Bolivian Consulate (New Location!) | Consulate / Embassy

December 23rd, 2019 by burtonsnow29

US Citizen: went to the consulate today to obtain visa prior to crossing and it was confirmed: US Citizens no longer need a formal visa for entry. Just a stamp on arrival...now let’s see how the border goes.

October 18th, 2019 by Monkeys on the Road

I don't know if it's better to do the visa here vs the border! Here you need to fill out the long online form and get all your papers and photo into digital form and under 500kb, plus go to this embassy 3 separate times! First to get payment voucher, then go to BCP to pay then back to the embassy second time to hand everything in, then return 3 hours later to embassy to get the visa. Might be easier to do it all at the border in one place. Anyway, we got all the paperwork outlined here, except no need for proof on onward travel because I told her we're traveling by vehicle, and eventually got the visas here (after spending almost the entire day visiting copy shops, photo place, bank, waiting around, etc) Good luck!

November 18th, 2018 by The Great Untold

*As of November 2018*
American Citizens: We HIGHLY recommend going to the consulate in Puno to complete your visa application rather than doing it at the border.

Someone has already posted the paper the official gave us with all of the required documents and requirements for the visa. Steps listed below with notes:
1. A PRINTED visa application that you have already filled out on "http://www.rree.gob.bo/formvisas/ Make sure when you print it has your special code printed at the top under your photo. You will need digital copies of many of your documents in order to complete this step (passport photo of a small size, trip itinerary, passport photo page, bank statement, hotel reservation in Bolivia)
2. Passport copy printed (must be valid for more than 6 months)
3. Proof of entrance and exit from Bolivia OR return back to home country proof.**This is something that we've noticed is different for some people. For us, the customs official required that we had a flight back to the USA (we booked one through Expedia which has 24 hour cancellation policy)
4. Itinerary of stay in Bolivia (we just typed up a tentative one on word noting our entrance and exit dates for Bolivia)
5. Hotel reservation in Bolivia
6. Bank statement (you can black out the account numbers)
7. Yellow fever vaccine proof
8. Passport photo

One thing to note in case of any technical difficulties- the website was down for us when we tried to do the visa application so we were unable to print the form on our own. We went to the consulate and asked if we could do it manually (which they allowed). Additionally, the consulate told us we needed to have everything handed into them by 2pm so they could process it for that day so be sure to start on it early!

September 17th, 2018 by Terradrifting

Exactly as posted! Credit cards / Bank account statement.
I arrived with everything and have my visa an hour later.

February 9th, 2018 by wprz_67

TH Homestay
Secure motorcycle parking
walk to beach
breakfast uncluded

January 1st, 2018 by sistercab

Same directions as Ashlivin with a couple additions. You can attach all of the digital versions of your documents to their form on the website. Digital version of passport photo must be 150kb or smaller. All other documents 500kb max for each for uploading on their website.

**In addition, we needed a flight from South America to our home country (used American Airlines "on hold" feature to reserve a flight for 24 hours and they send you a confirmation email, no payment needed and it will cancel itself). This requirement was not mentioned online, but we needed it as did friends of ours who got their visas separately and in a different place.

**We also used a bank statement (instead of credit card) with the account numbers blacked out to show finances.

Once you upload all documents online print the "declaration" they provide a link to and take that to the embassy, with copies of all documents, passport and one passport photo.

If you will get your visa at a border and not at an embassy, there is no need or use to do ANY of it online (waste of time and it will not help you). Just bring copies of all mentioned documents and USD $ to the border.

December 20th, 2017 by omsever

If one needs visa for Bolivia other than US citizens, one can obtain the visa here, either free of in any case cheaper than at the border. Case in point, I travel on a Romanian passport and the fee to obtain the visa at the border was almost 100 US dollars. At the consulate. I got the visa free and the same day. Working hours 8 to 16 from Monday to Friday.

September 28th, 2017 by Overland The Americas

Followed exactly the same steps left by Ashlivin and got out of there within 2 hours. Helpful staff.

August 29th, 2017 by travelamateurs.com

The steps provided by Ashlivin worked perfect. In addition we provided proof of onward travel (hotel reservation in Chile). The guy in the office was less helpful than the woman. He couldn't figure out how to save a PDF so we had to come back a couple hours later. If you have digital copies of all the required documents you can complete the VISA application online. If not, they have to fill out the application again and scan the documents which takes a while. One copy of each document per person needed. Passport photos near plaza de armas (entered in iOverlander). Consulate closed Sat, Sun and reduced hours on holidays. 4 hour process for us.

August 8th, 2017 by AshLivin.com

*This is the new location as of August 2017!* We're glad that we came here to get our visas first but it's not necessarily easy. There are a lot of steps. If you show up with all the required documents it will go a lot faster than it did for us. Also if you luck out and get the nice lady she might do many of these steps for you, but the guy we were greeted by didn't want to help us with anything. Here's what you need:
1) visa application (fill out at www.rree.gob.bo/formvisas/ and bring print out)
2) passport and one copy (cannot expire within 6 months)
3) itinerary of trip in Bolivia (we typed up a word document with approximate dates and locations of overland entry and exit)
4) Hotel reservation in Bolivia (we made one on booking.com with intentions to cancel) or a signed invitation letter from a Bolivian resident
5) credit card (they will copy it to prove financial solvency)
6) copy of yellow fever vaccine paperwork (if you plan on going to the jungle - don't know if this is necessary)
7) one color passport photo, 5x4 cm, white background
8) for US citizens, payment of 160 USD/person to the nearby BCP (the person at the consulate will give you a cuenta to take to the bank and pay the bank in cash US dollars only)

This visa (again, we are US citizens) will be valid for travel in Bolivia for up to 90 days per calendar year over the next 10 years. Whether you get a stamp for 30, 60, or 90 days when you cross the border seems to be up to the border agent.