Originally Posted by
RomanyUY
Me: US citizen and 15 year legal resident of Uruguay.
While I've transited through GRU many times without issue, this new visa arrangement is already giving me pause.
My US passport expires next year so I'm delaying any visa applications until I renew later this year.
On April 1st (last month), I was checking in at NY's Laguardia airport for my trip home (LGA-DFW-GRU-MVD) As usual, they noted that I didn't have a return or onward ticket and asked about a visa for Uruguay. I whipped out my national ID card that says Residente Legal and was good to to go until ...
They asked me if I had a visa for Brazil. 1. Transiting through, not exiting GRU. 2. Wouldn't need one until April 10th (now 2025) anyway. They checked my layover time, thankfully a mere three hours. They let me board - but it had me wondering what COULD have gone wrong.
In doing research, I found this forum. Happy to be here. Lots of great detailed info.
I will be happy to answer questions about airports and airlines I'm familiar with.
Welcome to Flyertalk.
I have traveled back and forth between the US and Brasil more times than I can count. As a resident in Brasil, and prior to the suspension of the visa requirement I would often encounter check-in agents that were not familiar with the rules, even when showing my resident ID for Brasil. Sometimes they would need to go ask another agent or even leave the counter to go to a back office to look things up. Sounds like this is something that you encountered. As long as you are able to stay airside at GRU, you would not need a visa for Brasil. Also, look into the rules for Mercosul/Mercosur countries. The Uruguayan residency may permit entry to Brasil without a Brasilian visa. Both Brasil and Uruguay are full members. This site provides some info to get you started:
Obtaining Citizenship Under The Mercosur Agreement (expatmoney.com)