James Wolfe
Yes. If you hold an ordinary passport from the United States, Canada or Australia, you now need a visa to visit Brazil, and the way to get it is the electronic e-Visa applied for online before you travel. Brazil ended the visa-free entry those three countries had enjoyed since 2019, and the requirement has been in force since April 10, 2025. The application runs through one official portal only, brazil.vfsevisa.com, operated by VFS Global for the Brazilian government. The fee is US$80.90 per applicant, processing takes up to 10 business days once a verified application is submitted, and the visa that comes back is a multiple-entry visitor visa, valid for up to 10 years for US passport holders and up to 5 years for Canadian and Australian passport holders, with stays of up to 90 days per visit. The single most important planning point is timing: this is not a visa on arrival, and airlines check for it, so the application belongs at the start of your trip planning, not the end.
Quick Facts
- Who needs it: Ordinary passport holders from the United States, Canada and Australia traveling to Brazil for tourism or business.
- In force since: April 10, 2025, when Brazil ended the visa waiver those countries had held since 2019.
- Where to apply: The official VFS Global portal at brazil.vfsevisa.com only. Brazilian consulates direct e-Visa questions to VFS Global.
- Fee: US$80.90 per applicant, paid online during the application, as listed by Brazilian consulates in the United States.
- Processing time: Up to 10 business days once your verified application is submitted, according to the official portal.
- Validity: Multiple entry, up to 10 years for US passports and up to 5 years for Canadian and Australian passports.
- Length of stay: Up to 90 days per visit.
- Core documents: A recent photograph and a color copy of your passport bio page, uploaded to the portal.
- At the airport: Carry your valid passport and a printed copy of the e-Visa PDF, which the portal makes available from your application dashboard.
What Changed: The End of the 2019 Waiver
From 2019, Brazil unilaterally waived visitor visas for travelers from the United States, Canada, Australia and a small number of other countries, meaning a US traveler could simply arrive with a passport and be admitted for a short stay. That era is over. Brazilian consulates now state plainly that, since April 10, 2025, people traveling on Australian, Canadian and US passports for tourism and business are again subject to a visa requirement, and that the visa for these travelers must be requested as an e-Visa through the VFS Global portal. The change followed several announced postponements, which is why older travel advice online still describes visa-free entry: anything written before April 2025 about arriving in Brazil without a visa on one of these three passports is out of date.
The practical difference is where the check happens. Under the waiver, eligibility was assessed on arrival. Under the e-Visa system, it is assessed before departure, by VFS Global on behalf of the Brazilian government, and the result is an electronic visa delivered as a PDF. Travelers who arrive without one have no fallback process at the airport, which is why Brazilian consulates and the US State Department both frame the e-Visa as something to obtain before traveling, not a formality to complete on landing. If Brazil is one stop on a wider South America itinerary, the destination itself is worth planning properly once the paperwork is done, and our earlier guide to Brazil, its culture, nature and all-out fun is a useful starting point for what to see beyond the gateway cities.
Who Needs the e-Visa, and Who Does Not
The requirement follows the passport you travel on, not where you live. A Canadian citizen living in the United States still applies as a Canadian passport holder, and a US citizen living abroad still applies as a US passport holder. The three covered nationalities are the United States, Canada and Australia, and the covered purposes are short visits, principally tourism and business. The e-Visa is a visitor visa: it does not authorize paid employment in Brazil, long-term study or residence, and travelers coming for those purposes need the appropriate consular visa category instead.
Everyone else should check their own position separately rather than assuming. Many other nationalities still enter Brazil visa-free for short stays, and some need a traditional consular visa. The safe method is the one Brazilian consulates themselves recommend: confirm the requirement for your exact nationality on the consulate or foreign ministry guidance before booking non-refundable travel, because the e-Visa portal is built specifically for the nationalities it serves and is not a general application route for the rest of the world.
Dual citizens and Brazilian nationals
One group should take particular care: dual citizens. Brazilian citizens, including dual nationals, cannot obtain a Brazilian visa in a foreign passport and are expected to enter Brazil on their Brazilian documents. If you hold Brazilian citizenship alongside a US, Canadian or Australian passport, the e-Visa route is not for you, and the consulate is the right first contact. For everyone else, eligibility turns on holding a valid passport from one of the three covered countries and traveling for a covered purpose.
The Fee, Validity and Stay Limits in Detail
The fee is the same headline figure for all three nationalities: US$80.90 per applicant, paid online as part of the application. Brazilian consulates in the United States list that figure for the e-Visa, distinct from the higher fees charged for traditional consular visitor visas, which is one more reason to make sure you are in the e-Visa system and not a consular application, and to make sure the site charging you is the official portal. Third-party sites that imitate the official one and add their own service charges are a persistent problem with electronic visas worldwide, and Brazil is no exception: the official address is brazil.vfsevisa.com, and it is worth typing it directly rather than following an advertisement.
