Working and Living in Guatemala
This replaces the general rule for you
The Ninety Per Cent Workforce Rule Can Be Relaxed for Central Americans
The hardest part of hiring a foreigner in Guatemala is not the worker's paperwork but the employer's: nine in ten employees must be Guatemalan and they must take at least eighty-five per cent of the payroll, certified by an accountant with every work permit application. The Labour Code names two situations in which the executive may change those proportions, and one of them is where Central Americans by origin are concerned. The relaxation is not automatic - it takes a reasoned executive agreement issued through the labour ministry, stating the reasons, the limit and how long it lasts - but it is the only nationality-based exception to the quota in the Code.
Two quite different people hold the same Guatemalan status. One has a Guatemalan employer, a job offer letter and a registered Guatemalan guarantor, and needs a separate work permit from the labour ministry within three months of the residence being granted. The other has a foreign employer, needs no Guatemalan guarantor and no job offer, and qualifies on bank statements showing a minimum monthly remuneration from abroad over the last year - more if dependants come too. Both are "migrant workers" under article 75 of the Migration Code, both get between one and five years, and both run into the labour code's quota: nine in ten employees of a Guatemalan business must be Guatemalan, and they must take at least eighty-five per cent of the payroll.
At a glance
- Residence term
- One to five years, by the length of the job offer
- Foreign employer, minimum monthly pay from abroad
- US$ 2,000.00
- Foreign employer, with dependants
- US$ 3,000.00
- Guatemalan guarantor
- Required with a Guatemalan employer, not with a foreign one
- Work permit validity
- 1 year, renewable for equal periods
- Work permit decision
- 20 business days at most
- Work permit fee, first issue
- Q3,000.00
The labour ministry's schedule states it in quetzales, not in dollars like the migration institute's.
- Work permit fee, renewal
- Q2,000.00
Payable by the employer; the family-based and refugee cases in article 4 are exempt from any fee.
- Guatemalan share of the workforce
- 90% of employees
- Guatemalan share of the payroll
- 85% of wages
- Residence fee, three to five years
- USD 500.00
Requirements
- With a Guatemalan employer: an original job-offer letter stating post, hours, term, pay, start date and place of work, plus a registered Guatemalan guarantor
- With a foreign employer: bank statements evidencing the minimum monthly remuneration from abroad over the last year, or an equivalent certification by a public accountant, legalised or apostilled
- Self-employed: a notarised sworn statement of the activity, where it will operate, when it starts and the expected monthly income, plus registration with the tax administration
- The general temporary-residence papers: form, passport with the entry stamp, police clearance, migration-movement certificate, proof of payment
- A labour ministry work permit within three months of the residence being notified, renewed every year, where the employer is Guatemalan
- For the employer: an accountant's certification that the ninety per cent Guatemalan workforce and eighty-five per cent payroll proportions are met
In detail
Two routes wearing one name
Article 11 of the residence regulation splits the migrant-worker residence into three cases, and the first two are the ones a reader will recognise. With a Guatemalan employer, what is needed is a job-offer letter and a registered Guatemalan guarantor, and the guarantor falls away only when the employer is the State or one of its autonomous or decentralised bodies. With a foreign employer, there is no guarantor and no job offer: the whole case is bank statements showing a year of remuneration from abroad at or above the monthly minimum, or an accountant's certification to the same effect, apostilled. The third case is self-employment, which needs a sworn statement of the planned activity and a tax registration.
The permit is a second application to a second ministry
Residence comes from the migration institute; permission to work for a Guatemalan employer comes from the labour ministry's foreign permits department, and the residence obliges the holder to produce it within three months and to renew it every year. The permit application is the employer's, not the worker's, and the heaviest document in it is an accountant's certification showing how many nationals and how many foreigners the business employs and what each group is paid, so that the ninety and eighty-five per cent proportions can be checked. A business that has not started trading can be excused that certification once.
