Contrary to popular belief this isn’t my arm. My arms are way too big to fit in any measly photograph.
This is the best South And Central America Visa Guide Table EVER!!
In fact, it’s probably the only one as far as I’m aware, but wins by default are the greatest wins of all. Wins by default mean so much more than winning through effort and/or talent.
The good news, if you’re considering a trip to South or Central America is that this region has some of the BEST visa free policies that I’ve ever seen.
No joke, most places will give you 90 days visa free, with extensions possible for payment. Alternatively a simple border run will reset the 90 day period. Hell, Peru will grant you 180 days if you want to park yourself down for a bit.
There is an odd exception to this seemingly all too easy philosophy which is the CA-4 agreement between El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua which will be further explained in the Disclaimers and other handy information section. Since you’re here reading the South and Central America visa guide table….
…perhaps you’d like to see other tables too?
Feel free to have a gander at some other tables I’ve created. Tables are perfect for holding food and beverages, but also for displaying information for comparison.
you wanna touch my tables you naughty boy!?!?
*Disclaimers and other Handy Info:
Alright, glad you’re here! I feel like with a subject like this it’s important to clarify numerous things before we get started as the subject is quite complex and forever changing. So here goes;
- Central America 4 aka CA-4. Let’s get this out of the way! 4 countries being: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua basically “share” a visa period of 90 days across all 4 countries. What this means is that if you’ve used up your 90 days all in one country, for example in Honduras, you can’t do a quick border dash. Reason being is that the surrounding land borders are all part of the CA-4 and your time won’t reset.
- So realistically, if you’re travelling over land this could prove problematic if 90 days is insufficient to cover all 4 countries for you, you may need to catch some flights, or visit the immigration offices in major cities and apply for the extension (which would be cheaper I’m sure)
- There are stories of border control giving people slips that say they’ve got 30 days access but if they do just know that it is incorrect, if you’re entering anew than 90 days is the limit.
- All Prices are $US unless otherwise stated. Discrepancies simply come from my source of information but most countries use $US to do business
- Always travel with spare passport pages, as well as a passport that has at least a year before expiry. Nearly every country requires a minimum of 6 months until passport expiry before you enter as well as 2 spare pages in your passport
- Blue hyperlinks for E-Visas take you to the official pages if you’re interested
- Smarttraveller was my number one resource for the most up to date information I could get. It accounts for about 50% of the information, the rest being found on government websites, or in the case of overstay penalties from forums and the such
- Exclusion does not carry implications – Just because I haven’t written something such as “Requires proof of onward travel” does not mean that this doesn’t apply. However South and Central American countries have a history of being more lackluster than other regions in applying these rules. These notes are transferred from a working document that I added what seemed important to me at the time, which changed organically as I learnt more
- Nearly ALL places will want either proof of onward travel, or proof of sufficient (the amount for “sufficient” varies upon country) funds for the duration of your visit.
- These laws are forever changing and I implore you to do your own specific research if you’re unsure. This is valid as of November 2019 and should be accurate for years to come
- I am from Australia, all my research is done from an Australian’s point of view. However most of these limits apply to the majority of the western world, sometimes Americans are treated differently though .. for war reasons probably.
- Carry spare passport photos (within 6 months currency) to avoid getting scammed higher prices for doing it at the border
