Brazil Visa Requirements for U.S. Citizens
Americas · BR
Brazil visa requirements for U.S. citizens
e-Visa required before travel, including for airport transit
- U.S. passport status
- e-Visa
- Visa-free days
- 90 days
- Document route
- Apostille
- Translation
- Required
- Short-stay fee
- $81
- Schengen area
- No
Entering Brazil
This changed recently and a great deal of older material is wrong. Brazil reinstated its visa requirement for U.S., Canadian and Australian citizens with effect from 10 April 2025. U.S. passport holders now need an approved e-Visa for tourism, business or even airport transit. It is applied for entirely online through the official VFS e-Visa platform, costs about 80.90 U.S. dollars, is typically approved in 48 to 72 hours but can take up to ten business days, and for U.S. citizens is issued with up to ten years of validity for multiple entries of up to 90 days each within any twelve-month period.
Passport requirements
Valid for at least six months beyond your intended departure, with at least two blank pages.
What is specific to Brazil
Two things about Brazil are easy to get wrong. The first is the reinstated visa requirement, which applies even to a two-hour airport connection. The second is that Brazil has an efficient digital apostille system but requires all translation to be done by a Brazilian sworn translator, which means the normal sequence is to apostille in the United States, carry the originals, and translate on arrival. Brazil also requires long-stay visa holders to register with the Federal Police within 90 days of entry, which is when the residence card is actually issued.
Visa categories for Brazil
Each has its own page combining the universal process for that category with what Brazil specifically requires.
Tourist and Visitor Visa
e-Visa required since 10 April 2025, applied for online, up to 90 days per visit.
Business Visitor Visa
e-Visa, same platform, with a letter from both companies.
Student and Study Visa
Consular study visa (VITEM IV) with proof of enrolment and funds.
Work and Employment Visa
VITEM V, employer-led, requiring prior authorisation from the Ministry of Labour.
Digital Nomad and Remote Work Visa
One of the most accessible anywhere: 1,500 dollars a month or 18,000 dollars in savings, for one year renewable once.
Family, Spouse and Partner Visa
Family routes are usually the most generous immigration category a country offers and simultaneously the most document-intensive. There is normally no income test on…
Retirement and Passive Income Visa
VITEM XIV at 2,000 dollars a month of pension income plus 400 per dependant, with an ongoing condition that the pension is transferred into a Brazilian bank account.
Transit and Airport Visa
The e-Visa is required even for airport transit, which catches out travellers connecting through Sao Paulo.
Permanent Residence and Citizenship
Available after the initial residence period; citizenship after four years, or one year if married to a Brazilian.
Where and how to apply
- Official portal
- Brazil e-Visa (official)
- Where to file
- At the consulate with jurisdiction over your U.S. state of residence.
- Biometrics
- Fingerprints and a facial image are collected for most visa categories.
- Fees
- The e-Visa is approximately 80.90 U.S. dollars. Consular visas for long-stay categories cost more and are set on a reciprocity basis.
- Short-stay processing
- 48 to 72 hours typically for the e-Visa, up to 10 business days
- Long-stay processing
- 30 to 90 days at a consulate for long-stay categories, then Federal Police registration within 90 days of arrival
Documents and authentication for Brazil
Brazil is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so U.S. public documents are apostilled. That is a single certificate and it is the end of the chain.
Translation. Required into Portuguese by a tradutor publico juramentado, a sworn public translator registered with a Brazilian state commercial board. Translations produced in the United States are not accepted.
- 1 Obtain a certified original From the issuing authority. Photocopies, scans and souvenir certificates cannot be authenticated.
- 2 Notarise, if it is a private document Letters, affidavits, powers of attorney and diploma copies need a notary acknowledgement first. Government-issued vital records do not.
- 3 County clerk, in some states A handful of states require the county clerk to certify the notary commission before the Secretary of State will act.
- 4 Authenticate at the right level State-issued documents go to the Secretary of State of the ISSUING state. Federal documents, including the FBI Identity History Summary, go to the U.S. Department of State Office of Authentications.
- 5 Apostille or embassy legalisation Hague Convention destination: the apostille ends the chain. Non-member destination: the document then goes to that country embassy or consulate. For Brazil the apostille ends the chain.
- 6 Certified translation Translate the document together with its apostille or legalisation certificate. Doing this first means paying twice. Required into Portuguese by a tradutor publico juramentado, a sworn public translator registered with a Brazilian state commercial board. Translations produced in the United States are not accepted.
- 7 File with the right consulate Jurisdiction is by your U.S. state of residence. Bring originals plus a full copy set.
The two expensive mistakes. Sending a federal document such as an FBI Identity History Summary to a Secretary of State, which cannot authenticate it. And translating before authentication, so the apostille certificate is not inside the translation and the whole set has to be paid for twice.
Official sources
- Brazil official e-Visa portal The only legitimate e-Visa application site.
- Brazilian consular portal: visas All visa categories.
- Policia Federal: immigration Registration and the CRNM residence card.
Questions about Brazil
Do I really need a visa for Brazil now?
Yes. Brazil reinstated the requirement for U.S., Canadian and Australian citizens on 10 April 2025 after a visa-free period that ran from 2019. It applies to tourism, business and airport transit. Guides written before 2025 that describe Brazil as visa-free are out of date.
Do I need it just to change planes?
Yes. Brazil requires the e-Visa for airport transit, which regularly catches out travellers connecting through Sao Paulo or Rio to another South American destination.
Verified Sep 7, 2026 Primary sources: www.gov.br, brazil.vfsevisa.com
This resource is provided free by Federal Apostille as an educational tool. It is not legal or immigration advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by using it. Visa rules, fees, processing times and entry requirements change frequently and often without notice, and individual circumstances change the answer. Always confirm current requirements with the official government source and the specific embassy or consulate that has jurisdiction over your place of residence before you book travel or file an application. Every figure on this site carries the date we last verified it and a link to the primary source.
