The visa is the easy part.
US passports need an eVisa for Brazil. It is fully online, costs $80.90, and is good for 10 years. Most people finish the application in about 30 minutes. Here is the whole thing, step by step, with the one official site to use.
Confirm you actually need one.
Since April 10, 2025, US passport holders need a visa to enter Brazil, no matter the reason for the trip. Canada and Australia are in the same boat. Every traveler needs their own visa, kids included.
- Your passport just needs to be valid on the day you enter Brazil, with one blank page for the stamp.
- Traveling on a non-US passport? Many countries still enter visa-free. Check your country at the official portal before you assume.
Gather three things.
- A color photo of your passport bio page. Lay it flat, good light, no glare, no fingers in the shot. Your phone camera is fine.
- A passport-style photo. Color, white background, face straight on, no glasses or hat. A phone photo against a white wall works, or grab the photo file from your last passport renewal.
- Proof you can fund the trip. A bank statement from the last 30 days is the standard move. Recent pay stubs also work. Guides commonly cite about $2,000 as the comfortable bar.
- Passport bio page color scan, no glare, no fingers
- Passport-style photo white background, no glasses
- Bank statement last 30 days, or recent pay stubs
That is the entire document list for most travelers. No flight booking required to apply, though having your rough dates helps.
Apply at the official portal. Only there.
Watch out: search results are full of lookalike sites that file the same form and charge you $150 to $250 for it. If the site is not brazil.vfsevisa.com, you are paying a middleman. The real fee is $80.90, full stop.
The form takes 20 to 40 minutes. Two things people get wrong:
- Type your name exactly as it appears on your passport, middle names and all.
- Triple-check the passport number. The visa is linked to that exact passport, so a typo means starting over.
Pay the $80.90.
Credit or debit card, at the end of the application. That is $80 of consular fee plus a $0.90 service charge. You will get a confirmation email with your application number. Save it.
Give it about 5 business days.
Official processing runs about five business days. Sometimes it is faster, sometimes they ask for a cleaner photo or a better scan, which adds a round trip. Our rule: apply the same week you book flights, and never inside two weeks of departure.
When it is approved, you download the eVisa as a PDF from the portal. It is tied to your passport electronically.
Land in Rio. We take it from there.
- Print one copy of the eVisa and keep a digital copy on your phone. Airlines often ask at check-in.
- Each visit can run up to 90 days, with a max of 180 days inside any 12-month window.
- The visa is good for 10 years, so trip two, three, and four are already covered.
And from the moment you clear immigration, the BBE side begins: your Experience Concierge, the crew on the ground, and B.E Guardian free on your phone.
Rather not do it alone? We do it with you.
The eVisa is simple, but a wrong photo size or a mistyped date means a rejection and a re-do. So when you book a trip with BBE, your visa is part of the deal: we walk it with you, free.
- We check it before you submit. Documents, photo, and dates reviewed against the official rules, so it clears the first time.
- We time it to your trip. We make sure you apply early enough that your approval lands well before you fly.
- One person, start to finish. The same concierge who builds your trip answers your visa questions. Never a call center.
Free for everyone who books a BBE trip. Not booked yet? The full walk-through above is free for anyone, and we are happy to answer questions on a no-pressure call.
Order iFood your first night. Pay like a local.
A CPF is Brazil's personal ID number, and it is the key that unlocks iFood, Pix, and most local apps. You do not need one to land, ride, or pay by card, but it turns Rio from tourist mode into local mode. So before you fly, we get you arrival-ready.
- We guide you through your own free CPF. We sit with you through the official Receita Federal form, get every field right, and you submit it yourself.
- We get the small things right. The passport photo, the formatting, the details that trip people up, so it clears the first time.
- We set up Pix with you. Split a bill, pay a vendor, grab an açaí the way locals do, from day one.
Arrival-ready, not stranded. Uber, 99, and your cards all work without a CPF; this is the convenience layer that makes the city feel like home. You always apply yourself through the official Receita Federal process, and we never keep your passport photo once your application is in.
Thirty minutes of admin. A trip you brag about.
On your free 30-minute planning call we sanity-check your visa timeline against your dates, then build the actual trip: the rooms, the beach, the nights, the crew.
Rules change. This page was verified against the official portal and the US State Department in June 2026, and we keep it current. Always confirm at brazil.vfsevisa.com (opens in a new tab) before you fly. BBE is not a government visa office or a law firm, and you always apply yourself on the official portal. Our visa concierge is hands-on help: we have walked hundreds of travelers through this, and we will walk it with you.