Bolivia

Visas

Passports must be valid for six months beyond the date of entry. Entry or exit stamps are free, and attempts at charging should be met with polite refusal; ask for a receipt if the issue is pressed. Personal documents – passports and visas – must be carried at all times, especially in lowland regions, but it’s safest to carry photocopies rather than originals.

Bolivian visa requirements can be arbitrarily changed and interpreted. (At the time of research, there had been three Directors of Migration in six months, since the inception of the Morales Government.) Regulations, including entry stays, are likely to change. Each Bolivian consulate and border crossing may have its own entry requirements, procedures and idiosyncrasies.

Citizens of most South American and Western European countries can get a tourist card on entry for stays up to 90 days, depending on the nationality. Citizens of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan are granted 30 days while citizens of USA and Israel are granted 90 days. This is subject to change; always check with your consulate prior to entry. If you want to stay longer, you have to extend your tourist card (easily accomplished at the immigration office in any major city; those nationalities who have 30 day entries must pay US$21 for extensions). The maximum time travelers are permitted to stay in the country is 180 days in one year. Alternatively, you can apply for a visa. Visas are issued by Bolivian consular representatives, including those in neighboring South American countries. Costs vary according to the consulate and the nationality of the applicant.

Overstayers can be fined US$1.25 per day – which is payable at the migration office or airport – and may face ribbons of red tape at the border or airport when leaving the country. See the website of the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto (Bolivian Ministry of Exterior Relations & Culture; www.rree.gov.bo, in Spanish) for a complete list of overseas representatives and current regulations.

In addition to a valid passport and visa, citizens of many Communist, African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries require ‘official permission’ from the Bolivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs before a visa will be issued.

Vaccination certificates

Anyone coming from a yellow-fever infected area needs a vaccination certificate to enter Bolivia. Many neighboring countries, including Brazil, also require anyone entering from Bolivia to have proof of a yellow-fever vaccination. If necessary, a jab can often be administered at the border.