I was hoping someone might be able to offer some guidance. I'm an American citizen who will be travelling to Brazil on June 17; I submitted an application for a Brazilian visa to GenVisa, a visa service. Yesterday, GenVisa emailed me a link to the Consulate General of Brazil in Atlanta and on the embassy's webpage, it says that "Citizens of the United States, Australia, Canada, and Japan who are planning on traveling to Brazil to attend the Summer Olympic Games 2016 will have visa waiver for the period from June 1st to September, 18, 2016." It goes on to say that it won't be necessary to prove purchase of tickets to the Olympics in order to benefit from the visa waiver.
This seems like a legitimate visa waiver by the government of Brazil and I'd love to save the $265 I submitted for the visa. But I'd also hate to show up at the airport in Rio and be informed by an immigration officer that I have to have a visa in my passport. I realize that maybe no one reading this question will have a definitive answer but I would gladly welcome any opinions as to how you would handle this situation.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
The visa waiver has been well advertised for over a year. IIRC you have to arrive within a month either side of the games.
I suspect it was a necessary measure, principally for the US market as yanks seem to have the most difficulty in
a) Working out that they require a visa
b) Filling out a simple application.
Congratulations!
On this you can trust your visa service. They would have been quite happy to collect the fee if they could have legitimately issued you a visa for your dates. But they can't, so don't worry. They will refund your fee?
According to “Portaria Conjunta nº216, December, 24th”, Citizens from USA, Canada, Australia and Japan coming to Brazil between JUN 1st and SEPT 18th as a tourist needs only passaport and Entry/Exit Card (it can be printed at the origin) and can stay for 90 days, even they are coming not to watch the Olympic Games. You can get more information on www.estrangeirosbrasil.com.br/2016/01/05/estrangeiros-de-4-paises-ganham-isenção-de-vistoria-para-olimpiadas. You can find English instructions on www.pf.gov.br (click on “serviços” – “estrangeiros”)
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