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 El Salvadorportal |
Visitors to El Salvador must obtain a visa from one of the Salvadoran diplomatic missions, unless they come from one of the visa exempt countries. All visitors must hold a passport valid for 6 months.
Holders of passports of the following 89 jurisdictions can visit El Salvador without a visa for up to 180 days (all visitors except the nationals of Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama must hold proof of sufficient funds to cover their stay and documents required for next destination): [1] [2]
ID - May also enter with an ID card if come from a country that is part of the CA-4 Agreement.
| Date of visa changes | ||
|---|---|---|
Canceled:
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Visa exemption also applies to residents of countries that are visa exempt as well as holders of a valid visa issued by Canada, the United States or a Schengen member state. This does not apply to nationals of Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Timor-Leste, Vietnam and Yemen who also can't obtain a visa on a simplified procedure but their application needs to be approved in El Salvador.
Holders of diplomatic, official or service passports of Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Indonesia, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Montenegro, Morocco, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Serbia, Suriname, Thailand, Venezuela and Vietnam do not require a visa.
Transit without a visa is allowed for travelers who normally require a visa but are transiting within 48 hours and hold onward tickets.
Citizens of the following countries are required to pay an airport improvement tax of USD$1,130.00 (USD$1,000.00 + 13% VAT) for transit through San Oscar Arnulfo Romero and Galdámez Airport. [9]
Angola, Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Ivory Coast, Chad, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea – Bissau, India, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe, Western Sahara, Senegal,, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tunisia, Togo, Uganda, Djibouti, Zambia, Zimbabwe. [9]
Citizens of South Africa and Madagascar are not required to obtain a visa to visit El Salvador for tourism, but are required to pay the airport improvement tax of USD$1,130.00 (USD$1,000.00 + 13% VAT) when for transit through San Oscar Arnulfo Romero and Galdámez Airport. [1] [9]
South Africa and Madagascar are the only countries to have a visa waiver and a airport improvement tax requirement for El Salvador. [1] [9]
The Central America-4 Border Control Agreement is a treaty between Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. A visa issued by one of the four countries is honored by all four of the countries. The time period for the visa, however, applies to the total time spent in any of the four countries without leaving the CA-4 area. [10]
Most visitors arriving to El Salvador for the purpose of tourism (excluding those on a one-day visit) were nationals of the following countries: [11]
| Country | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|
 Guatemala | 530,531 | 511,829 | 465,055 |
 United States | 447,628 | 431,792 | 422,811 |
 Honduras | 202,339 | 177,777 | 171,763 |
 Mexico | 32,654 | 27,567 | 27,489 |
 Costa Rica | 28,737 | 27,981 | 25,150 |
 Nicaragua | 28,262 | 33,931 | 32,937 |
 Canada | 24,796 | 29,188 | 31,911 |
 Spain | 8,565 | 7,850 | 7,788 |
 Germany | 3,532 | 4,123 | 5,440 |
| Total | 1,401,598 | 1,345,165 | 1,282,792 |
