CA-4 Visa Extension in Nicaragua

I thought that it would be useful for me to write a post about extending the CA-4 visa, necessary if staying in Central America for over 3 months.

As a recap, once you enter one of the CA-4 Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador or  Nicaragua, you will receive a stamp on your passport, and a visa that is valid for a total of 3 months. While we have been moving around these 4 countries, we noticed that only Guatemala and Honduras actually stamp your passport (Honduras immigration officials claimed that their country was no longer part of the CA-4 group), so it is quite confusing to really know what the actual situation is. It is therefore useful to note down entry/exit dates, especially if there is no stamp in your passport.

Stamp for our arrival in Guatemala, and our first point of entry into the CA-4 group of Central American countries.

Stamp for our arrival in Guatemala, and our first point of entry into the CA-4 group of Central American countries. The initial 3 months ran from this date.

Stamp or leaving Guatemala.

Stamp upon leaving Guatemala.

Stamps in and out of Honduras.

Stamps in and out of Honduras.

Before the expiration of the 3 months, you can apply for an extension (if i am not mistaken this can only be done once), or you need to cross out of the group of countries to either Mexico, Belize or Costa Rica and reenter. In our case, we had only 3 days left on our CA-4 visa once we had crossed over to Nicaragua, and as a Malaysian passport holder, i needed a visa before arrival to enter Costa Rica – the closest border to do a visa run (this was also unclear as i also hold a residency card for Spain, so we were unsure if i actually did need the visa). We eventually decided that the best option for us was to get the visa extension done in Leon, as we did not like the prospect of entering into Managua.

The process was simple. We filled in the necessary forms at the immigration office and paid a total of 1050 Cordobas (over USD $40) for 2 months extension (the maximum extension is for 3 months). Our passports were then sent to Managua for processing and we were told we had to wait a total of 8 days then return to pick them up. In our case, we arrived at the immigration office in Leon at the appointed date, only to find that our passports were still in Managua. In the end, we decided to make our way to the main immigration office in Managua and pick up our passports ourselves since we were traveling southwards anyway.

Our 2-month visa extension obtained in Managua, Nicaragua.

Our 2-month visa extension obtained in Managua, Nicaragua.

The immigration officials in Nicaragua were fairly efficient and although our visas were not in Leon at the time they should have been, they did not lose any of our paperwork, and could tell us exactly where our passports were at any given time. We met an American girl in Matagalpa who had gone directly to Managua to get her visa extension and she told us that she managed to get it done within an hour! So our advice would be to do just what she did, and save yourself the hassle, time and worry.

About anitasan

Follow us on Instagram, timeless_travelers 5 years ago i quit my old life to start a new one. Rick, my husband, and i, rented out our house in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, got rid of most of our debts, and together we embarked on a journey. Previously we lived conventional lives, working long hours, earning a salary and spending it in the cycle. We had security but we were tired of time just passing us by. We decided to cut down on our living expenses to the very basic, and travel the world, living on the road. Along the way, we eventually sold our house and are now debt-free. It seems a lifetime away since we started this unplanned life of the unknown, but so far it has been an invaluable learning experience for both Rick and i. Not only have we spent almost all our time together (and enjoyed it's accompanying ups and downs), we have also been able to savor each moment, instead of letting it pass us by. Life is good. So join us as we travel the world, visit new places, meet new (and 'old') people and enjoy new experiences every day. View all posts by anitasan

6 responses to “CA-4 Visa Extension in Nicaragua

  • Erl

    Hi Anita, i came across to your blog while googling about CA-4 visa . I’m an Indonesian but holding Singapore residency . Our itinerary is supposed to start in Guatemala , however due to the visa issue I could not go there first. We’ve been thinking for the best way to get the visa upon arrival however it doesn’t seem to be easy since there isn’t any Guatemalan consulate in Singapore. So we came across with an idea to fly to Nicaragua first since I can just enter there by using tourist card which can be purchased upon arrival .
    My question will be ,can I use that to enter Guatemala ? Do you know ?

    Thank you very much in advance .

    Best regards

    Erl

    • anitasan

      Hi Erl,

      As far as i know (and from my experience), once you enter any of the CA-4 countries, you have a total of 3 months to travel around these countries. That was my experience as a Malaysian passport holder, and i also met a Singaporean in Honduras who also had no problems in the area. Saying that, i think the situation may be different for Indonesians as after a quick wiki check, it looks like restrictions apply for you in some of the countries. We also had the tourist card that you mentioned upon arrival in Nicaragua but that was only for Nicaragua. The situation is not clear, and there was conflicting information from border officials but bottom line is, you still need to cross borders, and each is different, so it would probably be a good idea to get a clearer picture from your own Indonesian embassy while in Singapore. There is absolutely no diplomatic representation from our part of the world here (many people have never heard of our countries), so better be sure before you get here. How’s your spoken Spanish? A basic level will go a long way here, especially when you have to cross borders by land. Hope this helps and all the best for your trip!

  • morgan

    Hi Anita, I’m an Indonesian.
    My question, what requirements for Indonesia to get Nicaragua visa?

    Thank you very much.

  • Cale

    Hi Anita. I am currently in Leon and need to get my visa extended. Can you tell me where to go in Leon to accomplish that? Thanks!

    • anitasan

      I remember it was pretty easy for us to find the immigration office, just by asking people. However, I would advise you to go straight to Managua and get it done there instead as it is faster (one day, we heard from other travelers). In the end, we had to go and collect our passports ourselves from the main immigration office in Managua as it took longer than we expected/were told.

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