AM may gain first point of issuance of American visas in the Amazon

Adrisa De Góes – From Cenarium Magazine*

MANAUS (AM) – The governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima (União Brasil), requested to the Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, during a meeting in Brasilia (DF), on Monday, 29, the creation of a post to issue American visas in the State. If the request is met, Manaus will be the first capital of the Amazon to have the service.

According to the president, the Amazon territory is strategic for trips to Central and North America. He points out, at the same time, that the state government, under his management since 2019, has encouraged, with the reduction of the Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS), on fuels used in aviation, the offer of new air destinations from Manaus.

Read more: Wilson Lima offers Amazonas for ‘pre-COP’ to Foreign Minister

“The installation of a gas station in the state will benefit the entire Northern Region of Brazil. The entire tourism production chain will be benefited, moving the economy and promoting socioeconomic development of the population”, highlighted the governor of Amazonas. Today, the issue is made in five capitals of the country: São Paulo (SP), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Recife (PE), Porto Alegre (RS) and Brasilia (DF).

Ease in the process

The employee of the Regional Council of Medicine in Amazonas (CRM-AM), Geovana Almeida, 18, plans to travel to Boston, capital of Massachusetts, in the United States, for tourism. She is waiting for her passport to be issued, and then she will apply for an American visa. The young woman will carry out the process in Rio de Janeiro, one of the cities where the issue is carried out.

“It would be great to have a visa issuing station here in the Amazon, because it would totally facilitate the lives of many people, in terms of tourism and work, for example. It would be much faster, since we would already have a station here and we would be able to issue the visa right here. Afterwards, it would be just a matter of going to the desirable country. It would make the process much faster”, he said in an interview to CENARIUM MAGAZINE.

Tourism and investments

Amazonas has received, in 2023, 55,930 tourists, of which 24% are foreigners (13,487), according to data from the State Government. From this total, the main senders are: the United States (31.89%), Germany (10.99%), Colombia (5.51%), and Switzerland (3.51%). Among the major domestic emitters are the states of São Paulo (25.62%) and Pará (21.60%), and Roraima (12.5%).

Through the Amazonas State Tourism Company (Amazonastur), the Executive invested, in 2022, R$ 53.5 million, in the segment, in the capital and in the interior of the state. The applications include tourist infrastructure works, planning and expansion of the airline network, as well as the training of tourism professionals.

An Amazonastur survey pointed out that from January to April this year, tourism injected approximately R$ 170 million into the economy. The data also showed a growth of 8.3% in the tourist movement in the State, in relation to the same period last year.

Expansion of the airline network

The expansion of the airline network of international destinations, in the state, resulted in the direct connection with international destinations and 13 weekly frequencies to the destinations of Panama, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Bogota, which facilitates the displacement of tourists.

In the same way, there was an expansion in regional routes, with trips to Barcelos, Apuí, Eirunepé, Santa Isabel do Rio Negro, Manicoré, and Borba, which now have commercial flights connecting to Manaus. The new flights came about from the agreement signed between the Amazonas Government and the Azul company.