Brazil Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro Requests For a 6-Month US Visitor Visa

Considering the legal troubles he will face upon returning to Brazil, former president Jair Bolsonaro has applied for a six-month U.S. visitor visa to remain in the United States.

Reports of the application first appeared in The Financial Times, which cited Bolsonaro's immigration attorney, Felipe Alexandre. The law firm, AG Immigration, confirmed the report when contacted by The Associated Press.

Jair Bolsonaro fled Brazil for Florida on December 30, a few days before his leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's inauguration.

The ceremony went off without a hitch, but a week later, thousands of Bolsonaro's rabid supporters attacked the capital and trashed the top government buildings, demanding that Lula da Silva's election be reversed.

A probe is underway to determine whether Bolsonaro incited the uprising. It is just one of several investigations into the former president that could render him ineligible to run for office again.

Jair Bolsonaro Leaves for the U.S. While His Supporters Hold Violent Protests

Braliz's Jair Bolsonaro has expressed "regret" for the chaos but still maintains he had nothing to do with it.

Having "devoted 34 years of his life to public service," the ex-president "would like to take some time off," according to a statement released by his attorney, Felipe Alexandre, and provided to the BBC.

As a foreign diplomat or head of state, Bolsonaro entered the United States on an A-1 visa, allowing a visitor to stay for up to 30 days.

He visited the United States before his leftist successor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, took office on January 1.

According to Alexandre of the immigration law firm AG Immigration, the former president plans to "clear his head and enjoy being a tourist in the United States for a few months before deciding what his next step will be."

According to Bolsonaro, US immigration officials received his application for a B1/B2 US visitor visa last Friday.

Following his loss in the 2022 presidential election, thousands of the former president's supporters stormed federal buildings in Brasilia on January 8.

Jair Bolsonaro has been criticized for the riots in Brazil, where demonstrators, stoked by unproven claims of election fraud, breached security and stormed the presidential palace, Congress, and Supreme Court.

The former right-wing leader, who has close ties to the former US president and has been dubbed the "Donald Trump of the Tropics," has been staying at the former MMA fighter José Aldo's Florida home.

His fans have descended on his gated community home in Kissimmee, Florida (50% of all Brazilian Americans).

Dems Urged President Joe Biden Not to "Provide Shelter" to Jair Bolsonaro

After an attack on Brazil's democratic institutions early this month that echoed the attacks on the US Capitol on January 6, dozens of Democrats in the House of Representatives called on President Joe Biden not to "provide shelter" for ex-Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro.

Lawmakers demanded in a letter that the Trump administration reconsider Bolsonaro's visa and revoke it if necessary and that "the Department of Justice and other relevant federal agencies hold accountable, as appropriate, any actors based in Florida who may have financed or supported the violent crimes of January 8."

Representatives Joaquin Castro, Gregory Meeks, Ruben Gallego, Jess "Chuy" Garca, and Susan Wild wrote that the United States should "cooperate fully with Brazilian authorities in investigating any role Mr. Bolsonaro or those around him played in the events of January 8," including any crimes committed by Bolsonaro while in office.

This letter arrives after Brazilian officials contacted Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson, the former chair of the January 6 committee, to discuss the riots in Brasilia on Sunday.

A source close to the situation told CNN that no talks have taken place yet, but that Thompson had said, if the work and report of the committee on January 6 "serves as a model for similar investigations, I will help out in any way I can."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Brazil's Bolsonaro applies for U.S. tourist visa - From Reuters