Brazil again requires visas for tourists from the United States, Australia, Japan and Canada

Since 2019, Brazil has not required a visa for tourists from the United States, Japan, Australia and Canada. However, that changed as of last Monday, the 13th, when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Brazil would once again require visas for tourists from those countries. This action caused controversy among specialists.

The principle of reciprocity

According to the Itamarati Declaration, or the Ministry of International Relations, the revocation of the measure did not happen suddenly. This is because Brazil has approached these countries in order to ask them to also provide visa-free access to Brazilian tourists. Since this did not happen, there was a decision to cancel it.

In this sense, Brazil has chosen the principle of reciprocity, which is very important in diplomatic relations, especially those related to tourism.

For many professionals, this position was correct and could generate more credibility and bargaining power in international negotiations. However, the visa waiver has been a requirement of the tourism sector for years.

Including, in 2017, he is still in the government of the former president Michel TamerThe Ministry of Tourism suggested that there should be a visa exemption. At the time, Itamarati replied that it would not consider granting an exemption to any country with which it could not achieve equality.

Therefore, the expiration of the visa requirement only came in 2019 by decree of the former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Criticism of the expiration of the exemption

The main criticisms regarding the termination of the exemption came from representatives of entities in the tourism sector. For them, the principle of reciprocity is not good for tourism, because Brazil is not one of the main tourist destinations for Americans and citizens of other countries.

Thus, there is no way to demand similar behavior from the other side.

Moreover, these representatives also denied the rhetoric that the number of tourists in Brazil did not increase after the expiration of the exemption request. This is because, according to them, the pandemic has greatly disturbed the tourism sector.

In this case, in 2022, the country recorded a peak of US tourists in the country, but the number was similar to the previous peak in 2012.