Brazil: visa and entry rules

Brazil's borders: every crossing point

Brazil's land border crossings, listed by neighbour:

Brazil has ten neighbours — more than any other country in South America.

With Argentina: Foz do Iguacu — Puerto Iguazu, by the waterfalls.

With Paraguay: Foz do Iguacu — Ciudad del Este, the Friendship Bridge.

With Uruguay: Chuy — Chui, a town split in two by the border.

With Bolivia: Corumba — Puerto Quijarro.

With Peru: Assis Brasil — Inapari.

With Colombia: Tabatinga — Leticia in the Amazon.

With Venezuela: Pacaraima — Santa Elena de Uairen.

With Guyana: Bonfim — Lethem.

With French Guiana: Oiapoque — Saint-Georges.

The triple border at the Iguazu Falls is the busiest hub for tourists: in a single day you can find yourself in three countries.

Driving to Brazil

There are plenty of land routes — ten neighbours, and road links with most of them are in place.

Check the carnet requirement and the maximum import period for Brazil before you set off. These two points are what most often turns a car back at the border.

Mercosur insurance. A regional policy applies for the common market countries, and it is asked for at the crossings with Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

An International Driving Permit is required.

Roads in the Amazon are seasonal — some of the crossings are practically unreachable in the rainy season.

Travelling to Brazil with a pet

An international veterinary certificate is required, endorsed by the state veterinary service of the country you are leaving.

The rabies vaccination must be valid on the date of entry.

On arrival the animal is inspected by the VIGIAGRO service.

Treatment against internal and external parasites is required, recorded in the documents.

Check the vaccination deadlines and whether a microchip is required for entry into Brazil with your country's veterinary service before you buy tickets.

Overstaying your visa in Brazil

The fine is charged for every day of the overstay and has an upper limit.

The fine is calculated as you leave the country, and there is no way to work it out in advance. The rates in Brazil change and there is no single published scale. Cash at the border is essential.

You pay on departure or on your next entry — an unpaid fine shows up in the Federal Police database.

The annual ceiling of 180 days matters more than the date in your stamp. You can overstay even having extended your stay legally, if in total you exceed half a year within one year.