As an expat living on a 90 day tourist visa, we have two choices to extend our visa. The first option is to apply for a two year residency which can take 6-9 months. This option is a little expensive for our family of 8 at $600 per person, therefore we opted out.
The second option is to visit the Guatemalan Immigration Office and apply for an extension. You provide them with every important document you own (birth certificates, adoption decrees for those that don't have US birth certificates, multiple copies of passports, marriage license, copies of credit cards and many more!) and leave your passports for up to a week. Hopefully we do not have an emergency and have to leave the country in the next week. ;) During this time the Guatemalan Immigration Office will stamp our passports, giving us another 90 day visa. They will do this one time for a fee per passport but at our 180 day mark, we must leave the country for 3 days. So to break it down, we arrived in July, applied for an extension in October, we will leave the country in January, apply for an extension in April, leave the country in July, etc.
Our plan for leaving the country will be taking a 6 hour bus ride to Tapachula, Mexico and stay for 2 nights and 3 days. Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua have a pact (CA-4) which allows for open borders so traveling to those countries, even if they are closer, won't give us an extended visa.
We are extremely thankful the church allowed us to borrow one of the vans so we did not have to rent a van to go to the city. The chicken bus was always an option but taking so many important documents on the bus would not be smart. God has really blessed us with good friends who traveled with us to apply for the extension. We would have been a little lost, not knowing the language. The Guatemalan Immigration Office is a bit like the DMV in the United States. When our friend explained we had 8 passports, the worker rolled her eyes and shook her head. ;)
Sitting in the van, ready to leave! No car seats available, no seat belts available. When in Rome...
This city is so beautiful and rich. Early morning view of Volcan de Agua!
Driving in Guatemala City was a new experience for us. Though it's a grid for the most part, the streets are one way so it felt like we were going around and around after getting lost a few times. ;)
Waiting patiently at the Immigration Office.
So thankful for my friend, Nancy, who translated for me.
For real, goats in the middle of the city. Only here.
Time to head home! We will be back in the city next week to pick up the passports with our extended stamp.
And we will return to the city on Tuesday to pick up our passports!
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