Good news Aussies, we’ve found official confirmation that you will soon be able to apply for your Brazilian visas simply by opening a web browser and filling out a few forms online.
Earlier this week, we reported that news based on information we’d received from Adventure World.
The operator’s sources in Rio de Janiero said Australians were selected to receive e-visas, along with a few other nationalities including Americans, Canadians and Japanese.
We were told the online system would be made available from late November this year, that’s incredible timing for anyone looking to attend Carnaval in 2018.
KarryOn contacted the Brazilian Embassy in Canberra for confirmation, which neither confirmed nor denied the news by saying that they “don’t have any official information about when the electronic visas will start”.
This obviously wasn’t enough, so we returned to our friends at Adventure World who located this statement (click here) from Brazil’s tourism bureau, but of course, it’s entirely in Portuguese.
A little Google translation and we found the confirmation we were looking for:
In the statement, the President of Embratur (Brazil’s Institute for Tourism), Vinicius Lummertz, said e-visas will be made available by the end of 2017.
He said it will be a completely online process including initial request, payment, concession as well as issuance.
Lummertz, who pushed for e-visas, said the system will make travel to Brazil easier and more convenient for travellers and could even help boost tourism.
“The entry visa requirement is the most important barrier to the growth of foreign tourism in any country.”
Vinicius Lummertz, Embratur President
“According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), facilitating travel can generate up to a 20 percent increase in the flow between destinations.”
To be on the safe side, if you have a Brazil trip planned towards the end of the year/early 2018, we’d suggest applying for a visa through regular channels just in case e-visas fall through.
READ: Brazil MAY soon give Aussies access to e-visas
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