Bolsonaro asks for US visa

Former Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro has asked the U.S. for a six-month tourist visa to continue his stay in the country, while officials in Brazil deal with the fallout of the violent right wing protests in the capital city earlier this month.

Bolsonaro applied for the visa last week, which was first reported by the Financial Times. The former Brazilian president has been in the U.S. since just days before his term ended late last year.

The immigration firm representing Bolsonaro, AG Immigration, confirmed to The Hill that he has applied for a six-month visa in the U.S.

But Bolsonaro is facing a number of investigations back home stemming from his time in office. In the wake of the riots in Brasilia, the capital city, earlier this month, a number of U.S. lawmakers have called on the federal government to stop allowing Bolsonaro refuge in the country.

Dozens of House Democrats called on the Biden administration this month to revoke the diplomatic visa that Bolsonaro may have been staying in the country with, as he entered when he was still president of Brazil. 

“The United States must not provide shelter for him, or any authoritarian who has inspired such violence against democratic institutions,” the letter, signed by 46 House Democrats, said. 

The protests in Brasilia this month saw supporters of Bolsonaro breach the country’s Congress, Supreme Court and the presidential palace. Bolsonaro has long questioned the validity of Brazil’s democratic elections and refused to fully concede his defeat to new Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro is also being investigated for whether he played any role in the uprising in the capital this month.

Updated: 2:10 p.m.