What the fee buys is unusually generous by electronic visa standards. US passport holders receive validity of up to 10 years with multiple entries, while Canadian and Australian passport holders receive up to 5 years, also with multiple entries. Each visit allows a stay of up to 90 days. For a traveler who visits Brazil every few years, a single application can cover several trips, which softens the inconvenience of the new requirement considerably. Two cautions apply. First, validity is tied to the passport, so a new passport can mean a new application. Second, the 90-day stay is per visit for visitor purposes: the e-Visa is built for trips, not for living in Brazil in installments, and anyone planning extended or repeated long stays should take consular advice on the correct category.
How to Apply, Step by Step
The process is entirely online and no consulate visit is required for the e-Visa itself. Brazilian consulates direct applicants to VFS Global for e-Visa questions, which tells you where the operational responsibility sits. The official portal sets out the core requirements for adult applicants: a recent photograph of the applicant, following the portal photograph specifications, and a color copy of the passport bio page. The portal also states that your passport must be valid for at least one month before arrival, though travelers should treat that as a legal minimum rather than a target, since airlines and other countries on a multi-stop itinerary commonly expect substantially more validity than that.
The application sequence
Start at brazil.vfsevisa.com and create your application well ahead of travel. Complete the form with details that match your passport exactly, upload the photograph and the color copy of the passport bio page in the formats the portal specifies, and pay the US$80.90 fee online. Then wait for processing, which the portal states takes up to 10 business days once your verified application is submitted. Read that timeline honestly: 10 business days is two calendar weeks, and it begins when the application is verified, not when you first open the form. Applying at least three weeks before departure is the prudent buffer, and earlier still in peak holiday periods or if your documents might need to be re-uploaded.
When the e-Visa is issued, download the PDF from your application dashboard and print a copy. The portal advises travelers to carry the valid passport and a printed copy of the e-Visa PDF, because airport authorities verify the entry authorization on arrival. Keeping a digital copy on your phone as a backup is sensible, but the printed copy is the version the official guidance names, so it should be in your hand luggage, not your checked bag. Brazil is not the only destination that has moved to advance digital authorization in this period, and travelers building multi-country trips should handle each system separately: our guide to the UK ETA for US travelers, including its cost and application process, covers the British equivalent, which is a separate authorization with its own fee and rules.
Timing Mistakes That Put Trips at Risk
Almost every e-Visa problem is a timing problem. The first is applying too late: a traveler who books flights for next week and then discovers a processing window of up to 10 business days has no expedited official route to fall back on. The second is assuming the old waiver still exists because a blog post, a guidebook or a fellow traveler says so: the waiver ended on April 10, 2025, and check-in staff apply the current rule, not the remembered one. The third is treating the e-Visa like a lightweight travel authorization that can be completed at the airport on a phone. It is a full visitor visa that happens to be electronic, with document uploads that can be rejected for quality, so it deserves a quiet half hour at a computer, not a rushed session in a taxi.
The fourth mistake is subtler: mismatched details. Names, passport numbers and dates must match the passport bio page exactly, because the e-Visa is verified against that document on arrival. Upload a clear, color, glare-free copy of the bio page, use a recent photograph that follows the portal specifications, and review the issued PDF when it arrives, while there is still time to query an error with VFS Global. None of this is difficult, but all of it is much easier three weeks out than three days out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do US citizens really need a visa for Brazil now?
Yes. Since April 10, 2025, US passport holders traveling to Brazil for tourism or business need a visa, obtained as an e-Visa through the official VFS Global portal before travel. The visa-free entry that applied from 2019 no longer exists for US, Canadian or Australian passports.
How much does the Brazil e-Visa cost?
The fee is US$80.90 per applicant, paid online during the application on the official portal. That figure is the one listed by Brazilian consulates for the e-Visa. Be wary of lookalike sites charging more: the official address is brazil.vfsevisa.com.
How long does processing take, and how early should I apply?
The official portal states that processing takes up to 10 business days once your verified application is submitted. Because 10 business days spans two calendar weeks, applying at least three weeks before departure is the sensible minimum, and earlier if your trip falls in a peak period.
How long is the e-Visa valid, and how long can I stay?
US passport holders receive up to 10 years of validity, and Canadian and Australian passport holders up to 5 years, in each case with multiple entries. Each visit allows a stay of up to 90 days for visitor purposes such as tourism or business.
What documents do I need to upload?
For adult applicants, the official portal lists a recent photograph, following its photograph specifications, and a color copy of your passport bio page as the mandatory documents. Follow the portal document specifications carefully when uploading, since unclear copies are a common cause of delay.
Can I get the visa on arrival instead?
No. The e-Visa must be obtained before travel. On arrival, airport authorities verify the authorization, and the official guidance is to carry your valid passport and a printed copy of the e-Visa PDF. There is no arrival fallback for travelers from the three covered countries who arrive without one.
Visa rules change, and enforcement sits with airlines at check-in and Brazilian authorities on arrival. Before you book, reconfirm the requirement for your passport on the official portal at brazil.vfsevisa.com and with the Brazilian consulate responsible for your country. Prices and processing details in this guide were checked against official Brazilian consulate and VFS Global sources on November 9, 2026.
