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Visas in Antigua

Visa-free stay
Up to 90 days, and this allowance is shared across the whole CA-4 zone
Overall8/10Easier visas than about 90% of cities

Good to know

Good to Know

  • The 90 days is a combined CA-4 regional allowance, not 90 days per country — spending time in Honduras or El Salvador on the same trip eats into your Guatemala days too.
  • A quick land-border hop to another CA-4 country (Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua) does NOT reset your clock; only leaving the whole CA-4 zone (typically to Mexico or Belize) does.
  • Guatemala has no online e-Visa or ESTA-style system for visa-exempt travelers — entry is simply a passport stamp at the airport or land border.
  • Keep your entry stamp/passport safe: failing to show it on departure can mean fines and delays, and immigration officers make the final call on how many days you're actually granted on arrival.
  • If you plan to stay long-term, extension approval at Guatemala City's immigration office is discretionary, not guaranteed — build in a buffer or plan a border run to Mexico or Belize as backup.
  • Guatemala's dedicated digital nomad residency is very new (reported live from around October 2025), so processes, fees, and even the exact income threshold are still being ironed out in practice — confirm current requirements directly with IGM or a licensed gestor/immigration lawyer before applying.
  • Many remote workers still just use the 90-day visa-free entry plus a 90-day extension rather than the formal residency, especially for stays under six months — it's far less paperwork, though it doesn't give the same banking or legal-residency benefits.
  • Guatemala shares its 90-day visa-free allowance with Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador under the CA-4 agreement, so a 'border run' to reset your clock generally needs to be to Mexico or Belize, not another CA-4 country.
  • Because Guatemala taxes on a territorial (source-based) basis, most nomads earning purely foreign income owe no Guatemalan income tax even if they become a tax resident — but this only applies to genuinely foreign-sourced income, not income from Guatemalan clients.
  • Guatemalan residency processing has historically been slow; delays of several months (and sometimes longer) are commonly reported, so build in patience and buffer time.

Visa Free Entry

Summary
Guatemala is part of the CA-4 Border Control Agreement together with El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Nationals of dozens of countries — including the US, Canada, all EU member states, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and most Latin American countries — can enter without a pre-arranged visa and receive an entry stamp on arrival.
Days Allowed
Up to 90 days, and this allowance is shared across the whole CA-4 zone (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua) rather than being 90 days per country.
Who Qualifies
Citizens of the United States, Canada, all European Union member states, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Israel, and most Latin American countries (Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, among others) are visa-exempt for tourism or short business trips.
Extension Option
A one-time extension of the tourist stay (commonly cited as up to an additional 90 days, though the UK government describes a shorter 30-day extension) can be requested in person at the Instituto Guatemalteco de Migración (IGM) in Guatemala City before the initial period expires; extensions are not automatically guaranteed.
180 Day Window Note
Some official sources (e.g. UK and US guidance) frame it simply as up to 90 days per entry, while other summaries describe it as 90 days within a 180-day period; in practice the immigration officer at first entry into the CA-4 zone determines the exact authorized stay, and it is not always automatically granted at the maximum.

Process

Type
Visa-free — entry stamp / passport control only, no advance application, no e-Visa or online portal exists for exempt nationalities.
Entry Stamp Importance
Travelers must obtain and keep an entry stamp in their passport; failing to present it on departure can lead to fines and delays.
Requirements On Arrival
Valid passport (typically required to be valid at least 6 months beyond arrival by most nationalities' rules, though some entities such as US immigration ask only that it be valid at time of entry), a completed electronic immigration/customs declaration, and sometimes proof of onward travel or accommodation.

Ca4 Mechanics

Shared Clock
The 90-day clock is a single combined allowance across Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua — crossing between these four countries does not reset the count.
Resetting The Clock
Only exiting the CA-4 zone entirely (e.g. to Mexico or Belize) pauses or resets the allowance, depending on the source; some guidance says the clock simply pauses while outside CA-4 and resumes on return, while other sources describe needing to stay out for a longer period for a full reset.
Overstay Consequence
Overstaying the authorized period results in a fine that must be paid in cash before departure, typically at the airport or at the Instituto Guatemalteco de Migración (IGM) office in Guatemala City.

Digital Nomad Visa And Tax

Overview
Guatemala has two practical pathways for remote workers: a longstanding informal tourist-visa route, and a newly created dedicated remote-worker/digital-nomad temporary residency that reportedly went live in late 2025. Because the formal visa is brand new, reported details (income thresholds, exact fees) vary noticeably between sources.
Visa Ease Tier
high
Visa Ease Tier Rationale
Generous 90-day visa-free entry (shared across CA-4) plus a newly launched digital-nomad residency with modest income thresholds (~$1,500-2,000/month), manageable documentation, and a territorial tax system that generally exempts foreign-sourced income.

