Brazilian travelers applying for B1/B2 visitor visas at the U.S. Consulates in Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Recife and Porto Alegre woke up on 16 October to an unwelcome surprise: from now on, the appointment platform will allow only three cancellations or date changes per application. After the third reschedule, the system automatically cancels the request and blocks the passport number until a brand-new DS-160 is filed and the non-refundable MRV fee of US$ 185 (about R$ 960) is paid again. According to the announcement published by R7’s Prisma column, the change was implemented on 29 September but is only now being fully enforced as the consulates clear a backlog of 2025-2026 interview slots. Consular officials say the measure targets “ghost bookings” created by visa agencies that secured thousands of placeholders during the pandemic and then sold them on the secondary market. For corporate mobility managers the impact is immediate. Company travelers who habitually move trips forward or backward will need tighter internal travel approval processes; otherwise, the organisation risks paying the MRV fee twice. Travel-management companies (TMCs) are advising clients to lock interview dates only after flights are confirmed and to keep documentary requirements scanned and ready to avoid last-minute uploads that trigger cancellations. The new policy comes as the United States recorded a 34 % year-on-year increase in Brazilian visitor arrivals for the first half of 2026, driven largely by the rebound in incentive travel and conferences. Any additional friction at the visa stage could slow that recovery. Multinationals that rotate staff between Brazilian and U.S. offices are considering switching short visits to the ESTA-eligible U.S.-bound Chilean or Spanish passports held by some dual-citizen executives, or relocating key meetings to Mexico City or Bogotá, where Brazilians do not need a visa. In practical terms, HR departments should track how many times each employee has already moved an appointment and build a ‘buffer week’ into travel timelines. The consulates insist that genuine emergencies—such as medical travel—can still request an expedited date through the online system, but they will not waive the extra fee if the three-strike limit is reached.
Source: R7 – Prisma column
