After nearly three weeks of patchy operations, Brazil’s Federal Police (PF) confirmed on 11 April 2026 that every one of the country’s 113 passport-issuing posts is once again working at full capacity. The announcement ends the backlog that built up when PF agents staged a series of 24-hour stoppages in late-March and early-April to demand career-path reforms and overtime pay. At the height of the dispute, more than 185 000 appointment slots were postponed and wait-times for an ordinary passport stretched to six weeks in São Paulo and Brasília. Business groups, airlines and travel-management companies had lobbied hard for a quick resolution, warning that stalled passports were forcing companies to cancel or re-route international assignments, delay expatriate home leave and miss investor roadshows. The Ministry of Tourism estimated that the strike was costing the economy R$ 40 million per day in unrealised outbound trips and inbound visitor spending linked to Brazilians who could not travel. To clear the queue, the PF authorised overtime shifts, redeployed consular-affairs officers from quieter border posts and — for the first time — tested a mobile enrolment unit that travelled to corporate campuses in Campinas and Curitiba to collect biometrics en masse. Applicants whose travel was deemed ‘mission-critical’ (medical, humanitarian or business with proven financial loss) received priority pick-up slots within 48 hours. The resumption of normal service is particularly timely for multinationals: April is when many global mobility programmes finalise summer relocation moves and schedule look-and-see visits.
![Brazil Restores Full Passport Services Nationwide after Federal Police Strike]()
For those scrambling to align tight travel windows with still-recovering appointment calendars, VisaHQ offers a convenient workaround. The company’s Brazil portal (https://www.visahq.com/brazil/) guides users through every step of a passport or visa submission, performs real-time document checks, and arranges courier logistics—reducing the risk of rejection and ensuring critical trips stay on schedule even when government systems are under strain.
Travel consultants advise HR teams to monitor appointment availability through the PF’s new “Agenda Passaporte 2.0” portal, launched quietly during the strike, and to build in at least ten working days for issuance until the backlog fully dissolves. Longer-term, the episode has renewed calls for Brazil to outsource parts of the passport process — as neighbouring Chile and Argentina already do — or to introduce a premium ‘next-day’ business service funded by higher fees. The Ministry of Justice has promised to present a reform bill to Congress before the August recess.
For those scrambling to align tight travel windows with still-recovering appointment calendars, VisaHQ offers a convenient workaround. The company’s Brazil portal (https://www.visahq.com/brazil/) guides users through every step of a passport or visa submission, performs real-time document checks, and arranges courier logistics—reducing the risk of rejection and ensuring critical trips stay on schedule even when government systems are under strain.
Travel consultants advise HR teams to monitor appointment availability through the PF’s new “Agenda Passaporte 2.0” portal, launched quietly during the strike, and to build in at least ten working days for issuance until the backlog fully dissolves. Longer-term, the episode has renewed calls for Brazil to outsource parts of the passport process — as neighbouring Chile and Argentina already do — or to introduce a premium ‘next-day’ business service funded by higher fees. The Ministry of Justice has promised to present a reform bill to Congress before the August recess.
