Entering Brazil as a Visitor
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Colombia on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
81 exceptions recorded across 33 countries · none match Colombia to Brazil · Visiting as a tourist
A visit visa, or a waiver where your nationality has one, buys up to 90 days, which the Federal Police may extend by up to 90 more. The ceiling is 180 days in a migratory year, and the regulation defines a migratory year as twelve months from your own first entry, so the clock is personal rather than a calendar. Two details are usually lost. The extension is available only to nationals of countries that give Brazilians the same treatment, so the second 90 days is not a general right. And the foreign ministry's own visa table marks many European nationalities with an asterisk meaning a maximum of 90 days in any 180 - stricter than the decree, and the number actually applied at the border. Unlike most of its neighbours, Brazil lets a visitor apply for residency without leaving.
At a glance
- Stay granted
- Up to 90 days
- Extension
- Up to 90 further days, granted by the Federal Police
Available only to nationals of countries that assure Brazilians reciprocal treatment
- Ceiling
- 180 days per migratory year
- Migratory year
- Twelve months from the visitor's first entry
Not a calendar year and not a rolling 365-day window; the count starts at your own first entry and is suspended whenever you leave
- United States, Canada and Australia
- Visa required since 10 April 2025
The waiver was revoked by Decreto 11.515/2023; the date is the commencement in its article 3, as last amended by Decreto 11.982/2024
- Many European nationalities
- Maximum 90 days of stay per 180 days
The asterisk in the foreign ministry's visa table, which is narrower than the 180 days per migratory year in the decree
- Paid work on a visit
- Prohibited
- Switching to residency
- Allowed from inside Brazil, by request and registration
Requirements
- A valid travel document, and a visit visa where the foreign ministry's table requires one for your nationality
- No paid activity in Brazil during the visit, beyond per diems, travel costs and prizes
- An extension requested from the Federal Police before the current period expires, available only if your country gives Brazilians reciprocal treatment
- Departure within 180 days of the first entry in the same migratory year, or a residency application filed in its place
In detail
The migratory year is yours, not the calendar's
Brazil counts a visitor's days inside a twelve-month period that starts on that visitor's first entry. Leave and the clock stops; come back and it resumes. That is a third model, different from Peru and Colombia, where days accumulate inside a rolling window, and from Paraguay, where each admission is counted on its own and nothing accumulates. The practical consequence is that a long first trip narrows every later trip until the anniversary of your first arrival.
Where the table and the decree disagree
The decree allows 180 days in the migratory year. The foreign ministry's visa table marks many European nationalities with an asterisk that caps them at 90 days in any 180. Both are current, and the table is what the border applies. A traveller from one of those countries who plans on the decree's 180 days is planning on the wrong number.
Six years of open entry ended in 2025
Between 2019 and 2025 Americans, Canadians and Australians entered without a visa under a unilateral waiver. That waiver was revoked in 2023, but the revocation's commencement was postponed three times before it finally took effect on 10 April 2025. An electronic visit visa is the route now. Japan, which was covered by the same 2019 waiver, still appears in the ministry's table as waived for 90 days.
Country-level policy
Lei 13.445/2017 replaced the 1980 foreigners' statute and changed the thing that shapes every other answer about Brazil: residence can be applied for from inside the country, regardless of the status you are in. Both the statute and its regulation say so in terms. A visitor may turn a visit into residence by request and registration; an irregular overstayer may apply on any ground whose conditions they meet. That is why Brazil has no equivalent of Paraguay's consular visa for residency or Chile's rule that residence is applied for from abroad. The same law abolished the permanent and temporary visa categories, replacing them with residence authorisations of determinate or indeterminate term - which matters because two instruments that still govern real decisions, the revenue's residence test and older agency pages, were never rewritten.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Colombia
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«O visto de visita poderá ser concedido ao visitante que venha ao Brasil para estada de curta duração, sem intenção de estabelecer residência, nos seguintes casos:»Our translation - not official
A visit visa may be granted to a visitor who comes to Brazil for a short stay, without the intention of establishing residence, in the following cases:
The five cases are tourism, business, transit, artistic or sporting activities, and others defined by regulation.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Publishes the compiled text of laws and decrees with amendments woven in and superseded wording struck through on the same page.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for what is in force without reading the strike-throughs: the page stacks every historical wording of an article above the current one, so quoting the wrong layer produces a repealed rule that still passes a verbatim check. It is also not the point of legal effect; that is the gazette.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«É vedado ao beneficiário de visto de visita exercer atividade remunerada no Brasil.»Our translation - not official
The holder of a visit visa is prohibited from carrying out any paid activity in Brazil.