Tax Notes

Local Source Income Rates
Where income is Guatemalan-sourced, individual employment income is taxed on a scale generally cited around 5-7%, business/self-employment income can be taxed up to around 25% under certain regimes, and a Small Taxpayer Regime is available for those with gross sales/services under Q150,000 per calendar year.
VAT
Guatemala applies a standard Value Added Tax (IVA) of 12% on most goods and services.
System Type
Guatemala runs a territorial tax system: multiple professional tax sources (KPMG, Baker Tilly, Moore Global) describe income tax as applying to Guatemalan-source income, with foreign-sourced income generally not taxable nor relevant to Guatemala, regardless of residency status.
Tax Residency Trigger
A foreign individual is generally considered a Guatemalan tax resident if present in the country for 183 days or more (continuous or aggregate) within the calendar year (January 1 to December 31), or if their fixed place of business/center of economic interest is located in Guatemala.
Double Taxation Treaties
Sources disagree here: one specialist tax-guide source states Guatemala's system is territorial and does not have bilateral or multilateral double-taxation treaties, while other general expat-tax sources claim treaties exist with several countries — this should be verified directly with a tax advisor for your specific home country.
Practical Effect For Nomads
For a remote worker whose clients/employer and income are entirely foreign, Guatemalan-source income tax generally does not apply even after becoming a tax resident, because the system taxes income by source rather than by worldwide residency.
US Filing Note
US citizens remain subject to US filing obligations regardless of Guatemalan tax residency; the US and Guatemalan banking system share account-holder information, so US expats should not skip filing even if no Guatemalan tax is owed.

Informal Tourist Route

Entry
Most nationalities (US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia) can enter Guatemala visa-free for up to 90 days.
Extension
After 90 days, options are a tourist visa extension (around $25 USD, applied for at the immigration office) or a border run to Mexico or Belize, which resets your time.
Work Legality Caveat
Working remotely for a foreign employer/clients while on a tourist stay is widely tolerated in practice, but formal work authorization only exists via the residency route below; this tourist route is best suited to stays under about six months.
Description
The route most nomads still use for shorter stays.
Regional Note
Guatemala is part of the CA-4 agreement alongside Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, which means the 90-day allowance covers all four countries combined, not each one individually.

Digital Nomad Residency

Dependents
Spouse and minor children (economic dependents) can apply for temporary residency simultaneously with the main applicant, and reportedly receive automatic work authorization; each dependent pays their own application fee.
Program Status
New program: multiple sources (including EY's international tax news service) confirm Guatemala announced a new temporary residence permit for digital nomads in 2025, created via migration agreements referred to as Acuerdo IGM-016-2025 and IGM-017-2025, with some sources citing an October 8, 2025 launch date. Because it is so new, precedent and consistent public reporting are still limited.
Processing Time
Processing of 30-90 days is typical, with full resolution taking around 2-4 months.
Field Verification
Under the 2025 reforms, field verification is mandatory: immigration authorities (IGM) will visit the declared address as part of the review.
Income Source Rule
In both categories the income source must be outside Guatemala; if you mainly serve Guatemalan clients you would need a different setup (a work permit through the labor ministry or local entity formation).
Validity And Renewal
The permit is issued for 1 year and renewed annually. Guatemalan temporary residency can run up to 5 years total across renewal cycles, after which permanent residency becomes available; naturalization is possible after 10 years of legal residency.
Guarantor Requirement
Under the 2025 reforms, worker categories including digital nomads are exempt from the previously-required Guatemalan citizen co-signer (garante).

Application Fees

Other Reported Costs
One source describes a $25 application fee plus roughly $200 for the 1-year permit (about $225 total). A separate source instead lists a $25 IGM application fee plus an annual foreigner quota of about $40/year, plus apostille of a background check ($20-100) and translations, budgeting $300-500 total for a DIY first-year filing.
Core Igm Application Fee
GTQ 190
Note
Reported total costs also vary between sources.

Documents Required

  • Valid passport
  • Bank statements or other proof of regular, verifiable foreign-source income
  • International health insurance
  • Apostilled background/police check (lookback period reduced from 5 years to 2 years under the 2025 reforms)
  • Proof of no Guatemalan-source income / no local employment relationship
  • Passport validation certificate — reportedly no longer required if your home country has diplomatic representation in Guatemala

Income Requirement

Primary Reported Threshold
GTQ 15,246
Alternative Reported Threshold
GTQ 11,430
Note
Reported figures differ by source; treat the lower figure as a floor and the higher as the more commonly cited current benchmark.

Eligible Categories

  • Remote employee: holds a contract with a foreign (e.g. US, EU, Canadian) employer and works fully remotely
  • Self-employed / freelancer: has foreign clients, platform income (Upwork, Toptal, Fiverr), or runs an online business/consultancy
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026

This section has no cited sources.

More About Antigua

Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.