US authorities received his application on Friday, his lawyer, Felipe Alejandro, said, adding that Bolsonaro will remain in the US while his application is pending.
Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro has applied for a tourist visa – valid for six months – to stay in the US, his lawyer said today, despite calls to revoke any US visa Bolsonaro holds after violent protests by his supporters in Brasilia.
US authorities received his application on Friday, his lawyer, Felipe Alejandro, said, adding that Bolsonaro will remain in the US while his application is pending.
“He would like to take some time, clear his head and enjoy being a tourist in the US for a few months before deciding what his next step will be,” his lawyer said in an emailed response to Reuters.
“Whether or not he uses the full semester will be up to him and whatever strategy we agree to launch based on his plans as they develop,” he added.
The Financial Times initially reported that Bolsonaro had applied for a tourist visa.
A State Department spokesman said travel visa records are confidential under US law, adding that the US State Department cannot discuss details of individual visa cases.
Far-right Bolsonaro flew to Florida two days before his term ends on January 1 and before centre-left President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva takes office.
Thousands of the former president’s supporters caused chaos in Brasilia on January 8, storming and looting the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court, calling for a military coup to overturn the October election won by Lula.
Brazil’s Supreme Court has agreed to open an investigation into Bolsonaro for allegedly encouraging anti-democratic protests.
Earlier this month, 41 Democratic lawmakers asked the Biden administration to cooperate with Brazilian authorities’ investigations into the violent protests in Brasilia and to revoke any US visas held by Bolsonaro.
The State Department has repeatedly stated that its policy is not to discuss specific visa cases.
The US State Department has stressed that it is up to a person who entered the US on a so-called ‘A’ visa reserved for diplomats and heads of state to depart the country within 30 days or apply for a change of immigration status if they do not have now official duties. Bolsonaro is believed to have entered on such a visa.
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