Crossing the Bolivian border from Peru

People from all over the world can easily cross into Bolivia, but the country makes a special hard case for Americans. If you are trying to enter Bolivia overland on a U.S. passport, here is my recent experience and advice on going from Puno, Perú to Copacabana, Bolivia.

Visa

Entrance into Bolivia requires a Visa. The Visa costs $135 and can be obtained at a Bolivian consulate. I don’t know how long this process takes, but from what I gather it is possible to do the day before at the consulate in Puno. Therefore, there are not many good reasons not to save yourself the risk, stress, and extra $25 of doing it at the border. However, if you insist on being a careless intrepid traveler like myself, it is possible to obtain the visa at the border with some extra documentation and cash.

Disclaimer: This is not legal advice, just the experience of one traveler. YMMV.

Transportation

Buses go from Puno to Copacabana and on to La Paz every morning at 7 or 7:30. Some go directly to La Paz. There are no night buses for this route because the border is only open during the day. Tickets to Copacabana cost between S/.15 and S/.30, depending on the company. Some companies will not sell a ticket without a Visa. Titicaca-Bolivia will not, but Peru Tours will.

When getting onto the bus, the attendant gave me a hard time about not having the Visa and asked to make sure I had the required documents before reluctantly letting me on.

Documents

Based on my research and experience the following are required at the border:

1. Passport
2. $160 in immaculate bills
3. 2 copies of the passport
4. 2 color passport photos
5. 2 copies of yellow immunization card for yellow fever
6. 2 copies of hotel reservation in Bolivia
7. 2 copies of tickets for travel out of Bolivia (your “itinerary”)

Do NOT rely on your phone or the originals: you need to provide physical printed paper copies of the documents.

You may also need (8.) “proof of economic solvency” in the form of cash, two copies of the front and back of a major credit card, or two copies of a bank statement. I was not asked for this.

Process

The bus let us off on the Peruvian side of the border. The big luggage stayed under the bus, but I made sure to take all my hand luggage with me. The bus attendant put me near the front of the line at the Peruvian immigration office to make sure I didn’t hold everyone up later. After getting the exit stamp, we walked under an arch across the border into Bolivia. No one seemed to be around to direct us or secure the road. The bus eventually crossed as well to wait in front of the Bolivian immigration office on the other side.

At the Bolivian immigration office, everyone got in line for the immigration desk. I was pointed to the next desk instead for payments. All the document copies were for the payments officer.

I forgot to make copies of the yellow card, and only had the original. The official did not like this, but did not put up a huge fuss.

The important item seemed to be the onward plane ticket which I did not have. I attempted to give the official itinerary, which I had handwritten on a piece of paper. He said it must, at least, be printed from a computer. So, if you try this, type it up. It did sound like a plane ticket for any time and destination after my stay in Bolivia would have sufficed – for example a return flight to the US from Argentina.  I did not have this either.  I insisted that I was traveling by bus (“por bus”) through Bolivia to Argentina, was planning to go home from Argentina, and did not have a return ticket.

Eventually he took my money but kept protesting about the lack of plane ticket. As far as I was concerned, once he took the money, I was going to make it through. After some protests he pasted the Visa in my passport and sent me on to the immigration desk.

The official took both copies of the photos and reservations, but only one copy of the passport. Have two copies of everything just in case that you are prepared to part with.

After obtaining the Visa at the payments desk, the next desk was a straightforward stamping of the passport, and I am officially in Bolivia.

References

The last post here: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/americas-south-america/topics/bolivia-get-visa-before-or-at-border

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country/bolivia.html

http://bolivia.usembassy.gov/information-on-bolivian-visas.html