In this post we go through the various tourist fees you may have to deal with when entering and leaving Nicaragua as well as explain some of the differences between arrival by plane or by land at one of the many border crossings.
Nicaragua Tourist Card
Each tourist entering Nicaragua by land, sea or air must pay for a US $10.00 Nicaragua Tourist Card. This fee is collected by Migración (Immigration) officials on behalf of INTUR, the government tourist institute.
Click here for more on the Nicaragua Tourist Card.
Migracion Fee US $3.00
This US $3.00 fee is listed under “Border Services” and collected at the border posts when entering and Leaving Nicaragua by land.
Upon entry it is collected at the same time (and included on the same receipt) as your US $10.00 Nicaragua Tourist Card.
This gives the impression of a two tier fee for the card; however, that is not the case. The Nicaragua Tourist Card portion is US $10, the same as it is at the airport.
At the airport, this US $3.00 fee is not charged individually as it is at border crossings but has been rolled into the departure fee/tax included in your ticket price. (See last paragraph below under Augusto C. Sandino International Airport-Managua.)
US $1.00 Local Authority Payment
The Municipal Council of Cárdenas collects a nominal fee of US $1.00 per person for using the border facilities at Peñas Blancas. It is collected by an official from the Municipality of Cárdenas.
TRIVIA: In August 2020 changes were made to the fees and fines for services provided by Migración Nicaragua when Law Number 1033 – Law of Reform and Addition to Law No. 761 – General Law on Migration and Foreigners went into effect. Since then, fees and fines relating to immigration services for citizens and those of other nationalities have been set in the dollar currency of the United States of America and charged using the US$ to Córdoba exchange rate on the day they were paid.
The complete list of Fees and Fines is contained here within the text of Law 1033
90 Day Stay Passport Stamp
Most of you entering Nicaragua will fall under the Visa Category “A” which is Visa Exempt. In lieu of a visa you will get a passport stamp indicating how many days you can stay in Nicaragua which is usually 90. There is no direct fee for this 90 day stamp.
Extending your Stay (Prórroga de Estancia)
If you wish to stay longer than the original 90 days in your passport stamp, you can do one of two things;
1. Request an extension of your stay in Managua or at any of the Departmental Migracion offices or SERTRAMIS. See interactive map here.
Currently this will only be granted for 1 to 30 days at a time and will cost US $25 for each of the 1 to 30 day periods. There is also a small administration fee (to cover the form and the dispatch of documents to Managua and back again).
You can do this three times in a row for a maximum of 90 days before you have to leave the country and start the process off again.
2. Leave the country after your first 90 days and then re-enter with a new 90 day stay tourist stamp.
Overstaying the 90 Days
Described as being in a state of “Non-regular stay in the national territory”, the fine (Multa) for exceeding your stay is US $3.00 per day. There is also a US $10.00 Migracion fee added to that bill which is listed under Immigration Services as a fee for a “Non Resident Exit Visa” in addition to the daily fine.
International Terminal Fee – Augusto C. Sandino International Airport, Managua Nicaragua charges an International Terminal Fee for all outgoing passengers (departures), except those in transit, or under two years old. This fee is included in the passenger’s airline ticket at the time of purchase.
According to the International Airports Administration Company (EAAI or Empresa Administradora de Aeropuertos Internacionales) this fee has been US $44.23 since May of 2016.
By Kelvin Marshall
www.Nica-Biz.com
