Flávio Bolsonaro's trip to the US came a day after Brazil's Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the seizure of the senator's passport and barred him from leaving the country.

The deadline for Bolsonaro to hand over his travel documents was midday on Tuesday.

On Monday, Flávio recorded a video stating that the move to seize his passports "was based on a statement by Eduardo [Bolsonaro] on October 23 that I should leave the country if I lost the election".

"I never thought about leaving the country," the senator said in the video, on the eve of his departure to the US.

The passport seizure request came within the scope of an investigation probing alleged money laundering by Bolsonaro, which he denies.

The investigation is focusing on digital payment platforms and the betting sector in Rio de Janeiro, when the state was governed by Bolsonaro's ally, Cláudio Castro, who is also a target in the inquiry.

Defeated in Sunday's presidential runoff, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro left Brazil and travelled to the US on Tuesday, sources confirmed to the BBC.

The Trump administration told the BBC, even before confirmation of the senator's arrival, that it would grant a visa and allow him and his family to enter the country.

Flávio has already met his brother Eduardo in Florida, according to BBC sources.

Details of the route Flávio took to leave Brazil or whether he plans to live in the US remain unclear.

Flávio Bolsonaro has left Brazil and arrived in Florida following his defeat in Sunday's presidential election, sources tell the BBC.

Image source, Reuters

Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, is the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro and has been serving as a senator since 2019.

The trained lawyer was running for president as part of the right-wing Liberal Party (PL) - losing to President Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday.

While he is seen as less confrontational than his father, during the election campaign Bolsonaro was appealing to a similar support base by promising a similar agenda.

The younger Bolsonaro had also been looking for stronger ties with the Washington, actively courting President Donald Trump and members of his administration by portraying himself as a loyal ally during a meeting at the White House in May.

He followed in his father’s footsteps by refusing to recognise his election defeat, calling the result "impossible" and saying it should be annulled.

We last heard from Flávio Bolsonaro when he posted a video on Instagram on Monday afternoon local time saying he had no intention of leaving Brazil.

He also disclosed that he had been asked to surrender his passport after he visited his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, in Brasília.

Bolsonaro said he never had any intention to leave the country and that he would deliver the passports, comply and would continue working as political opposition to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

While we have yet to receive confirmation that he has left Brazil, US media report that he has already travelled to the US.

A senior US official told the BBC that the state department "will issue visas to Flávio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry into the United States”.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has addressed Bolsonaro's alleged departure from Brazil, calling it 'shameful'.

In the same speech, he also said: "Those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear."

Watch the video here.

Image source, Getty Images

Criminal law experts consulted by BBC Brasil say the senator could only be considered a fugitive if an arrest warrant - specifically, an order for preventive detention - had been issued against him.

Brazilian police say his passports were cancelled after he failed to comply with a Supreme Court order to surrender them.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued the order as part of an investigation into accusations of money laundering involving Bolsonaro, which he denies.

“A fugitive is someone against whom an arrest warrant has been issued and who fails to surrender for its execution," says Gustavo Badaró, a criminal law expert and tenured professor of criminal procedure at the University of São Paulo (USP). "What Flávio faces is a ban on leaving the country - enforced by the requirement to surrender his passports.”

"It is possible that, as a result of this non-compliance, his preventive detention could be requested and subsequently ordered by Justice Alexandre de Moraes. In that scenario - if an arrest warrant is issued - he could then be considered a fugitive,” he adds.

Davi Tangerino, a professor at the Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ), agrees.

“As long as there is no arrest warrant, we cannot call him a fugitive," says Tangerino. "For now, all he has done is fail to comply with a precautionary measure - specifically, the requirement to surrender his passport."

However, failing to comply with the court order may constitute disobedience under Article 330 of Brazil’s Penal Code, an offence punishable by 15 days to six months’ detention and a fine.

Lula says he laments that Bolsonaro has left the country "because he could have stayed here and proven that the accusations against him are untrue".

The president says: "I tried to make him prove he was honest when I gave all that paperwork to the electoral court." But Bolsonaro didn’t hand over his documents, he adds, calling it "a demonstration that he’s the biggest lying figure I’ve ever seen on earth".

Police in Brazil say they cancelled Bolsonaro's passports after he failed to comply with a Supreme Court order to surrender the documents.

Lula says that when he was asked to surrender his own passport, he did so. A court had asked him to surrender the passport after he lost an appeal against corruption charges and faced a legal battle related to bribery in 2018.

Bolsonaro "should have done the same", Lula said. "Brazil is his second homeland, his first is being a bootlicker for the US".

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the winner of Sunday's election, has addressed Bolsonaro's alleged departure from Brazil, saying: "Those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear."

Speaking at a birthday event in Brasilia, Lula said he, too, had lost elections but "I stayed in Brazil".

He added: "I keep imagining the guilt on the conscience of a citizen who has just lost the elections and flees his country."

Image source, Getty Images

While we've yet to receive confirmation of Flávio Bolsonaro's whereabouts, his younger brother, Eduardo, had previously encouraged him to move to the US if he lost the presidential election.

Eduardo Bolsonaro, who currently lives in the US state of Texas, relocated there in 2025.

“If my brother does not win, I’m in ‌favour that he would leave the country,” he told podcaster Steven ‌Crowder this month, according to Reuters news agency.

Their father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, left Brazil for Florida when he lost the election to Lula in 2022. He returned three months later.

Jair Bolsonaro, who Flávio said he visited when we last heard from him, is currently under house arrest as part of his 27-year sentence for attempting a coup after the 2022 election.

Image source, Getty Images

This is still a developing story, but here's a breakdown of what we do - and don't - know about Bolsonaro's whereabouts:

What we know...