What the quota actually bites on
The ninety per cent rule is a rule about the employer, not about the applicant, which is why it rarely appears in guides aimed at the person moving. It can be relaxed in two situations: where there is a shortage of Guatemalan technicians or a case for protecting the national economy, in which case the executive may lower each proportion by up to ten points for five years at a time; and where Central Americans by origin are concerned. Both relaxations require a reasoned executive agreement issued through the labour ministry, so neither is something an employer can simply assume.
Country-level policy
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.
A recurring condition in Guatemalan immigration practice has no equivalent in the other eleven countries covered here: for several of the routes a foreigner actually uses, a Guatemalan individual or a Guatemalan company has to register as a guarantor and take responsibility. It is needed for a consulted tourist visa, for employment-based temporary residence, for athletes, artists, researchers and academics, for permanent residence after five years as a temporary resident, and even for a foreigner's driving permit. The guarantor registers with the migration institute's Subdirección de Extranjería before the application is made, and has to prove income. Guatemala's own regulation says the detail lives in a separate rulebook on the ordinary-status register, which we have not read.
On 21 May 2025 the director of the migration institute issued three new regulations at once - on visas, on residence permits and on the register of ordinary migration status - and the National Migration Authority approved them two days later. In October the fee schedule was rewritten to match. The old visa and residency regulations, from 2022 and 2023, were repealed outright. Nothing written about Guatemalan immigration before the autumn of 2025 is describing the rules that now apply, and the practical consequences are real: the income thresholds for a foreign-employer worker and for a rentista, the hundred-thousand-dollar investor test and the separate Central American price for permanent residence all live in the new texts.
Guatemala treats nationals of its Central American neighbours differently at every stage, and the preferences are scattered across four instruments rather than gathered in one. At the border a Central American enters on a national identity card. After one year of temporary residence - not five - someone born in another Central American country can apply for permanent residence, and pays two hundred dollars less for it than anyone else. The labour code's rule that nine in ten employees must be Guatemalan can be relaxed where Central Americans by origin are concerned. And the Constitution goes further than any immigration rule could: a national by birth of a republic of the old Central American Federation who takes up domicile in Guatemala and says before the authorities that they wish to be Guatemalan is a Guatemalan of origin, keeping their first nationality.
What applies to you
The Ninety Per Cent Workforce Rule Can Be Relaxed for Central Americans
The hardest part of hiring a foreigner in Guatemala is not the worker's paperwork but the employer's: nine in ten employees must be Guatemalan and they must take at least eighty-five per cent of the payroll, certified by an accountant with every work permit application. The Labour Code names two situations in which the executive may change those proportions, and one of them is where Central Americans by origin are concerned. The relaxation is not automatic - it takes a reasoned executive agreement issued through the labour ministry, stating the reasons, the limit and how long it lasts - but it is the only nationality-based exception to the quota in the Code.
- Being a Central American by origin, which the Labour Code does not define further
- A reasoned agreement of the executive, issued through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security
- That agreement must state the reasons, the extent and the duration of the modification
What the law says
«a) Trabajadores migrantes: Las personas extranjeras que han sido autorizadas a permanecer en el país para dedicarse al ejercicio de alguna actividad lícita, remunerada, bajo la dependencia y dirección de un patrono. Los trabajadores migrantes podrán solicitar residencia temporal por el plazo de uno a cinco años.»Our translation - not official
a) Migrant workers: foreign persons authorised to remain in the country to engage in some lawful paid activity under the dependence and direction of an employer. Migrant workers may apply for temporary residence for a term of one to five years.
The Code's definition assumes an employer. The 2025 residence regulation extends the same category to workers whose employer is abroad and to the self-employed, under article 26 of the Code.
Read it at the sourceAbout 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
«La residencia temporal para trabajador migrante se otorgará hasta por un máximo de cinco años, según el plazo de la oferta laboral por parte del patrono o calificación y aprobación a consideración del Instituto Guatemalteco de Migración.»Our translation - not official
Temporary residence for a migrant worker shall be granted for up to a maximum of five years, according to the term of the employer's job offer or as assessed and approved at the discretion of the Guatemalan Migration Institute.
