Venezuela: Expired passport to enter the country, what you need to know

CARACAS.- To enter Venezuela, Venezuelan citizens who have passport expired and are in countries without consular representation to carry out the procedure, they will be able to have a link on the Saime identification organization page to process the safe-conduct or travel document, starting next October 14.

The use of the digital procedure, which was known through the National Council of Tourism (Conseturismo) will be made official by the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry in the coming days.

The new modality was agreed upon in a meeting between representatives of Saime, the Foreign Ministry, the National Institute of Civil Aviation, Conseturismo, the Venezuelan Airlines Association, international airlines, among other private institutions, given the concern about the issue of entry with expired passports or safe conduct, which has arisen in recent days.

The new modality would represent a temporary solution to the obstacle faced by many Venezuelans who wish to enter their country but have not been able to do so, due to the absence of those consulted to process a new passport or to renew it.

At the meeting it was confirmed that to leave Venezuela it is essential to have a valid Venezuelan passport.

Safe conduct, what you need to know

At the meeting held on October 2, the public and private tourism authorities agreed on the following aspects:

  • The safe conduct or travel document only authorizes flying to the final destination, which is Venezuela, and allows transit to another country in a period of no more than five hours and without migrating there.
  • People who process the safe-conduct or travel document digitally will be exempt from paying fees and will receive it directly to their email.
  • Venezuelans who are in countries with consular representation of the country will continue to be served there, and must appear at the offices to receive travel documentation. In this case, the payment of 60 dollars in consular fees for this procedure is applied.

Passports, measurements

  • The measure of entering Venezuela only with a valid Venezuelan passport was reinforced, but procedures and exceptions were also clarified:
  • Venezuelans with dual nationality and those legally residing in other countries “may enter the country with an expired Venezuelan passport, without safe conduct,” according to information from Conseturismo.
  • However, Venezuelan passengers without legal residence in the host country “must request a safe passage.”
  • The Mercosur Convention remains in force, which allows travel to member countries only with the ID in the case of direct and non-stop flights, but clarifies “currently only available with flights from Bolivia.

FOUNTAIN: With information from Conseturismo