Brazil: Increased Enforcement of Visa Requirements for Transit Passengers

The Brazilian Ministry of Justice has published regulations that require foreign nationals who do not hold a valid entry visa for Brazil to continue traveling to their destination or return to the country where their flight originated. In Brazil, transit passengers do not require a visa to transit if they do not go through customs and immigration control. However, in practice, many of these travelers used the transit visa exemption to request asylum of refugee status at the Federal Police at the airport. The new regulation creates stricter rules to prevent this practice, due to a significant increase in foreign nationals entering Brazil based on asylum or refugee status instead of transiting to another country.