Honduras Immigration Tips
Do you need some Honduras immigration tips?
Many tourists traveling to Honduras decide to stay longer that the original entry permit granted them, and are faced with the dilemma and uncertainty of what to do. Because of this, I have decided to write about Honduras immigration tips in the hope of making it easier for you to figure things out!
Upon arrival to the country, the immigration authority will usually give you a three month permit to stay in the country. The time immigration gives you is clearly stated on the yellow immigration document that gets stapled to your passport. Usually, you can request for the 90 days maximum and it will be given to you. (Make sure you do not lose this slip, as you will be fined if you do so!).
Honduras immigration tip number one: You can actually get an extension for up to an additional 90 days at no cost. In order to do this, you will need to visit the immigration offices in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula or La Ceiba. The extension will not cost you anything.
Honduras immigration tip number two. You will hear and read that there is a CA4 agreement that will require for you to leave the territory of the CA4 treaty in order to get an additional period of time to stay in Honduras. The CA4 territory includes the countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and of course Honduras. According to this treaty, the area id considered as one larger region and travelers could only stay a total of 3 months (plus a 90 day extension) within the area. For travelers and nonresident foreigners in Honduras, this meant that they would have to go to Belize, Mexico or Costa Rica before they could come back into the CA4 territory. When the CA4 treaty was functioning, you would not get an exit stamp on your passport when leaving one country and you would not get an entry stamp on your passport for the new country you were entering, this because the region was one and only one and you were already in it.
After the 2009 political crisis in Honduras, parts of the treaty where unofficially dismissed, so now when you enter Honduras over land coming in from any of the neighboring countries, you will get an exit stamp when you leave that country and an entry stamp when you enter Honduras. What this means for the traveler who is spending more time in Honduras is that he can travel to anyone of the neighboring countries, spend 72 hours outside Honduras and re enter Honduras for an additional maximum time of 6 months.
Honduras immigration tip number three: The new immigration system that is in place in the country means that the information regarding when you arrived is readily available online to the immigration authorities. If you overstay, you will be required to pay a fine. The good news is that this fine can be paid within the airport facility, so it will not delay your trip, unless however you cannot pay the fine! Make sure that you arrive with extra time at the airport if you know that you have overstayed in the country to insure that you do not end up missing your flight!
I hope you find these Honduras immigration tips helpful!
