The U.S. State Department will grant visas to Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro and his family following his loss in Brazil’s presidential runoff election. A senior State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, that the family will be allowed entry into the United States. The official did not say if Bolsonaro had already left Brazil, but incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and a Brazilian diplomat stated on Tuesday that the senator had already left the country. The move follows a weekend election where Lula defeated Bolsonaro by a margin of approximately 4.4 million votes, or nearly 4%.
Bolsonaro, a member of the Liberal Party and son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, has faced investigations for corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion. On Monday, October 26, 2026, he was served with a Supreme Court order to surrender his regular and diplomatic passports. While Bolsonaro initially posted a video stating he would hand over his documents and defend himself against what he called an \"aberration,\" a deadline for him to surrender the documents expired at noon Tuesday. It remained unclear if he had complied.
Bolsonaro has not conceded the election, which saw Lula receive more than 64 million votes to Bolsonaro's nearly 60 million. On Monday, Bolsonaro urged the electoral court to investigate unsubstantiated claims of fraud and nullify the candidacies of Lula and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin. His brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro—who lives in Texas and was convicted in absentia in June for illegally lobbying the Trump administration—had publicly encouraged the senator to leave Brazil if he lost.
The departure of Flávio Bolsonaro affects judicial proceedings led by the Brazilian Supreme Court. Bolsonaro is a sitting senator whose eight-year term is scheduled to expire on January 31, 2027. Upon the conclusion of this term, he will lose the special legal jurisdiction granted to sitting lawmakers, which currently requires his cases to be handled by the Supreme Court. The investigations include allegations of using a sports betting company to launder fraudulent deductions from government pensions and accepting millions of dollars from a private banker.
For U.S. interests, the arrival of the Bolsonaro family connects to existing domestic legal matters. Flávio’s brother, Eduardo, is currently subject to an arrest warrant following a four-year prison sentence for lobbying the Trump administration. The U.S. State Department’s decision to grant these visas allows the family's entry despite these legal complications and the passport seizure order issued by Brazilian Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Supporters of Bolsonaro, such as lawmaker Mauricio Marcon, said Bolsonaro will represent them from a \"free country,\" while President Lula characterized the departure as an act of someone fearing legal liability.
The immediate next steps involve the certification of Brazil's election results, which is scheduled for December 18, 2026. To successfully challenge the outcome, Bolsonaro would need to present evidence of fraud to the eight-member electoral court before that date. His father, Jair Bolsonaro, remains under house arrest in Brazil serving a 27-year sentence related to a 2022 coup attempt.