in the ministry's visa table, a PDF that the ministry revises regularly. The version read for this guide is dated October 7, 2026, and it lists Australia, Canada and the United States as visa required.

The e-visa covers a specific kind of trip. The New York consulate limits it to tourism, business, transit, and sports or artistic activities, for stays of up to 90 days. Work, study and residence need a different visa from a consulate, so the e-visa is the wrong tool if you plan to take a job or enroll in a course.

The answer depends only on the passport you travel with, not on where you live. A British citizen living in Toronto does not need a visa. A Canadian living in London does. The consulate pages also make the reverse point: nationals of other countries are not eligible for the e-visa even if they live in the US, Canada or Australia, and they apply for a regular visit visa if their nationality needs one.

The exemptions in the table come from the ministry's visa table of October 7, 2026, and the validity periods come from the application portal. South Korea, Mexico and South Africa are also listed as exempt for up to 90 days. If your country is not in the table above, open the ministry's PDF and find your own row, because the list covers nearly every country and territory and a few have conditions of their own.

The UK government's Brazil entry requirements confirm the British position from the traveler's side: a visit of up to 90 days for tourism needs no visa. That page also asks for a passport with an expiry date at least 6 months after the day you arrive. If your passport is near that line, the six-month passport rule guide explains how airlines apply it.

Dual nationals and children of Brazilians

This group had a rule change in 2026. The New York consulate says that since August 20, 2026, Brazilian posts abroad may grant a visa in the foreign passport of a dual national, or of a child of a Brazilian parent, on the same terms and at the same fee as for any other foreign passport holder. The portal no longer asks those applicants for a declaration of non-citizenship.

The consulate attaches warnings. Entering as a foreigner gives you a limited stay, with fines for overstaying. It still recommends that Brazilian citizens and their children keep their Brazilian documents in order and up to date before they travel, and it says it cannot be held responsible for airline or border difficulties if you use the e-visa instead. Other governments read the rule more strictly. Canada's travel advice says a Canadian who is also Brazilian must enter and leave on the Brazilian passport, while Australia's says dual nationals must carry both passports or a valid Brazilian visa in the Australian one. If this is your situation, ask the Brazilian consulate that covers your home address before you book.

The e-visa fee on the official portal is US$80.90 per applicant. The portal's FAQ says a child pays the same as an adult and that the fee is the same for every passport category. A family of four therefore pays US$323.60 before anyone has booked a flight.

The fee is not refundable. The FAQ says you cannot claim it back if the e-visa is denied, and it says the same about a fee paid twice by mistake. Pay once, and check the confirmation before you try again.

The length of validity depends on your passport. The portal gives 10 years with multiple entries for US citizens and 5 years with multiple entries for Canadian and Australian citizens. Over the life of the visa that works out to about US$8 a year on a US passport and about US$16 a year on a Canadian or Australian one, so the cost matters far less if you expect to return.

Validity is not the same as permitted stay. The portal says you may stay for up to 90 days per year, and that a longer stay means contacting the Federal Police in Brazil. The UK page adds that an overstay brings a daily fine, payable when you leave or on your next visit. Count your days across all trips in the year, not only the current one.

E-visa or consular visa

The portal's FAQ says the e-visa and the traditional consular visa have the same validity and both allow multiple entries. The difference is the process. The e-visa is applied for online and arrives by email, and it is not stamped in your passport. The consular visa needs a visit to a consulate and is placed in the passport. One Brazilian consulate, in Ciudad del Este, lists the consular visa at US$185, so the e-visa is also the cheaper route. A consular visa is the fallback if your e-visa is refused.

The only application site is brazil.vfsevisa.com, run by VFS Global for the Brazilian government. The consulates link to it and state that applications must go through that address. The portal describes itself as the only official one, so sites with similar names are not the government channel. Check the address before you enter card details.

The portal describes three steps. You fill in the online application and upload your documents, using the passport you will travel with if you hold two. You pay the fee. Then you watch your email for the decision, download the PDF and print it. Enter your email address carefully: the FAQ says a wrong address means you never receive the login link, and you have to start again.