The same numeral exempts someone starting work with a State body, including autonomous and decentralised entities, from the Guatemalan guarantor.
Read it at the sourceAbout 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
«Estados de cuenta bancarios, que respalden una remuneración proveniente del exterior por un monto mínimo de dos mil dólares estadounidenses mensuales (US$ 2,000.00), recibidos durante el último año. En caso el trabajador migrante esté acompañado de dependientes, este ingreso deberá ser de tres mil dólares estadounidenses mensuales (US$ 3,000.00).»Our translation - not official
Bank statements supporting remuneration coming from abroad of a minimum of two thousand United States dollars a month (US$ 2,000.00), received over the last year. Where the migrant worker is accompanied by dependants, this income must be three thousand United States dollars a month (US$ 3,000.00).
This is the nearest thing Guatemala has to a remote-worker route, and it sits inside the migrant-worker category rather than beside it. Staff of international NGOs and international organisations are released from the income test and need only a work certificate or contract and medical insurance.
Read it at the sourceAbout 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
«El trabajador migrante deberá presentar permiso de trabajo vigente dentro de los tres meses siguientes a la notificación de la residencia y actualizar la presentación del mismo anualmente»Our translation - not official
The migrant worker must produce a valid work permit within the three months following notification of the residence, and must update it annually
The residence and the permit are separate documents from separate ministries, and the residence is granted first.
Read it at the sourceAbout 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
«La autorización del permiso de trabajo a personas extranjeras será de un año a partir de la emisión de la resolución de autorización de permiso de trabajo, el que podrá prorrogarse por períodos iguales.»Our translation - not official
The authorisation of a work permit for foreign persons shall be for one year from the issue of the resolution authorising the work permit, and may be extended for equal periods.
A permit for a person applying for refugee status runs six months instead, also renewable for equal periods.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Guatemala's labour ministry, which administers work permits for foreigners through its own department and republishes the Constitution and the Labour Code in its legislation library.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited as the publisher of anything it merely hosts. The Constitution and the Labour Code here are a ministry's library copies, and our reading of the Constitution shows why that matters: twenty-seven article headings did not survive extraction, one article is absent and another breaks off mid-sentence, so no negative claim about the Constitution may rest on this source. Nor may it be cited for migration status, which belongs to the migration institute.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
«El plazo para resolver la solicitud de permiso de trabajo a personas extranjeras, no deberá exceder de veinte (20) días hábiles.»Our translation - not official
The period for deciding an application for a work permit for foreign persons shall not exceed twenty (20) business days.
About this source
Guatemala's labour ministry, which administers work permits for foreigners through its own department and republishes the Constitution and the Labour Code in its legislation library.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited as the publisher of anything it merely hosts. The Constitution and the Labour Code here are a ministry's library copies, and our reading of the Constitution shows why that matters: twenty-seven article headings did not survive extraction, one article is absent and another breaks off mid-sentence, so no negative claim about the Constitution may rest on this source. Nor may it be cited for migration status, which belongs to the migration institute.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
«Para los casos establecidos en los numerales 2 al 7 del artículo 4 del presente Reglamento, no se establece tarifa específica por estar exentos.»Our translation - not official
For the cases established in numerals 2 to 7 of article 4 of this Regulation, no specific fee is set, as they are exempt.
Numerals 2 to 7 are the spouse or partner of a Guatemalan, a relative of a Guatemalan within the degrees of law, the spouse of a foreign migrant worker, refugee applicants, recognised refugees, and relatives of diplomatic and consular staff. Only the employer-sponsored case pays.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Guatemala's labour ministry, which administers work permits for foreigners through its own department and republishes the Constitution and the Labour Code in its legislation library.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited as the publisher of anything it merely hosts. The Constitution and the Labour Code here are a ministry's library copies, and our reading of the Constitution shows why that matters: twenty-seven article headings did not survive extraction, one article is absent and another breaks off mid-sentence, so no negative claim about the Constitution may rest on this source. Nor may it be cited for migration status, which belongs to the migration institute.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
«Se prohibe a los patronos emplear menos de un noventa por ciento de trabajadores guatemaltecos y pagar a éstos menos del ochenta y cinco por ciento del total de los salarios que en sus respectivas empresas se devenguen, salvo lo que sobre el particular establezcan leyes especiales.»Our translation - not official
Employers are forbidden to employ fewer than ninety per cent Guatemalan workers and to pay them less than eighty-five per cent of the total wages earned in their respective businesses, save as special laws may provide.