The following paragraph carves out per diems, expenses, appearance fees and competition or contest prizes, so the ban is on taking up work rather than on receiving money.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Publishes the compiled text of laws and decrees with amendments woven in and superseded wording struck through on the same page.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for what is in force without reading the strike-throughs: the page stacks every historical wording of an article above the current one, so quoting the wrong layer produces a repealed rule that still passes a verbatim check. It is also not the point of legal effect; that is the gazette.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«O visto de visita terá prazo de estada de até noventa dias, prorrogáveis pela Polícia Federal por até noventa dias, desde que o prazo de estada máxima no País não ultrapasse cento e oitenta dias a cada ano migratório»Our translation - not official
The visit visa carries a stay of up to ninety days, extendable by the Federal Police by up to ninety days, provided that the maximum period of stay in the country does not exceed one hundred and eighty days in each migratory year
Three limits sit in one sentence: ninety days granted, ninety more available, and a hard ceiling of one hundred and eighty in the migratory year.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Publishes the compiled text of laws and decrees with amendments woven in and superseded wording struck through on the same page.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for what is in force without reading the strike-throughs: the page stacks every historical wording of an article above the current one, so quoting the wrong layer produces a repealed rule that still passes a verbatim check. It is also not the point of legal effect; that is the gazette.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«ano migratório - período de doze meses, contado da data da primeira entrada do visitante no território nacional, conforme disciplinado em ato do dirigente máximo da Polícia Federal.»Our translation - not official
migratory year - a period of twelve months, counted from the date of the visitor's first entry into the national territory, as regulated by an act of the head of the Federal Police.
This is the definition that makes Brazil different from Peru and Colombia, where the pool is a rolling window, and from Paraguay, where it is per admission. It is also delegated: the detail of how the twelve months are counted is left to an act of the Federal Police, which we have not read.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Publishes the compiled text of laws and decrees with amendments woven in and superseded wording struck through on the same page.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for what is in force without reading the strike-throughs: the page stacks every historical wording of an article above the current one, so quoting the wrong layer produces a repealed rule that still passes a verbatim check. It is also not the point of legal effect; that is the gazette.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«A contagem do prazo de estada do visto de visita começará a partir da data da primeira entrada no território nacional e será suspensa sempre que o visitante deixar o território nacional.»Our translation - not official
The counting of the visit visa's period of stay begins on the date of the first entry into the national territory and is suspended whenever the visitor leaves the national territory.
About this source
Publishes the compiled text of laws and decrees with amendments woven in and superseded wording struck through on the same page.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for what is in force without reading the strike-throughs: the page stacks every historical wording of an article above the current one, so quoting the wrong layer produces a repealed rule that still passes a verbatim check. It is also not the point of legal effect; that is the gazette.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«A prorrogação do prazo de estada do visto de visita somente poderá ser feita na hipótese de nacionais de países que assegurem reciprocidade de tratamento aos nacionais brasileiros.»Our translation - not official
The extension of the visit visa's period of stay may be made only in the case of nationals of countries that assure Brazilian nationals reciprocal treatment.
