Hello readers... today I bring you a very cool topic and my first hand experience. If you need a visa or tourist card extension, to visit the immigration office or need to know about leaving El Salvador to goto Costa Rica... this post is gonna be your one stop shop. In addition, if you have overstayed your tourist card -- I will talk about that to.
1. Going to Costa Rica
Why? Because it is outside the 4 countries that include El Salvador, Nicaragua, Hondorus and Guatemala. When you enter El Salvador you get a tourist card, it's good for 15, 30, 60 or 90 days. This card expires and once it does, you must LEAVE this region for 72 hours and return to get a new card. You can't just goto the 3 neighboring countries, the closest country that you can goto to restart your time is Costa Rica.
How? BUS! Tica Bus or King Quality are both luxiorious, safe bus lines that will take you to San Jose, Costa Rica. The price is currently $121.00, if you are a memeber of Hiper Europa shopping (I am) it's $109.00. You can purchase the tickets at their office in San Benito right before the traffic circle that takes you into "Zona Rosa". They are (King Quality and Tica) a few doors down from the great mexican restaurant, "Zocalo".
2. Overstayed Tourist Card
You have two options. One, leave the country by bus or airplane and pay the "Multa" of $114 upon leaving. You are free to re-enter. At the airport this is no big deal and does not set you back, on bus... you can get left at the border (seriously).
Second option: Goto the immigration office and pay the fine there and then ask for a Progorra aka Tourist card extension to leave the country. The "multa" is the same if paid at immigration.
3. Progorra (Tourist card extension)
The process for this depends on the type of extension you want. I personally find it much easier to leave the region for 72 hours, come back and get a new tourist card.
If you decide you want to get an extension you need:
-Original passport w/ stamp
-Passport sized foto
-Scanned, printed copy of photo page of passport
-Scanned, printed copy of last entry stamp.
-Name and telephone number of a national (citizen) who can account for your good conduct.
Note: it's much easier if you bring said person rather than just their name and phone number.
Once you get to the immigration office, you will enter the "compound". There is a door in the middle that says "Progorra and Visas" and that is where you will go. You will explain to them why, they will take documents, fill out form, ask your motives and take your finger prints. It costs $25 for a 1-15 day extension. The 90 day extension cost $95 at this time. This must be paid in cash, so go prepared.
The officials in the Immigration office are INCREDIBLY professional, courteous, polite and just wonderful at their jobs. I was attended by a wonderful young lady who helped me with a complicated issue. I wish I knew her name but I don't, but she was wonderful.
Apparantly they speak decent English, I speak fluent Spanish though, so I did not get the chance to test that.
The Progorra is given the same day (in a few hours) in most cases. It can take up to one day.
Do not wait until the last minute to travel or get an extension, do it a few days ahead of time.
Overall I would say that the Foreign Immigration office here is one of the best run offices in the entire country, with a well trained, attent staff. If you need to handle a visa or tourist card issue, don't fear going to immigration.
There are several immigration office but ONLY ONE HANDLES foreigner issues. So you will need to go to:
Progorra - Extension (Tourist card + visa) + Leaving the country to Costa Rica
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
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6 comments:
Thanks for the infos. I will tell my in-laws about it.
Yvw :-)
Hope this info has helped or will help!!!!
-VidaSalvadorena
Thanks for posting. I have been leaving every 90 days to the US since it's cheaper to buy round trip flights anyway.
QUESTION: Will there come a time when immigration says NO MAS? Each time they question me more and more about what I'm doing in El Sal (my hubby is a deportee)...
Also, does everyone know about SPIRIT airs deals from fort lauderdale to san sal starting next week?!?!
Hello ^
I know what you mean. Immigration here generally WELCOMES tourists (anyone to them who enters with a tourist card) because it stimulates the economy here. I have come and gone many many times and never had issues. They ask a few questions but that is all.
Airport is easier than land crossings generally.
I don't think it will ever come a point when they say no more. I would recommend applying for residency, it's a pain but not hard and worth it.
Other option is overstay your tourist card. When you leave at the airport you have to pay a 114.00 fine and thats it. You aren't banned from coming back, etc. So that is another possibility.
But leaving and coming back is okay. I did it for years and they never cared much. Tourism helps them. It does El Salvador no good to stop people who spend their money here.
It would be like a business to turn away customers, wouldn't happen.
Also SPIRIT starts on the 13th of June!
I have some friends using them! Flights get in late aka midnight but SOOO CHEAP! $200.
Also... Midnight is better, Airport isn't crowded etc!
seriously, you provide the best practical information about living here. We are struggling through trying to get our immigration matters correct, and I hope we do. If we don´t Im going to print up the page and take it with me, just like going to Setercen.
It´s not that doing things here is really that hard, but having a couple clues makes all the difference when language and cultural differences already standing in the way.
I HOPE I don´t need to print this post too!
Hi there,
I am a new reader to your blog - I have been living in El Salvador for just over a year now and wish I had've found it earlier! Due to the amount of time I have been here, I have had to renew my visa/do a visa run 4 times. I received one 90 day progorra after my first 3 months here and have since done visa runs to Mexico 3 times since then. In my opinion, going to Mexico is actually a cheaper and more convenient trip - Tica bus have a direct route to Tapachula which is just over the border, and there are about 3 hotels right in front of the Tica Bus station which are great value for money (private rooms with ensuite, cable TV, AC/fan etc). The first 3 times I stayed for 1 night only, and the last time, as I was getting a little more paranoid about having done the trip so many times!, I stayed for 2. I needn't have worried though as the immigration officials barely looked at my passport upon entry back into Guatelmala before giving me the new stamp with 90 days!
I have considered making a trip to the US before, just to break it up, but I have never found flights cheap enough considering the price of accommodation at the other end too (the trip to Mexico costs me about $110-120 with bus, accommodation, food etc). I am Australian so unfortunately I don't have the added incentive of seeing family/friends by doing a trip to the US either.
My partner and I are hoping to leave for Australia at the beginning of October, and my current visa expires on 17th September, so I will try for a short progorra here in SS otherwise I am considering just paying the fine for overstaying this time around!
At this stage the flights to LA from Guatemala are actually cheaper than from San Sal and I have read that they very rarely pull you up for overstaying your visa when you leave from Guat City airport!
Thanks for the great read - It is always a nice feeling to know I am not alone!
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