The same article exempts managers, directors, administrators, superintendents and general heads of a business from the count, and says that where the total workforce does not exceed five, four of them must be Guatemalan.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Guatemala's labour ministry, which administers work permits for foreigners through its own department and republishes the Constitution and the Labour Code in its legislation library.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited as the publisher of anything it merely hosts. The Constitution and the Labour Code here are a ministry's library copies, and our reading of the Constitution shows why that matters: twenty-seven article headings did not survive extraction, one article is absent and another breaks off mid-sentence, so no negative claim about the Constitution may rest on this source. Nor may it be cited for migration status, which belongs to the migration institute.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
«3.3.3. 3 a 5 años, quinientos dólares de los Estados Unidos de América (500.00 USD);»Our translation - not official
3.3.3. 3 to 5 years, five hundred United States dollars (500.00 USD);
One year costs two hundred dollars and two years three hundred, so the price is by the length granted rather than by the category.
Read it at the sourceAbout 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 two thousand dollar foreign-employer threshold is the figure that makes Guatemala unusual in this region: it is stated in dollars in the instrument itself, applies to a temporary residence of up to five years, and carries no Guatemalan guarantor requirement. It is not marketed as a digital-nomad visa and does not appear under that name anywhere in the regulation.
Cancelling a permit matters to the employer. Article 15 gives fifteen business days after the employment ends, and warns that an uncancelled permit keeps counting the worker in the foreign share of the quota, which then contradicts the accountant's certification on the next application.
We did not find a separate instrument governing work authorisation for migrant workers employed by public bodies. Article 3 of the 2025 regulation says those cases are governed by the laws applicable in each case and leaves it there.
- issuesCódigo de Migración, Decreto número 44-2016 del Congreso de la República
Instituto Guatemalteco de Migración
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
- issuesReglamento de Residencias Guatemaltecas, Acuerdo IGM-016-2025 aprobado por Acuerdo de Autoridad Migratoria Nacional AMN-05-2025
Instituto Guatemalteco de Migración
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
- administersAcuerdo Gubernativo número 178-2025, Reglamento de autorización de permiso de trabajo a personas extranjeras en relación de dependencia
Ministerio de Trabajo y Previsión Social
About this source
Guatemala's labour ministry, which administers work permits for foreigners through its own department and republishes the Constitution and the Labour Code in its legislation library.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited as the publisher of anything it merely hosts. The Constitution and the Labour Code here are a ministry's library copies, and our reading of the Constitution shows why that matters: twenty-seven article headings did not survive extraction, one article is absent and another breaks off mid-sentence, so no negative claim about the Constitution may rest on this source. Nor may it be cited for migration status, which belongs to the migration institute.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
- administersCódigo de Trabajo, Decreto número 330 del Congreso de la República
Ministerio de Trabajo y Previsión Social (biblioteca de legislación)
About this source
Guatemala's labour ministry, which administers work permits for foreigners through its own department and republishes the Constitution and the Labour Code in its legislation library.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited as the publisher of anything it merely hosts. The Constitution and the Labour Code here are a ministry's library copies, and our reading of the Constitution shows why that matters: twenty-seven article headings did not survive extraction, one article is absent and another breaks off mid-sentence, so no negative claim about the Constitution may rest on this source. Nor may it be cited for migration status, which belongs to the migration institute.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
- issuesTarifario de Servicios Migratorios del Instituto Guatemalteco de Migración y sus reformas
Instituto Guatemalteco de Migración
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