On Monday, April 6, 2020, the Guatemalan Migration Institute -IGM- in compliance with the presidential provisions, in relation to the state of calamity, issued a statement on its official page which contains special provisions to protect foreigners with the quality of tourists so that they can remain in Guatemala for the duration of the decreed state of calamity, without incurring a penalty fee for an extemporaneous stay in the country. Therefore, from March 6, 2020 to May 5, 2020, the count of the days will be as non-working days. Foreigners who have a tourist visa or a tourist visa extension should take the following considerations:

Foreigners with Tourist Visa:

In case the tourist visa expires in the period from March 6 to May 5, the foreigner should not request an extension since they are non-working days, however, if the tourist visa expired before March 6, the foreigner has the following two options:

  1. Request extension of tourist visa for the same number of days that the immigration agent indicated on the entry stamp to Guatemala.
  2. Pay Q15 penalty fee for each day of extemporaneous stay in Guatemala.

Foreigners with Tourist Visa Extension:

In the event that the extension of the tourist visa expires in the period from March 6 to May 5, the foreigner must not pay a penalty fee for an extemporaneous stay since those days are non-working days. However, if the extension of the tourist visa expired before March 6, the foreigner can no longer apply for the visa extension since it can be requested only once. Therefore, must pay the penalty fee of Q15 for each day of extemporaneous stay in Guatemala.

 

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