Guidance that reports a flat 90 plus 90 has dropped this condition. Whether a given nationality qualifies is not published in the decree.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Publishes the compiled text of laws and decrees with amendments woven in and superseded wording struck through on the same page.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for what is in force without reading the strike-throughs: the page stacks every historical wording of an article above the current one, so quoting the wrong layer produces a repealed rule that still passes a verbatim check. It is also not the point of legal effect; that is the gazette.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«O disposto no art. 20 poderá ser aplicado aos nacionais de países isentos de vistos para visitar o País.»Our translation - not official
The provisions of article 20 may be applied to nationals of countries exempt from visas to visit the country.
The stay and extension rules reach visa-waived nationals through this article, and the verb is may rather than shall.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Publishes the compiled text of laws and decrees with amendments woven in and superseded wording struck through on the same page.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for what is in force without reading the strike-throughs: the page stacks every historical wording of an article above the current one, so quoting the wrong layer produces a repealed rule that still passes a verbatim check. It is also not the point of legal effect; that is the gazette.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«O visto de visita ou de cortesia poderá ser transformado em autorização de residência, mediante requerimento e registro, desde que satisfeitos os requisitos previstos em regulamento.»Our translation - not official
A visit or courtesy visa may be transformed into a residence authorisation, upon request and registration, provided the requirements laid down in regulation are met.
Chile requires most residence applications to be filed from abroad and Paraguay's visa table demands a consular visa obtained beforehand. Brazil does not.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Publishes the compiled text of laws and decrees with amendments woven in and superseded wording struck through on the same page.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for what is in force without reading the strike-throughs: the page stacks every historical wording of an article above the current one, so quoting the wrong layer produces a repealed rule that still passes a verbatim check. It is also not the point of legal effect; that is the gazette.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«Revoga o Decreto nº 9.731, de 16 de março de 2019.»Our translation - not official
Revokes Decree No. 9,731 of 16 March 2019.
Decreto 9.731/2019 was the unilateral visa waiver for Australia, Canada, the United States and Japan. The instrument to cite for the visa requirement is this decree, not the one that changed its commencement date.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Publishes the compiled text of laws and decrees with amendments woven in and superseded wording struck through on the same page.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for what is in force without reading the strike-throughs: the page stacks every historical wording of an article above the current one, so quoting the wrong layer produces a repealed rule that still passes a verbatim check. It is also not the point of legal effect; that is the gazette.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«Decreto entra em vigor em 10 de abril de 2025.” (NR)»Our translation - not official
Decree comes into force on 10 April 2025." (NR)
The commencement of Decreto 11.515/2023 was postponed four times - to 1 October 2023, then 10 January 2024, then 10 April 2024, then 10 April 2025. The date that matters is the one in the article of the amended decree, and the quotation is the amending instruction that put it there. The fragment begins mid-sentence because the publisher's markup breaks the line after the article number.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Publishes the compiled text of laws and decrees with amendments woven in and superseded wording struck through on the same page.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for what is in force without reading the strike-throughs: the page stacks every historical wording of an article above the current one, so quoting the wrong layer produces a repealed rule that still passes a verbatim check. It is also not the point of legal effect; that is the gazette.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«* - Máximo 90 dias de estada a cada 180 dias.»Our translation - not official
* - Maximum 90 days of stay in each 180 days.
This footnote is attached to Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal's neighbours in the Schengen area and others. It is narrower than the 180 days per migratory year in Decreto 9.199 art. 20, and it is the rule the border applies to those nationalities.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Publishes the Quadro Geral de Regime de Vistos, the only official per-nationality visa table for Brazil.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for residence rules, nor for its own legal basis: the table cites a law number that does not exist. Its stay limits are stricter than the decree for asterisked nationalities, which is a fact about border practice rather than about the regulation. The table is re-issued as a dated PDF whose URL changes with every revision, so a stored reading goes stale silently instead of registering as changed.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«1. Visto exigido.»Our translation - not official
