Flávio Bolsonaro and family to get US visas after leaving Brazil

Key takeaways

• A senior US State Department official said on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, that Washington will issue visas to Flávio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them to enter the United States.
• Reuters, citing three sources, reported that the defeated Brazilian presidential candidate had left for the US after not handing over his passports as ordered by Brazil's Supreme Court.
• Bolsonaro is under investigation in Brazil for alleged money laundering, corruption and tax evasion. He denies wrongdoing.
• President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who won Sunday's runoff, said a person who secretly leaves the country "is liable for something."
• His exact location and whether he complied with the passport order remained unclear as of late Tuesday (US time).

Flávio Bolsonaro US visa: what happened

Flávio Bolsonaro and relatives are cleared for US visas, a senior US official said on October 27, two days after the Brazilian senator lost the presidential runoff to Lula. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing visa privacy laws, according to the Associated Press.

"The State Department will issue visas to Flávio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry into the United States," the official said, in remarks reported by both AP and Reuters. The official did not say whether Bolsonaro had already left Brazil or was on his way to the US, AP reported in a story first published at 19:44 UTC on Tuesday.

Reuters reported from São Paulo that three sources said the senator had left for the US. One source close to the family said he landed in Florida but would not say where. A senior Federal Police official told Reuters that Bolsonaro did not leave through any regular migration checkpoint.

The passport order

According to AP, a sealed Supreme Court order issued on Sunday, October 25, required Bolsonaro to surrender both his regular and diplomatic passports. He was served on Monday, and the deadline expired at noon on Tuesday. Reuters reported that the court cited a risk of flight and his "significant financial resources," and that two sources said the passports were canceled after the deadline lapsed.

On Monday, Bolsonaro said in a video on his social media channels that he had never thought about leaving the country and would hand over his passports. "It is a clear attempt to intimidate me. But I will not be silenced," he said, according to AP's translation.

What we know and what we don't know yet

Campaign manager Rogério Marinho told AP he had not spoken with Bolsonaro since early Tuesday. "We had no news from Flávio or his lawyers about what happened," he said. Paulo Figueiredo, a Bolsonaro ally who lives in the US, declined to say where the senator was.

Reactions

Speaking outside the presidential residence in Brasília, Lula said he did not have precise information on Bolsonaro's whereabouts but that he had left Brazil. "Those who are not liable do not fear. A fellow that secretly leaves his country, that's because he is liable for something," Lula said, according to AP. Reuters reported that he called the departure shameful and said Bolsonaro should have stayed to prove his innocence.

US President Donald Trump did not mention the departure in comments to reporters on Monday, Reuters reported, but said Brazil's vote "looked like another rigged election." AP noted that he offered no evidence. Bolsonaro's Liberal Party said on Monday that it acknowledged Lula's victory, although the candidate himself has not conceded and asked the electoral court to investigate alleged fraud.

Background

Lula won more than 64 million votes against fewer than 60 million for Bolsonaro, a margin of about 4.4 million, according to AP. The result is due to be certified on December 18. For the full result, see our report on Lula's runoff win and fourth term, and our earlier coverage of the order for Bolsonaro to hand over his passports.

AP reported that Bolsonaro faces two investigations: one into alleged laundering of fraudulent pension deductions through a sports betting company, and another into millions of dollars allegedly received from a disgraced banker. Justice Alexandre de Moraes is leading one of the probes. Bolsonaro says Moraes is a Lula ally. His Senate term, and with it his special jurisdiction before the Supreme Court, ends on January 31, 2027, AP said.

The move echoes his father's path. Former president Jair Bolsonaro travelled to the US after refusing to concede to Lula in 2022, later returned, and was sentenced to 27 years for plotting a coup, Reuters reported. His brother Eduardo Bolsonaro, who lives in the US, was convicted in absentia in June and sentenced to four years, according to AP. Before the vote, Reuters reported, Eduardo said he favored his brother leaving the country if he lost. Our runoff preview covers the campaign that led here.

What it means

The visa decision puts Washington directly into a dispute between Brazil's courts and the losing candidate, after Lula accused the US of colluding with the Bolsonaros. Reuters had reported before the election on a State Department campaign to help return the family to power. If Bolsonaro stays abroad, Brazilian prosecutors may face the same obstacles they met with Eduardo. Investors already reacted sharply to the result, as covered in our report on Brazilian assets after Lula's re-election. Key dates to watch are the December 18 certification and the end of Bolsonaro's Senate term on January 31.