had mentioned the new-ish Honduran visa procedures in a previous post, but I am getting asked a lot of questions from readers planning to visit, move to, invest in, or retire to Roatan.
Let me first be VERY CLEAR that I am not an expert, a lawyer or any other kind of official. I am simply someone ‘on the ground’ who has been through the procedures and has seen how it has been working since it’s been put in place (late August 2014). I am also not making any sort of statement of what I personally have been doing one way or the other, this post is for informational purposes only. You should consult a Honduran immigration lawyer for advice.
**Update to the information below as of SEPTEMBER 2015: The 90-day visas are only being issued sporadically. Tourists should now expect to receive a 30-day tourist visa upon arrival. I have heard on good authority that if all three of the following conditions are met: 1) proof of exit flight in 90 days, 2) proof of booked + paid for accommodation, AND 3) are senior citizens (65+), then explain that to the immigration officer on arrival (bring proof for all 3 conditions) and they are supposed to issue you a 90-day visa. If they don’t, it’s possible (but not guaranteed, because nothing is guaranteed in Central America) that you can get a 30-day extension at the immigration office in Coxen Hole before your original one is up. Right now people are saying that you should be able to get 3 subsequent extensions for a total of 120 days, but no one has tried this yet, so I can’t say for sure. If you continue to enter and exit staying the maximum allowable time, the immigration officers will crack down. (Those up in arms over this need to remember what would happen if you were from Honduras and tried to do all this in the States. They would kick you out and not let you back in, ever. We can’t get mad at Honduras for stepping up out of government corruption.)
So – here are the changes.
Now: the government has implemented fingerprint scanners at airports and some land border crossings and your fingerprints will be scanned at entry and exit. Apparently the info will be shared with the US Department of Homeland Security, which the US expats are in an uproar about but I’m not exactly sure why. Anyway, visa ‘extensions’ from within the country are no longer permitted and you must leave Honduras for at least 72 hours before re-entering to get a new visa. Overstaying your visa comes with some hefty fines… there is no ‘official’ number anywhere but I have heard of people 1-5 days over being charged around $160 and up.
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There have been some people still doing under the table old-style stamps but several of these have been caught at the airport and fined heavily. Most people are doing visa runs or leaving.
I'm curious…6+ months later how this has played out? Has there been a workaround?
Thanks for the info. I will let you know how it goes when I get things together.
No worries, you happened to catch me online 🙂
Someone running visa runs on boats directly from Roatan or Utila would make a KILLING as this is a new market and there isn't anyone filling it properly or easily at the moment. Get in there and make some $$!!
Yep, you do customs & passport stamping through the port captains office. Let me know how it goes, I'd definitely be interested in doing direct boat runs to Belize rather than fucking around on the mainland trying to get there.
Thank you for getting back to me so quickly.
I was thinking about taking my boat there, was hoping to get a group of people that might be interested in this and maybe two or three boats.
Not sure at that point where we would get our visa's stamped I guess at the port captains office?
Yes, you should get a new 90-day visa upon return. Make sure you stay outside of Honduras for at least 72 hours. There are boats that run from Puerto Cortes on the mainland of Honduras to Placencia, Belize – lots of info online about this. Check the dates as the boat only runs once a week. Probably cheaper and easier to fly, depending on where you are coming from in Honduras. On Roatan you'd have to pay for the ferry to the mainland, pay for a bus from La Ceiba to Puerto Cortes, and then the boat to Placencia.
Does anyone know if I can go to Belize and return to start a new 90 day visa, if so is possible to travel to and from Belize by boat to do this?
Hi, there seems to be no clear and concise answer on the CA-4 agreement … some people are going to Guatemala and getting a new 90-day visa upon return, and some people have been denied a new 90-day visa, so in my opinion it's not worth the risk unless you have lots of cash and lots of time and can do a 2nd visa run somewhere else if you don't get a new 90-day visa.
Is the G-4 still in effect? Can you still go to Guatemala for a visa run?
This is a great new system that should be very helpful in the future in preventing people from working or staying longer than they should while on a Tourist Visa. It is still quite lenient when you figure people from Canada and the US as well as many other countries can visit Roatan for up to 90 days just because they want to, Those complaining should go through what is involved in a Roatan Resident getting a Visa to visit the US or Canada. or whatever their home country is
This is a great new system that should be very helpful in the future in preventing people from working or staying longer than they should while on a Tourist Visa. It is still quite lenient when you figure people from Canada and the US as well as many other countries can visit Roatan for up to 90 days just because they want to, Those complaining should go through what is involved in a Roatan Resident getting a Visa to visit the US or Canada. or whatever their home country is
This is mostly a problem for people on a tourist visa working illegally, They complain about the costs of renewal and travel while not paying taxes and living where the majority of the residents are well below the poverty level
Unfortunately it does – I have to do visa runs now, and I can't afford them (they are around $600 to the nearest country for just flights and accommodation). So I may be looking for a new adventure elsewhere!
Yeah, they are terrible. If there was a cheap place near here to do visa runs to it wouldn't be so bad, but most of the ones my friends and I have looked at have been around $600 including flights and hotel (not even food, etc. for the 4 days you're away). It's just completely out of everyone's budget here – most people are making $15-30 a day.
There doesn't seem to be much foresight regarding the fact that the gringo dive instructors will leave and there aren't enough locals to fill the jobs. Probably nothing will happen until businesses start shutting down, that tends to be the way it goes here.
I'm thinking about relocating as I definitely can't afford these visa runs every 3 months! So we'll see in December!
These ones aren't too bad, it's just that getting off a Caribbean island and going somewhere else for 4 days costs around $600, and no one here is making enough money to do that every 90 days. Most people struggled with the $100 extension every 3 months. The issue mostly comes down to the unaffordability of visa runs here!
This is such a shame! I hate complicated visa regulations – wish we could all just go where we want, when we want!
These new regulations suck, and I'd imagine they're going to hurt tourism. It seems like if there is a lack of skilled instructors there will be a flow-on effect that will damage tourism and hurt the livelihoods of the locals.
Have you given any more thought to potentially relocating to elsewhere in the world, or are you gonna stick it out on Roatan for another year?
Seems a bit complicated to follow, but I hope it will not affect you :).