Lula’s decision to resume visa requirements took into account, among other reasons, the principle of reciprocity with these countries.| Photo: Marcelo Chello/EFE

The federal government made official this Wednesday (3) the resumption of the visa requirement for foreigners from the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan to enter Brazil, as announced in March by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

The issuance of the document will be valid from October 1, according to the decree published in the Official Gazette of the Union that revokes the measure adopted in 2019 by former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) (see in full).

According to the communication department of the Presidency of the Republic to the People’s Gazette in March, the president’s decision took into account the “very small” performance in the number of tourists who came to Brazil between 2019 and 2022.

“Overall, 2019 saw a 12% increase among Americans and a 4.4% drop among Japanese (top two source markets out of four). And 2022 numbers were even lower than 2018 numbers, when a visa was required. In the case of Japan, the 2022 flow is about 1/4 of the 2018 flow,” he said.

According to the Planalto Palace, the decision also takes into account the “principle of reciprocity”, since these countries did not make the visa requirement of Brazilian citizens more flexible after the exemption adopted by the former president.