1. Visa required.
About this source
Publishes the Quadro Geral de Regime de Vistos, the only official per-nationality visa table for Brazil.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for residence rules, nor for its own legal basis: the table cites a law number that does not exist. Its stay limits are stricter than the decree for asterisked nationalities, which is a fact about border practice rather than about the regulation. The table is re-issued as a dated PDF whose URL changes with every revision, so a stored reading goes stale silently instead of registering as changed.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«| Estados Unidos | 1 | 1 | 1 |»Our translation - not official
| United States | 1 | 1 | 1 |
The three columns are diplomatic passports, official or service passports, and ordinary passports. Code 1 in the third column is a visa requirement. Canada and Australia carry the same three codes.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Publishes the Quadro Geral de Regime de Vistos, the only official per-nationality visa table for Brazil.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for residence rules, nor for its own legal basis: the table cites a law number that does not exist. Its stay limits are stricter than the decree for asterisked nationalities, which is a fact about border practice rather than about the regulation. The table is re-issued as a dated PDF whose URL changes with every revision, so a stored reading goes stale silently instead of registering as changed.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The extension is discretionary twice over: the Federal Police may grant less than the period in the decree, and it may only be granted at all where your country treats Brazilians the same way. The decree does not publish the list of countries that qualify.
We have not read the Federal Police act that regulates how the migratory year is counted; the decree delegates that detail to it.
The foreign ministry's table names its own legal basis as "Lei nº. 13.447/2017". The migration law is Lei nº 13.445, de 24 de maio de 2017. The wrong number is the publisher's.
- consolidatesLei nº 13.445, de 24 de maio de 2017 - Lei de Migração
Presidência da República - Portal da Legislação (Planalto)
About this source
Publishes the compiled text of laws and decrees with amendments woven in and superseded wording struck through on the same page.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for what is in force without reading the strike-throughs: the page stacks every historical wording of an article above the current one, so quoting the wrong layer produces a repealed rule that still passes a verbatim check. It is also not the point of legal effect; that is the gazette.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
- consolidatesDecreto nº 9.199, de 20 de novembro de 2017
Presidência da República - Portal da Legislação (Planalto)
About this source
Publishes the compiled text of laws and decrees with amendments woven in and superseded wording struck through on the same page.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for what is in force without reading the strike-throughs: the page stacks every historical wording of an article above the current one, so quoting the wrong layer produces a repealed rule that still passes a verbatim check. It is also not the point of legal effect; that is the gazette.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
- consolidatesDecreto nº 11.515, de 2 de maio de 2023
Presidência da República - Portal da Legislação (Planalto)
About this source
Publishes the compiled text of laws and decrees with amendments woven in and superseded wording struck through on the same page.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for what is in force without reading the strike-throughs: the page stacks every historical wording of an article above the current one, so quoting the wrong layer produces a repealed rule that still passes a verbatim check. It is also not the point of legal effect; that is the gazette.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
- consolidatesDecreto nº 11.982, de 9 de abril de 2024
Presidência da República - Portal da Legislação (Planalto)
About this source
Publishes the compiled text of laws and decrees with amendments woven in and superseded wording struck through on the same page.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for what is in force without reading the strike-throughs: the page stacks every historical wording of an article above the current one, so quoting the wrong layer produces a repealed rule that still passes a verbatim check. It is also not the point of legal effect; that is the gazette.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
- issuesQuadro Geral de Regime de Vistos para a Entrada de Estrangeiros no Brasil
Ministério das Relações Exteriores
About this source
Publishes the Quadro Geral de Regime de Vistos, the only official per-nationality visa table for Brazil.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for residence rules, nor for its own legal basis: the table cites a law number that does not exist. Its stay limits are stricter than the decree for asterisked nationalities, which is a fact about border practice rather than about the regulation. The table is re-issued as a dated PDF whose URL changes with every revision, so a stored reading goes stale silently instead of registering as changed.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source