About ten years ago, we had planned a trip to Brazil which was cancelled at the last minute because I needed emergency surgery. However, we had already purchased our tickets and our visas. At that time, the visas cost us about $60 apiece. We sent our money and our passports to the consulate in Los Angeles and received the visas back by regular mail. We just included an envelope with pre-paid postage.
This time, the procedure was quite a bit more complex, and much more expensive. The consulate in Los Angeles no longer accepts mail in requests. We had to hire someone to 'walk' our paperwork in. The cost of the visas is now $130 compared to $30 if you are from Mexico, $35 from Australia, and $50 from Russia or Japan. Why is this? Because we did it first.
Although there were no Brazilian terrorists, after 9/11, the US government increased the cost of visas for Brazilians and, in reciprocity, they did the same. This time, we paid more than three times as much for our Brazilian visas. Thanks, George.
U.S. citizens traveling to Brazil are required to obtain a visa prior to entering Brazil. This requirement is in reciprocity to the U.S. government demand that all Brazilian citizens hold a visa in order to enter the United States.
Citizens of countries that do not demand visas from Brazilian nationals usually do not need visas to enter Brazil (most European and South American countries fall in this category).
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