• Bolsonarofailed to comply with an order from the Supreme Court to surrender his passports within 24 hours - police in Brazil have since cancelled the documents
• He has not conceded in the presidential election he lost on Sunday to left-wing rival President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
• The Brazilian senator has not made any public statements in nearly a day. His last post was an undated video uploaded on Monday afternoon local time where he maintained that he had no intention of leaving Brazil
• While we have yet to receive confirmation that he has left Brazil, US media report that he has already travelled to the US
• A US State Department official tells the BBC that it will issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry into the country

What we still don't know...

• Where exactly the right-wing candidate is and when he might've possibly left the country
• If the senator is receiving support from any other nation or if he's requested asylum
• When the senator would've possibly left the country - he has not been seen since Monday

Tom Bateman
US State Department correspondent

A senior state department official tells the BBC “the State Department will issue visas to Flávio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry into the United States”.

We have yet to receive confirmation that the right-wing presidential candidate has left Brazil, but several media outlets are reporting that Bolsonaro has travelled to the US, citing sources familiar with the senator's plans.

Image source, Getty Images

Alfredo Gaspar, who was Flávio Bolsonaro's candidate for vice-president, says that he is praying for his running mate, as well as the safety of the senator's family, including his wife, Fernanda.

"In light of the relentless persecution suffered by President Flávio Bolsonaro, I offer my solidarity to him, Fernanda, and their two daughters, praying to God for the safety and well-being of this beloved family," Gaspar writes in a post on X.

Minutes before the post went out, the congressman had posted a video in which he thanked the nearly 60 million voters who supported his ticket and added that "some defeats are true victories".

Flávio Bolsonaro has reportedly travelled to the US. Brazilian authorities earlier cancelled his passports after he failed to comply with an order to surrender them.

Reporting from Reuters, CNN Brasil, NBC News and multiple local outlets in Brazil suggests that Bolsonaro has travelled to the country, citing sources familiar with the senator's plans.

The BBC has not independently verified this report but has contacted the US State Department, the White House, and the embassies of both the US in Brazil and Brazil in the US for comment.

Flávio Bolsonaro's lawyers have told BBC Brasil that they are "completely in the dark" following uncertainty about the presidential candidate's whereabouts.

“I can't give you a statement. I'm completely in the dark. We knew nothing about this, and we still have no information about what happened," one lawyer tells the BBC.

They add that Rogério Marinho, Bolsonaro's campaign manager, is expected to speak on behalf of the campaign as soon as they know exactly what happened.

Image source, Getty Images

Flávio Bolsonaro is the subject of two investigations currently pending before the Supreme Federal Court.

One regarding possible irregularities in the transfer of nearly $70 million from private bank Banco Master to the film Dark Horse – a biopic of Flávio’s father and former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.

The second investigation relates to alleged money laundering, both of which Bolsonaro denies.

The presidential candidate is set to lose his parliamentary immunity on 31 January, when his eight-year Senate term ends.

Ione Wells
North America correspondent

Brazil’s Supreme Court tells me it does not have further information about the whereabouts of Flávio Bolsonaro at the time of writing.

"The proceedings appear to be confidential," it said.

On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered Bolsonaro to hand his passports over to police within 24 hours as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering, which he denies.

At the time, Bolsonaro said he had no plans to leave the country, and insisted that he would stay in Brazil to lead the opposition to his left-wing rival, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

But the deadline has passed without the senator surrendering the passports, prompting speculation he may have left the country.

Vanessa Buschschlüter
Latin America and Caribbean editor

Image source, EPA

Flávio Bolsonaro's passports were cancelled after he failed to surrender the documents to police in the 24-hour deadline he had been allotted.

The order to hand over the passports was given by a Supreme Court justice: Alexandre de Moraes.

Moraes is investigating allegations that Bolsonaro was involved in a money laundering scheme and the decision that he should surrender the passports is part of that probe.

Such a measure is sometimes taken to prevent the person under investigation from leaving the country.

Investigators want to ensure that they have access to the person so that they can question them. It does not necessarily mean that they plan to arrest them - it means they do not want them to leave the jurisdiction where the investigation is being held.

We have little information because Moraes did not make the order public.

In fact, the order to surrender the passports only became public when Bolsonaro himself revealed it to the press on Monday.

At the time, he said he had no plans to leave, and that he would hand over the documents.

However, the deadline passed without doing so, and speculation that he had left the country has become feverish.

Image source, Getty Images

As we've reported, the Bolsonaro family has close ties to US President Donald Trump.

Brazil's election result was announced on Sunday night, with Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva winning a fourth term in office. The result came as a surprise after the younger Bolsonaro won the first round on 4 October

On Monday, Trump told reporters that it "looked like another rigged election".

Asked about the result, Trump told reporters it looked "so corrupt" and "so terrible", adding: "I didn't take sides, but it was a terrible look for the world".

"Elections have to be indisputable, and it looked very bad to me," he added. Lula won 51.79% of the vote, compared to Bolsonaro's 48.21%.

But the US president added that he "likes" Brazil's left-wing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, adding that the pair get along "very well".

Trump had not explicitly endorsed Lula's rival Flávio Bolsonaro during the election campaign, but was a close ally of Bolsonaro's father, the former president Jair Bolsonaro.

Image source, Getty Images

The Bolsonaro family has close ties with the Trump administration.

Flávio Bolsonaro's father, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, also travelled to the US shortly after he lost the 2022 election to Lula, the very same man who defeated his son on Sunday.

While Jair Bolsonaro was in the US, his supporters stormed government buildings in the capital Brasília on 8 January 2023.

After he returned to Brazil in March 2023, the older Bolsonaro was charged with attempting to overthrow Lula.

He was sentenced to 27 years in jail and is currently under house arrest after being moved from his cell due to recurrent health issues.