VISA+Solidarity

This post isn’t like the others, but I feel obligated to help out my fellow travelers in Central America who happen upon this blog! I wasn’t able to find any recent, concrete information on visa renewals in Honduras online when I needed it, so here is my contribution to the cyber world. You're welcome!

When I arrived in Honduras I was given a 90 day visa, which ran out in September. I was told that I could request a “prórroga” (extension) in San Pedro Sula, which I did, however this extension only lasted another 30 days. At the migration office I was told that I would need to spend a minimum of at least 72 hours outside of Honduras in either Belize or Costa Rica. Most of the neighboring countries in Central America are part of the CA-4 agreement, which means you can travel around on the same visa in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador – but, on the other hand, crossing these boundaries does not help you to renew your visa.

However! The señora in the migration office told me that *sometimes* crossing the border with Guatemala could get me a new visa, because the migration offices there are not as strict as others. A Brethren Service Volunteer I met here also said that she was able to get a new visa this way, although she couldn't promise it would work every time.

My visa would run out the 26^th of October, so I decided to give the Guatemala run a go at the beginning of the month. If it failed, I would still have time to hop over to Belize or Costa Rica. I took a Hedman Alas bus (super safe and foreign traveler friendly) from Copan Ruinas to Guatemala, passing through the migration office at El Florido. They were a little finicky there, and I had to tell them that I was planning on going to Belize and Costa Rica for my visa renewal at the end of the month (at that point, I didn’t think this plan was going to work anymore). I stayed in Guate City (GREAT experience, I couch surfed and met some awesome new friends in the few short days I was there), then 72 hours later I was back on a different bus with the Fuente del Norte company, which would take me on a different route back into Honduras, through the migration office at Corintos (my BVS friend told me crossing into a different part of Honduras might improve my chances of the new visa).

And sure enough, Corintos was a breeze! I got stamped out of Guatemala, and the Honduran migration office afterwards gave me a brand new 90 day visa without me even requesting it, no questions asked! I was very surprised that it actually worked, but it did! And now I can rest easy knowing that I am legally staying here till I leave in December, and won’t end up paying an outrageous fine.

So there you have it fellow travelers!  I don’t know if it will work for everyone, or even in the following years to come, but in October 2014 it couldn’t have been an easier loophole to the CA-4 agreement. Best of luck!