Tourism Minister proposes to waive visa requirements for some nationalities
 

http://www.wsj.com/articles/brazil-t...ers-1477078920

a welcome announcement ^

That's a paid subscription site. Why don't you post the gist of it for us cheapies?
The key word I can see though is "proposes". Far from a done deal.

OK. Here is a brief recap:

Max Beltrao proposes to eliminate the visa requirement for citizens of the US, Canada, Australia and Japan. This could be extended to other nationalities, e.g. China.
Policy with be similar to what was done around the Olympics.
Idea is to increase tourism; the extra revenue would exceed by far the revenue from the visa requirement and "reciprocity fee".
Initially the move would be for one year and then results reviewed to consider making the changes permanent.

No timeline was mentioned.

Not surprised that no timeline was mentioned. He is one minister in a compromised government. Not going to happen until, as has been said many times by many in the Brazilian government, the US reciprocates, Brazilian economic crisis or not.
The visa fee and the application process are not currently what may be keeping US passport holders from visiting Brazil anyway. It is more likely to be the perception of the Zika "crisis" and the upswing in crime.
Even questions about Brazil on all the popular travel forums are down right now (since the Zika publicity). The busiest forum has about 3 questions per day, where formerly it was dozens, especially in the planning months pre-Carnaval.

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Personally I have a current 10 year visa, have never gotten dengue (so not concerned about Zika), and have not had a problem with crime, so I will continue to travel to Brazil as usual. It would be nice if my Brazilian friends could visit me at home more easily.

"Vida: The visa fee and the application process are not currently what may be keeping US passport holders from visiting Brazil anyway. It is more likely to be the perception of the Zika "crisis" and the upswing in crime."

Another factor dissuading travel may be higher airfares into Brazil. N.American airlines have cut flights (example directs to Rio) and reduced capacity. Airfares are fluid and sales will occur but on the high side for 2017 right now. BTW for any reader that may be interested in Brazil and has the time, there are plenty of nice apartments in Rio that discount 30 to 60% for stays of a month or more.

That's probably true. Fares are a bit high right now, about U$1300 RT from US northeast (not NYC) after Carnaval. My "convenient" flight direct to Salvador from Miami was cut.
IMO Havana Vieja resembles Pelourinho/Santo Antonio in Salvador, and the Cuban countryside, the little roadside villages, look a lot like parts of Minas and Bahia. Nice beaches too. Round trip from the US northeast is about U$330.

After re-reading the article I should make a correction. I said that no timeline was mentioned but in fact Mr. Beltrao stated that "the program is currently under discussion with other government bodies and that a final decision on the proposal could be reached by the end of the year."

Sorry.

It will be interesting to see what happens and on what timeline.
People who are going to Carnaval should apply for their visas soon--or not have to do so.

Basically the tourism minister thinks its a great idea and is passing it on to the Foreign Minister that actually can do something about it. I hope it happens, would make life easier for people to visit Brasil. I think it's less about the money and more about the hassle, maybe they could move to e-visas like some other countries, or even be like Chile where you just pay the fee at the airport on arrival. Having to deal with a consulate is the part that is more annoying than the fee itself.

Well, the underlying idea is reciprocity.
"Annoying" does not come close to describing the humiliating treatment (I have seen this personally), huge sums of money (relative to income) for fees and personal travel to the consulate, and extraordinary number of documents the US consulate requires of Brazilians of all classes and professions (and relationships to US citizens and green card holders) in order to get a visa.
Let's see the US make the first move in having a sane visa policy for Brazilians, where the doctor son of a Green card holder or the elderly mother of a naturalized citizen, for just two examples, are not refused visas for spurious reasons. Let's make life easier for our own legal residents (who have followed the letter of the law to a T) to interact with their loved ones in their own homes. Let's stop imprisoning young Brazilians (as happened recently, for weeks until their parents who thought to present them with a trip
(Please withhold any arrogant comments from US passport holders. Not everyone wants to live in the US.)

Seriously end the fee/visa to visit brasil. Such a stupid policy.

Seriously, end the fee/visa for Brazilians to visit the US. Such a stupid policy.

Notwithstanding this, it sounds like the Brazil Tourism Minister is attempting a sound economic policy notwithstanding what certain countries may or may not do to Brazilian nationals who would like to visit their respective countries.

I've already not visited Brazil because of this - the visas had just expired when we were considering a side trip to Eegwasoo. I'm in deep South America enough that little side trips of a night or two would be easy, but Brazil is off the map. I'd even pay a fee (upon entry or in advance) but either taking two half days off of work to deal with the consulate, or paying a visa service way too much money, isn't worth it.

So, yes, it is a royal unfair PITA for nationals of many countries to try and obtain (often not successfully, but for the same price) a visa for US admission, but sometimes the bank account (i.e., getting tourist dollars into the country) is more important than either national pride or spite.

First of all, I don't think, and don't believe there are statistics to prove, that US passport holders contribute such a large amount of money to the Brazilian economy currently, or to assume that they would in future if the visa fee is done away with.
It's a long trip for most US residents (my trip is 19 hours usually, door to door, major city in northeast to major city in northeast), and there are other factors (crime and Zika mainly, but also lack of English speakers even in the tourism sector) that discourage many people from going.

No such place. Try making a flight reservation.


So if you haven't even been, how do you know if it's worth it or not? You have no experience to base on. You could find it well worth it.

Don't know which Brazilian Consulate you would deal with (San Francisco? given your name here), but some have return mail service, which would mean only a few minutes to drop off docs. (Most people with reasonable employers can easily do "make up" time for any time taken for appointments.)

However, I usually advise that if the visa process discourages someone from traveling to Brazil, the actual conditions there, the bureaucracy and culture, the way of doing things, would undoubtedly make the actual visit very unpleasant for such a person.

I have been, twice. Note that I mentioned my expired visa. I didn't care to renew for little side trips.

Right now, Brazil can use any tourist money that it can get.

And, yes, I have had friends materially affected by US visa policy.