Country-wide policy
Every Migration Fee Is a Dollar Amount, and the Quetzal Price Changes Every Quarter
Guatemala charges in quetzales but writes its migration fees in United States dollars. The fee schedule sets each amount in dollars and then authorises the migration institute to fix, once a quarter, the reference exchange rate at which those dollars are converted - an average of the Banco de Guatemala selling rate over the first twenty days of the last month of the previous quarter. So a residence permit has a fixed price in dollars and a price in quetzales that moves four times a year, and any quetzal figure quoted anywhere has a shelf life of three months.
Topics it changes
- Visiting as a tourist
- Residency on passive income
- Residency as a retiree
- Residency through work
- Residency through investment
- Residency as a student
- Residency through marriage
- Residency through ancestry
- Residency under a regional treaty
- Becoming a citizen
- Bringing your belongings
What it requires
- Fees are stated in United States dollars and paid in quetzales
- The migration institute sets a quarterly reference rate by resolution and must circulate it at least five days before it takes effect
- The rate is the simple average of the Banco de Guatemala daily reference selling rate over the first twenty days of the last month of the quarter
- Annual obligations of temporary and permanent residents are charged at the tariff in force in the fiscal year they fall due
At a glance
- Currency fees are set in
- US dollars
- How often the quetzal price changes
- Every quarter
- Notice before a new rate applies
- 5 days
The schedule says the resolution must reach collecting offices at least five days before it takes effect; it does not say the rate is published to the public anywhere other than on notices at those offices.
Why a quetzal price you were quoted is probably wrong
The amounts in the schedule never move unless the schedule is amended. The quetzal you pay them in moves whenever the migration institute issues its quarterly resolution. The resolution is circulated to the offices that collect the money and posted where applicants can see it; it is not, as far as we could find, published as a document on the institute's website. That makes the dollar figure the durable one and any quetzal figure a snapshot of one quarter.
What the law says
«Para la conversión de las cantidades consignadas en dólares de los Estados Unidos de América a quetzales, el Instituto Guatemalteco de Migración queda facultado para determinar el precio de referencia que estará vigente cada trimestre, el cual se obtendrá de aplicar el tipo de cambio para la venta que resulte del promedio simple correspondiente a los primeros veinte días del último mes de cada trimestre.»Our translation - not official
To convert the amounts stated in United States dollars into quetzales, the Guatemalan Migration Institute is authorised to determine the reference price in force each quarter, obtained by applying the selling exchange rate resulting from the simple average for the first twenty days of the last month of each quarter.
About this source
Guatemala's migration institute. It issues the residence, visa and tariff rulebooks, decides applications including consulted visas, and runs a field-verification unit. It also hosts the Código de Migración, which Congress issues and it does not.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the classification of countries into visa categories: the institute publishes that list only as an image, and nothing text-bearing on its sites carries it. Nor for the fee actually payable, since the instrument sets dollars and a separate quarterly resolution sets the exchange rate. Nor, specifically, is its own tariff page a statement of the tariff in force - read on the same day as the instrument it reproduces, it omits the Central American rate for permanent residence entirely. And not for tax, labour or traffic rules, which belong to other bodies.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Para el cumplimiento de las obligaciones anuales de los residentes temporales y permanentes, se tomará como base la tarifa vigente en el año del ejercicio fiscal que corresponda.»Our translation - not official
For the fulfilment of the annual obligations of temporary and permanent residents, the tariff in force in the corresponding fiscal year shall be taken as the basis.
About this source
Guatemala's migration institute. It issues the residence, visa and tariff rulebooks, decides applications including consulted visas, and runs a field-verification unit. It also hosts the Código de Migración, which Congress issues and it does not.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for the classification of countries into visa categories: the institute publishes that list only as an image, and nothing text-bearing on its sites carries it. Nor for the fee actually payable, since the instrument sets dollars and a separate quarterly resolution sets the exchange rate. Nor, specifically, is its own tariff page a statement of the tariff in force - read on the same day as the instrument it reproduces, it omits the Central American rate for permanent residence entirely. And not for tax, labour or traffic rules, which belong to other bodies.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The only exception we found to dollar pricing in the whole schedule is the local pass for Guatemalans in adjacent zones and territorial waters, which is one quetzal.