El Salvador Travel Guide
Visa summary
247 passport nationalities researched for entry into El Salvador.
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Guide
El Salvador made a genuinely significant change to CA-4 entry: the maximum visa free stay was extended from 90 days to 180 days for most eligible nationalities, a real departure from the shared allowance its Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua neighbors still use. Citizens of CA-4 member countries can enter with just a national ID card, while most other visitors, the US, Canada, UK, EU, and Australia among them, enter without a visa under the wider exemption. On arrival, a Tourist Card, the Tarjeta de Turista, is purchased for 12 US dollars, valid for 90 days.
There is a specific and genuinely large fee that catches some travelers off guard: as of April 2026, an Airport Improvement Fee of 1,130 US dollars, 1,000 dollars plus 13 percent VAT, applies at El Salvador International Airport, but only to nationals of 57 specific countries, every African nation plus India, not to general visitors from North America, Europe, or most of Latin America. If your nationality is on that list, this is not a fee to discover at check-in.
Border crossings
- El Salvador International Airport, San Salvador
The main gateway, where the Tourist Card is issued for most arrivals, and where the large Airport Improvement Fee applies specifically to the 57 named nationalities.
- CA-4 land borders with Guatemala and Honduras
CA-4 citizens cross with just a national ID card, and other CA-4 visitors carry the shared regional allowance across these borders the same way they would elsewhere in the bloc.
Transit routes
- Check whether the 1,130 dollar fee applies to you specifically
It is a defined list of 57 countries, all of Africa plus India, not a general charge, confirm before assuming either way.
- Buy the Tourist Card on arrival, 12 dollars
A straightforward, modest cost distinct from the much larger fee that only affects specific nationalities.
Entry point notes
- El Salvador's own extension to 180 days stands apart from its CA-4 neighbors
Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua still share a 90 day pool, El Salvador's own extended allowance is a genuinely different, more generous figure for eligible nationalities.
- The Airport Improvement Fee is real and large where it applies
1,130 dollars is not a typo or a scam, it is an official charge for the specific nationalities it targets.