boarder crossing for new visa

Submitted by jimmy c on 14 July, 2007 - 10:05.

Heya, the time is approaching for a visa run and some info from people with experience would be greatly appreciated.

Has anyone been able to do one to El Salvador or Honduras? I understand its a no go because of the open boarder treaties. When i entered Nicaragua from El Salvador the immigration guys wouldn't stamp my passport telling me i was entering on my Guatemalan stamp but is Honduras the same?

So if I use the Costa Rican boarder how long do I need to stay over there? Is it possible to just work over and work straight back?

Don't bother suggesting I do the renewal thing, I don't think that's a good option.

‹ Retirement Should Nicaragua Change the Visa/Residency Process? ›
( categories: )

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

Renewing a VISA

Submitted by JGiraldezB on 14 October, 2007 - 10:57.

You are right on , Guetemala and Honduras are part of the 4 c countries, no visa required, so no stamp. Costa Yuk is the only close option, we are making a run sometime next week with a friend of mine for a day or so... just over the border and right back. (Private car)two seats available.

Jorge Giraldez-Benard Latin American Advisors Company Ltd Texaco El Cortijo 1/2 C al Sur Casa 300 Res. El Cortijo, Managua, Nicaragua C.A.. e-mail JGiraldezB@yahoo.com Skype, YahooPager & MSN User name: JGiraldezB Managua Office: 011 505 2682874

ah no

Submitted by JGiraldezB on 14 July, 2007 - 16:42.

We do not need visas to enter Costa Rica as a Gringo. Just Go to immigration and get a renewal

Jorge Giraldez-Benard Latin American Advisors Company Ltd Texaco El Cortijo 1/2 C al Sur Casa 300 Res. El Cortijo, Managua, Nicaragua C.A.. e-mail JGiraldezB@yahoo.com Skype, YahooPager & MSN User name: JGiraldezB Managua Office: 011 505 2682874

he didnt mean a consulate issued visa for CR

Submitted by Jinoturistica on 14 July, 2007 - 17:02.

technically that stamp in your passport when you enter Nicaragua is a visa - the governments permission for you to come in the door.

Our friend was already in Nicaragua and wanted to remain here longer than 90 days. Costa Rica comes into this because they are the country next door and cheap to get to on a bus.

Getting into CR or indeed Nicaragua as a US passport holder is easy. Staying legally in Nicaragua after 90 days is slightly harder and requires a 'visa run'. A trip to the CR border for 4 stamps in the passport. exit N, enter CR, exit CR, enter N. Now you have a new visa valid for 90 days. Lots of people do it, including me. My next run is September - 90 days after June.

Tony X Robins, Jinotega

10 minutes is the record as far as I know.

Submitted by Jinoturistica on 14 July, 2007 - 13:59.

My friend Gary just redid his visa and spent 10 minutes in Costa Rica. Only comment he reeived was from the Nicaraguan gate guard along the lines of "You again? So soon?"

As Phil says, legally its 72 hours. I usually make it a weekend and do some live theater down in San Jose. $25 on Transnica Managua - SJ round trip. Take a book else the Nicaraguan side gets boring after you have raided the duty free for decent chocolate (take some bubble wrap or a cooler).

I rather look forward to the Government mandated breaks in my routine. Its like the 4th of July 4 times a year.

Tony X Robins, Jinotega

Honduras is the same. They

Submitted by fyl on 14 July, 2007 - 11:00.

Honduras is the same. They are the "CA-4". If you are in Managua (or anywhere there is an immigration office), the extension is by far the easiest. But, you can only extend once for the initial duration of your visa.

I have had people tell me they just exited Nicaragua, got in the "entering" line at Peñas Blancas, got their CR entry stamp and then got in the "leaving" line to get their CR exit stamp and went back to Nicaragua. What the law says is 72 hours but, back when Honduras was a option, I have exit and entry stamps from the same day. One time at immigration in Managua they took out their UV light to see if the stamps were real (the date part will glow under UV light) but that's all.

