Chamber approves emergency repeal of visa requirement for tourists from Australia, Canada and US | principle

In practice, If the proposal is approved, the current exemption from documentation will be maintained for anyone arriving in Brazil from these countries.

The emergency expedites the vote on the proposal, which can now be voted on directly in the chamber plenary. The chamber plenary still needs to recognize the merits of the text to effectively revoke the mandate. Then, the Senate must also support the plan.

By allowing visa-free entry for Americans, Canadians, Australians and Japanese into Brazil in 2019, Brazilians who wanted to visit these countries, then-President Jair Bolsonaro, did not need reciprocal emancipation.

Lula’s decree nullifies Bolsonaro’s action effective January 10, 2024. Originally, the date for reinstating the requirement was October 1.

Felipe Carreras (PSB-PE), leader of the party that is part of the government platform, made this urgent request.

In the referendum, the government released the benches to vote as they wished, as well as the bloc formed by the MDB, PSD, Republican and Podemos parties. The PT, however, advised its delegates to vote against the emergency.

“Brazil contacted these countries asking for reciprocity”, said Congresswoman Erica Gogue (PT-DF), “It was denied. I think we should respect the Brazilians, the Brazilians. We give visas, it’s not true that tourism has stopped in Brazil,” she said.

The author of the request, Deputy Marcel van Hattem (NOVO-RS) argues that the move is a hindrance to the country’s tourism.

“If more foreigners want to spend money in Brazil and earn income for these Brazilian men and women, if we do not believe that there is a risk of these foreigners staying in the country illegally, we should make everything easy and simple. It is possible that they will choose Brazil as their destiny”, he reasoned.

Overriding government legislation is seen as a radical act by parliamentarians in relation to executive power.

First, Bolsonaro’s decree also exempted visas for travelers from Japan.

The measure will come into effect from September 30, 2023 and remain valid till September 29, 2026.

Visa exemptions for tourists resulted from an August agreement between Brazil and Japan based on the principle of reciprocity.