Visa & Residency Guide to Venezuela

Want to know how to live in Venezuela on a tourist visa or with residency?

This article will provide you with the basics of how to achieve that.

 By first talking about living in Venezuela on a tourist visa…

Then moving onto the nuances of that…

Such as the possibility of doing a visa run….

And also the consequences of overstaying your visa…

Before ending it on the topic of the temporary and permanent residency programs that exist.

For those who wish to live in this country longer than what a tourist visa allows…

And do to so legally and with more security.

So let’s get to it!

Tourist Visa in Venezuela

From what I have read, the visa you can get for Venezuela is valid for up to a year, allows for multiple visits and will let you spend 90 days in Venezuela.

Anyway, can you extend your visa for another 90 days while in Venezuela?

I have no personal experience with this but I assume you can’t based on what I have read online from those who have spent time in Venezuela.

Overstay The Visa?

There isn’t any information I could find online as of this writing as to what the punishment is if you overstay your time in Venezuela.

It seems like you could be imprisoned actually from what I read.

If I had to guess, based on the fines other countries have in Latin America, it shouldn’t be more than 500, If I had to guess, based on the fines other countries have in Latin America.

But I couldn’t find any information online to suggest what it would be. So that is nothing more than an educated guess.

Visa Run?

The topic of doing a visa run in Venezuela seems a little more complicated than other Latin American countries.

From what I have read, it seems not to be legally allowed.

However, there does seem plenty of foreigners who have reported online that you can do a visa run as long as you leave at least a day before your visa runs out of time…

To which if you leave before that…

You can come back and, in theory, get another 90 days when you come back.

But sometimes that might involve a bribe from what I have heard…

And other times it doesn’t involve that.

But, for some reason, if you leave on the day you are supposed to, I guess it is more complicated to get the next 90 days when returning.

Might be an issue with their internal migration computer systems if I had to guess.

And perhaps a mix with how different migration officers apply the law – some looking for a bribe and all.

Anyway, the issue of doing a visa run seems complicated with Venezuela but possible – based on the information above and what I have read about it.

Temporary Residency in Venezuela?

Information on getting residency is a bit limited online from what I have seen.

Perhaps because there are not too many folks looking to obtain it during these days obviously.

Anyway, all the information on residency in Venezuela comes from this source here.

So what does it mean to get “temporary residency” in Venezuela?

Well, from my understanding, there is no temporary or permament residency status.

Not with that vocabulary anyway.

There is, however, a “residencia” status that basically serves like temporary residency for foreigners.

Where you have to renew it every 5 years.

Permanent Residency in Venezuela

From what I have read, there isn’t any permanent residency status available for foreigners inVenezuela.

Unless you are a diplomat or a visiting official.

Anyway, that is the basic information on that. More information to come later.

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Thanks.

Best regards,

Matt