When I was in Costa Rica I know that a popular visa extension option was to pay a bus driver to take your passport on a trip to Panama. I expect the same option exists for your passport going to Costa Rica but I have no first-hand knowledge of either.

Give your passort to WHO!

Submitted by JGiraldezB on 14 October, 2007 - 11:06.

NO, its not an option to give your US passport to noone unless its in entering or leaving a country and it is handed back. US Passports are sought after by TERRORIST, so you could end up as the next big story on the news.

Never give your passport to anyone that you do not trust completely.

Jorge Giraldez-Benard Latin American Advisors Company Ltd Texaco El Cortijo 1/2 C al Sur Casa 300 Res. El Cortijo, Managua, Nicaragua C.A.. e-mail JGiraldezB@yahoo.com Skype, YahooPager & MSN User name: JGiraldezB Managua Office: 011 505 2682874

Does anyone know if you can ASK them for a stamp in Honduras?

Submitted by corazon on 13 October, 2007 - 18:08.

I know that they don't automatically stamp you anymore in Honduras, because of the CA-4 agreement, but can you ASK them to stamp you in and out at these borders so you can get another 90 days?

Legally, no

Submitted by fyl on 13 October, 2007 - 19:44.

The whole idea is that CA-4 is treated like one country as far as visas. If you are in, you are in. It is unlikely that you could "make it happen" as well. It would require multiple people in two countries to play along.

That is, you would need to get Nicaragua to give you an exit stamp, Honduras to give you an entry and exit stamp and then Nicaragua to give you an entry stamp. They actually shouldn't even have the stamps anymore as they don't have to stamp anyone.

Go to immigration for you first 90-day update, then go to (or send you passport to) Costa Rica. Or, better yet, just get residency.

Stamping

Submitted by mjt on 14 October, 2007 - 12:21.

While not legal, one would not necessarily need to involve so many people in a visa ploy (as implied here, the more you involve the harder -and more expensive- it will be). I have seen it done recently, and work, with a lot less.

All a "tourist" in Nicaragua (or in any CA-4 country) really needs is a new entrance stamp from a CA-4 country. The Nica exit and Honduras entrance- and exit-stamps might look good, but would not be absolutely necessary. This could be explained away as the result of a home-country visit, since you do not normally get an exit stamp when returning to your own country (though you would need an air or sea entrance stamp, if in a country where they differ from the land stamp).

Getting such stamps, which is not as hard as it might sound though still obviously not a service listed in the yellow pages, is not something to try to do at an actual border (people who offer a service like this do not offer it at the border). In Honduras, as elsewhere, you can easily "send your passport on a vacation" if you are not interested in making the actual trip to Panama. But, for what that fake trip often costs, a real trip to Costa Rica is not that much more, and a lot more interesting.

They do still have and occasionally still need exit stamps at these land borders. People from countries not qualifying for type b CA-4 visas do have their passports stamped (these are people from select countries not eligible for the on-the-spot tourist visa, and their visa is type c CA-4, coming from the Embassy / Consulate), at least they did as of this summer. This is true of several countries in the Middle East, Asia, and Southeast Asia.

Oddly, they also might need the exit/entrance stamps for people with a residencia from a different CA-4 country. For example, if someone has a Honduran residencia, they are immune from tourist visa limits, but only inside Honduras. If this person enters Nicaragua without a Nicaraguan residencia, then the Nicaraguan side needs stamps or dated tourist cards to keep track of such people. Without this stamp/card process, someone's one-country residencia would essentially be a CA-4 residencia - a pass to stay anywhere inside the CA-4, indefinitely. But with different criteria and processes and fee structures, this might not be what individual CA-4 countries want or will accept.

As a general rule, if someone is not doing all that much that is tied to a firm schedule, go on the trip to CR or beyond and get fresh stamps, and if you are linked to a CA-4 country and cannot manage the time, then you are a good candidate for the residencia.