For an adult, the tourist visa page lists two mandatory documents: a recent photograph that follows the portal's specification and a color copy of the passport's biographical page. The page notes that consular offices may ask for more at their discretion. If that happens, the FAQ gives you 15 days to upload the extra documents. Miss that window and the application is not processed, so you start a new one.

Applications for anyone under 18 need more paperwork. The portal asks for the child's birth certificate, an authorization letter signed by both parents and notarized, and color copies of the parents' passport pages. A parent with sole custody adds the court order, and the list changes again if a parent has died or a name has changed. The children's travel documents guide covers consent letters more broadly.

How far ahead to apply

The tourist visa page says processing takes up to 10 business days once a verified application has been submitted. One consulate page quotes about 5 business days. Plan around the longer figure, because the clock starts only after your documents pass the first check.

The FAQ goes further and advises applying two months before travel, to leave room to fix an application that comes back. It also advises against buying airline tickets or making other nonrefundable arrangements until the visa is issued. That is cautious advice, and it fits a system in which no visa can be issued at the border if the approval has not arrived.

The check happens twice, at boarding and on arrival. The portal says airport authorities verify your entry authorization and tells you to carry your valid passport and a printed copy of the e-visa PDF. Its FAQ suggests printing two copies, saving a screenshot on your phone and keeping the email with the attachment.

Passport validity is the detail where sources differ. The portal's FAQ says the passport must be valid for at least one more month after you arrive, and advises checking that your airline accepts a passport with so little time left. The Miami consulate's page asks for a signed passport that is valid to the end of the trip and has two free visa pages. Canada's advice says the passport must be valid for the length of the stay. Treat the strictest of these as your own rule, and renew first if you are close.

There is no visa desk to fall back on. The foreign ministry says Brazilian visas are never issued inside the country and that neither it nor the Federal Police can admit a foreign national without the proper visa. Australia's Smartraveller page says travelers who arrive without one are sent back on the next available flight.

At passport control, make sure your passport is stamped. The UK page tells travelers to check that the border officer stamps it, and Australia's advice says to get entry and exit stamps if you leave Brazil and return during the trip, especially at land borders. That matters at Iguazú Falls, where many visitors cross from the Argentine side for a day. Nothing in the official pages exempts short visits, so a US, Canadian or Australian traveler should hold the e-visa before crossing to the Brazilian side.

The most common mistake is timing. The e-visa is quick when everything is right and slow when a document is rejected, and the fee does not come back if it fails. Apply before you book, not after, and give yourself the two months the portal asks for if your trip includes a child, a recent name change or a dual nationality.

The second is using the wrong site. Only the VFS Global address above is official, and the fee there is US$80.90. If a site quotes a different price, check that you are on the official address. The third is assuming the rule depends on residence. It follows the passport, so a mixed-nationality family may need visas for some members and not for others.

Two smaller errors catch repeat visitors. A new passport does not cancel the e-visa, but the FAQ says you must carry the old passport with the new one, or a copy of its biographical page and a police report if the old one was lost. And a refusal is not final: the FAQ says you can reapply 24 hours later with the same email address, or apply for a consular visa. Applications in a family group are assessed one by one, so one refusal does not cancel the others.

Start with the passport. If it is American, Canadian or Australian, apply for the e-visa first and book flights once the PDF is in your inbox. If it is British, Irish, from New Zealand or from an EU country, you need no visa for a short tourist visit, but check the ministry's table for your stay limit and your passport's expiry date.

Then plan the trip around the 90 days per year you are allowed. A first visit usually combines two or three bases, for example Rio de Janeiro with São Paulo, Salvador or the Amazon, and domestic flights link them. The e-visa covers every entry during its validity, so a later trip needs no new application as long as the visa and your day count allow it.

The travel insurance guides explain what to look for in medical and cancellation cover, and the connectivity guide compares ways to get mobile data on arrival. For other countries on the same trip, the visas and entry section lists the guides to each rule.