Bolivian visa fees
This item appears on page 14 of the July 2015 issue.
When my wife and I passed from Puno, Peru (on Lake Titicaca), to Bolivia in a tour bus on May 7, 2015, we learned that group members each could get a single-entry, 30-day visa at the border for $55 cash. (They accept only very new US currency with no wrinkles or tears.)
The visa application can be expedited by preparing in advance, as my wife and I did. The authorities ask for a formal sworn affidavit, which we had filled in and printed in advance, along with a standard 2-by-2-inch passport photo. Because we had the forms and photos with us, we sailed through Immigration in less than 10 minutes.
The affidavit can be printed out at http://bolivia.usembassy.gov/media/pdfs/consacs/d75.pdf.
Two weeks before the tour, the Bolivian embassy’s website had nothing about any change in visa fees. We were on a tour with Viventura (Tampa, FL; 888/238-1602, www.viventura.com), and only their local guide knew about the new visa.
TONY LEISNER
Tarpon Springs, FL
The $55, 30-day, single-entry Bolivian visa-on-arrival was introduced on May 1. Responding to ITN’s inquiries, ITN advertiser La Paz on Foot (www.lapazonfoot.com) explained that the visa is available for US citizens at international airports in Bolivia as well as at all but the most remote land-border crossings. It is not available in advance in the US. Also as of May 1, according to the Bolivian consulate in Los Angeles (213/388-0475), the multiple-entry visa available at Bolivian consulates in the US is now good for ten years (instead of five), costs $160 (instead of $135) and allows a traveler to visit for a total of 90 days per year.