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Brazilian president sanctions visa waiver for Olympics 2016

Xinhua, November 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff agreed on Wednesday to suspend visa requirements for foreigners during the Olympic Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

The "exceptional, unilateral visa waiver" is specifically aimed at citizens from countries and regions "with a strong Olympic tradition, which have hosted the Games in the past and pose no migration risk or national security risks, for the duration of the Olympics," said Brazilian government in a statement.

The countries and regions that will benefit from this measure will be defined through a joint order of the Ministries of Tourism, Justice and Foreign Affairs.

The waiver will not require people to prove that they possess the Games tickets and only be given out to "nationals from specific countries", according to the government.

Foreigners from the selected places who enter the South American country between June 1 and Sept. 18, 2016, will be able to stay for up to 90 days without a visa.

The Olympic Games Rio 2016 will take place between Aug. 5 and 21 while the Paralympic Games will be held between Sept. 7 and 18.

It is hoped that the measure will increase the number of international tourists in the country between January and September 2016 by 20 percent, according to the Ministry of Tourism's calculations.

Tourism minister Henrique Eduardo Alves said that the measure would be very important for the tourism sector.

"The next step now is to prepare the joint order. Our proposal is to include the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan as they are countries with a strong Olympic tradition," said Alves.

The Ministry of Tourism's calculations are based on studies carried out by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). The second organization brings together major hotel chains and the world's most important airlines. Endi