Flavio Bolsonaro has arrived in the United States, according to one source close to his family, after leaving Brazil in the wake of his defeat in Sunday's presidential election.
The Brazilian senator's exact whereabouts, along with those of his wife and two daughters, were not immediately clear.
The source, who said the senator had landed in Florida, declined to say where.
Ir comes as Argentina's Migration Department said that Bolsonaro and his family briefly entered the country before boarding a private flight bound for Guayaquil, Ecuador on Tuesday, according to the flight plan. Bolsonaro and his family entered Argentina with valid travel documents through the Tancredo Neves International Bridge border crossing in Misiones Province, the department said.
Three sources said the US State Department was due to grant Bolsonaro and his family entry visas.
"The State Department will issue visas to Flavio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry into the United States," a senior State Department official said.
Bolsonaro lost to leftist incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva but has yet to concede.
His departure followed his refusal to comply with a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports.
That ruling relates to a money laundering probe, in which Bolsonaro denies wrongdoing.
On Monday, he was given 24 hours to hand over the passports, two sources said.
The passports were canceled after the deadline lapsed, the sources said.
In a court ruling seen by Reuters, the Supreme Court cited the risk of Bolsonaro fleeing Brazil and his "significant financial resources" in ordering his passports seized.
Bolsonaro had said on Monday that he had no plans to flee.
"I have never thought about leaving the country," he said. "I will hand over my passports and defend myself against this travesty, which is a clear attempt to intimidate me."
It remains unclear how he was able to leave the country while facing the 24-hour deadline.
A senior Federal Police official said Bolsonaro had not exited the country via any regular migration point.
US President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he would approve of Flavio Bolsonaro coming to the United States.
"Well, I would approve. I think they're fine people. The election was very strange, and I thought it was terrible. It's gotten bad reviews. You look at what happened to their market", Trump said.
"I think it's so terrible to see it. I didn't take sides, you know. I know them both. I know Lula. I know Flavio a little bit. I know the father very well. The father was treated really badly. I thought, but I wasn't involved. That's Brazil. It's a different country", he said.
Trump has previously alleged that Flavio's father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, was a victim of judicial persecution in Brazil.
The elder Bolsonaro also went to the United States after refusing to concede to Lula in 2022, when former US President Joe Biden was in office.
He eventually returned, but was later given a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after his supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia.
Bolsonaro's departure threatens to deepen a rift between the two most populous nations in the Americas.
Lula has accused Washington of colluding with the Bolsonaros to put them back in power.
Ahead of Sunday's election, Reuters reported on a US State Department campaign to restore them to office.
Lula, speaking in Brasilia, said he had just heard that Flavio had left the country.
He called it shameful, saying Bolsonaro should have stayed in Brazil and proved his innocence.
Bolsonaro had been favored to win Sunday's presidential election but ended up losing in a shock result.
Although he has yet to officially concede defeat, saying on Sunday he would seek the annulment of the result over alleged voter irregularities, his Liberal Party said on Monday it acknowledged Lula's victory.
Bolsonaro loses his immunity from prosecution when his Senate term ends in February.
His departure appeared to have caught his campaign manager off guard.
"We are surprised by the news because, just yesterday, we discussed the need for Flavio — given the 60 million votes he received — to take on this role as leader of the opposition," Senator Rogerio Marinho told reporters.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, Bolsonaro's younger brother who lives in the United States, said ahead of the vote that an election loss would require a move.
"If my brother does not win, I'm in favor that he would leave the country," he told podcaster Steven Crowder this month.
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