Brazil demands negative PCR test from air travellers

Update 8 January 2021: Ordinance 651 of 8 January 2021, reaffirms the requirement for a COVID-19 testing. It also maintains the ban on entry of non-resident foreigners by land and sea and flights arriving from our via the UK . Ordinance 648/2020 has been revoked.

Update 28 December 2020: Ordinance 648 of 23 December 2020 revoked Ordinance 630/2020 and provided clarification on the requirement for RT-PCR test, namely:

• The document must be written in Portuguese, Spanish or English;
• The test must be performed in a laboratory approved by the health authority of the country of departure;
• in the event of a flight with connections or layovers where the traveller remains in a restricted area of ​​the airport, the 72-hour period will be considered in relation to boarding in the first leg of the trip;
• The traveller who goes through migration over 72 hours since the RT-PCR test was carried out, must present a document proving a new test with a negative or non-reactive result when checking-in for departure to Brazil;
• Children under 12 years old who is travelling accompanied is exempt from presenting a document proving the RT-PCR test as long as their companions present  these documents proving a laboratory test with a result of the negative RT-PCR test performed 72 hours prior to boarding;
• Childer aged two or less than twelve years old travelling unaccompanied must present a document proving the RT-PCR test with a negative or non-reagent performed 72 hours prior to boarding

The above requirements do not apply for flights from abroad with connections or technical landings in Brazil as long as no one disembarks. there are no disembarks followed by immigration clearance and technical stoppages.

Brazil has lifted its ban on air travel since July but has kept the land and sea borders closed to foreigners indefinitely, with some exceptions, including crew changes that are subject to migratory control on seafarers.

For the first time since the opening of the air border, Ordinance 630 of 17 December 2020, requires proof of a negative RT-PCR test, taken no later than 72 hours before boarding the inbound flight, and a Traveller’s Health Affidavit (DSV, in Portuguese) from all non-resident Brazilian and foreigner travellers arriving in the country as of 30 December 2020.

The DSV form can be filled out either digitally or printed. The traveller must consent on sanitary measures to be complied with while in Brazil, though the ordinance does not detail what these measures are.

Brazil is currently facing a significant surge in the number of reported COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. The new cases brought the daily tallies back to the record levels registered in July. The country recorded the highest moving average of confirmed cases since the arrival of the pandemic.

Although the Brazilian air border remains open, most countries are closed to flights departing from Brazil, making it extremely difficult to repatriate seafarers when they terminate a contract of employment or when they need to continue medical treatment at home. Indeed, many nations are recommending their citizens to avoid travelling to Brazil, as is the case, for example, of the United States, whose health authority placed the country at Level 4, the highest level of life-threatening risks for travellers.

Read more about COVID-19 measures taken by Brazilian authorities that affect the operation of vessels and crew changes.

Published: 19 December 2020. Updated 19 January 2021.