Brazil’s tourism leaders are opening the doors wide open for Australian visitors by relaxing its visa entry rules to the point of… practically non-existent!
Slip into a samba costume ladies and gentle because one of Latin America’s most colourful countries (to be fair, they all are) is giving Aussies visa- free entry!
Coming into effect from 17 June 2019 (sorry to get your hopes up and then stomp all over them if you’re booked to visit in the next 80 days), the relaxed option allows Australian tourists to travel to Brazil and its lively regions (including an island that’s completely plastic free) for up to 90 days from the date of first entry without forking out the extra cash.
In an online statement, Visit Brasil noted that the 90 days is extendaly for an equal period, provided that one’s stay does not exceed 180 days every 12 months, counting from the date of first entry into the country.
The move comes a little over a year after Brazil moved its visa process online, which the local government found to have an “extremely positive” influence on tourism by increasing visa applications by 35 percent from 169,910 visas in 2017 to 229,767 in 2018.
Brazil’s Minister of Tourism, Marcelo Alvaro Antônio, believes that taking it one step further and waiving visas is one of the “most important achievements” for the country’s tourism industry. He continued, saying he’s confident that it will be “extremely beneficial to the country”.
“This decision of the Brazilian government proves that we are living a new moment and that tourism is being seen as a vector of economic and social growth of the entire nation. This is the first step; we still have much to celebrate.”
Marcelo Alvaro Antônio, Brazil’s Minister of Tourism
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