Brazil drops visas for Chinese visitors as part of eight-nation waiver package

Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on 1 March that travellers from China, Denmark, France, Hungary, Ireland, Jamaica and Saint Lucia—as well as the Bahamas—may now enter visa-free for stays of up to 30 days, extendable locally to 90 days within a 12-month period. The decree, published in the Diário Oficial da União and effective from 24 February, completes the reciprocity loop created when China began admitting Brazilian tourists visa-free in mid-2025. For Chinese corporates the change is more than symbolic. Brazil is China’s top trading partner in Latin America, with bilateral commerce surpassing US $170 billion in 2025. Mobility teams have long complained that obtaining a Brazilian business visa could take three to five weeks—an eternity when engineers are needed on a mining site or bankers must close a São Paulo deal. The waiver removes that bottleneck, enabling same-week travel provided visitors carry a passport valid for six months, proof of funds and return or onward tickets. Tourism officials expect a visible impact. Even during the pandemic-affected 2022 season, 55,000 Chinese tourists spent an average of US $1,900 each in Brazil, according to Embratur. A return to 2019 volumes (approximately 131,000 visitors) would inject an extra US $100–150 million into Brazil’s hospitality sector—and that figure could rise if airlines restore pre-Covid wide-body capacity on the Guangzhou–São Paulo route. The waiver, however, is unilateral for seven of the eight countries; only China offers Brazilian citizens the same privilege. That asymmetry underscores Brazil’s eagerness to attract high-spending, long-haul travellers in the run-up to major events such as the 2027 ICCA Congress and the 2028 World Expo bid. For mobility planners the message is simple: Brazil is open, but ensure staff respect the 30-/90-day limit and avoid any remunerated activities without the appropriate permits. Chinese companies with operations in Brazil should also revisit compliance check-lists. While entry is simpler, tax residency kicks in after 183 days in a 12-month period; payroll teams need to monitor cumulative stays to avoid unexpected income-tax liabilities.