The tourist visa application came after Democratic congressmen asked the US government to revoke the diplomatic visa or any permit allowing Bolsonaro to be in the US.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has requested a tourist visa from the US authorities to remain in the country for another six months, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Monday.
The request, which was made on Friday, comes about two weeks after dozens of Democratic congressmen asked the Government of the United States of America (USA), chaired by Joe Biden, to revoke the diplomatic visa or any permit that Jair Bolsonaro has to be on American soil.
Bolsonaro’s diplomatic passport ceased to be effective on January 1. You have 30 days to leave the US or request a visa change
“I think Florida will be your temporary home away from home.. Right now, with his situation. [Jair Bolsonaro]I think it needs some stability,” said the former president’s lawyer, Felipe Alexandre, quoted by the Financial Times.
Bolsonaro is under pressure on several fronts in Brazil, either because of his possible responsibility for the attack that his supporters perpetrated on the 8th against the headquarters of the three powers, or because of the irregularities committed during his presidential term.
Bolsonaro is in the state of Florida, where he traveled on December 30, two days before the end of his term and the inauguration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who succeeded him in the presidential office.
Nevertheless, his stay in the US has been questioned by several US politiciansthat require the investigation of any action that has been carried out on US soil to help or coordinate the invasion of the buildings of the three Brazilian powers.
“We must not allow Bolsonaro or any other former Brazilian official to seek refuge in the US to escape justice for crimes they may have committed” in Brazil, the congressmen wrote in a letter sent to the Joe Biden Administration on September 12. January.
The legislators ensured that Bolsonaro entered the US on an A-1 visa, which is issued to diplomats or employees of a foreign government.
“What [Bolsonaro] You are no longer the President of Brazil, nor do you currently hold the position of a Brazilian public official, we request that your situation in the country be re-evaluated to determine if there is a legal basis for your stay and that you revoke any diplomatic visa you may have. he can have ”, the congressmen appealed.
The US government has yet to comment on Bolsonaro’s legal status in the United States.
However, State Department spokesman Ned Price said this month that people entering the US on an A-1 visa have 30 days to leave the country if they cease to be part of a government.
“If an A visa holder is no longer engaged in official business on behalf of that government, it is up to that visa holder to leave the US or request a change to another immigration status within 30 days,” Price said.
Flávio Bolsonaro, senator and eldest son of the former president, said on Saturday that there is no estimate for his father’s return to Brazil.
“It could be tomorrow, it could be six months from now, it may never come back. [Mas] He is not afraid, because he has no responsibility for what happened in Brazil,” he said, according to the Financial Times.
Source: Observadora
