Guatemala or Honduras
Two countries side by side across the same rows as the full comparison. A dash means the value is missing: fields are not filled with guesses. about the data
| Guatemala | Honduras | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary in IT | — | — |
| Citizenship | 5 years | 3 years |
| Partner can work | yes | yes |
| Parents | — | — |
| Pets | no trouble | no trouble |
| Pet limit | no limit | no limit |
| Quarantine | no | no |
| Residence permit fee | — | — |
| Rent, 2 bedrooms | $ 976 · estimate | $ 523 · estimate |
| Basket | $ 35,7 | $ 27,1 |
| Life expectancy | 72.75 | 73.04 |
| Homicides/100k | 22.76 | 23.92 |
| Natural hazards, 0–10 | 5.8 | 5.8 |
How the two sets of routes differ
Long-stay routes in this reference: Guatemala — 17, Honduras — 25. Types present in both: work, study, family, investment and retirement. Guatemala adds: remote work and talent.
Fees, thresholds and deadlines
Guatemala: fees range from 25 to 700 USD. Routes stating an income threshold: 3; the lowest is 1,250 USD a month. Honduras: fees range from 50 to 500 USD. Routes stating an income threshold: 3; the lowest is 1,500 USD a month.
Beyond the first permit
Permanent status: both after 5 years. Citizenship: Guatemala after 5 years, Honduras after 3 years. Neither recognises a second citizenship.
Guatemala in brief
The Migration Code (Decree 44-2016) divides foreigners into tourists, temporary residents — for work, study, investment, science, or the arts, for up to five years with renewal — and permanent residents. Rentista and pensionado are an exception to the general logic: income from abroad grants permanent residence directly, bypassing the temporary stage (article 78(e)). Naturalisation takes five years of continuous residence under the general route (Nationality Law, Decree 1613, article 33), with an exam in Spanish and an oath requiring formal renunciation of prior citizenship; people born in other countries of the former Federal Republic of Central America obtain status as a Guatemalan by origin through the separate equiparación mechanism, without such renunciation, and Spaniards keep both citizenships under the bilateral nationality convention of 1961. Bringing in dogs and cats requires no quarantine or antibody titre testing provided rabies vaccination is current. Population and business activity are concentrated in the capital agglomeration around Guatemala City and Mixco, while the tourist flow goes to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Antigua Guatemala, to Lake Atitlán near Panajachel, and to the western-highlands cultural centre of Quetzaltenango. The country lies in a seismically active region with several active volcanoes near populated areas and one of the highest rates of violent crime in Latin America.
Honduras in brief
The Ley de Migración y Extranjería (decree 208-2003, in force since 2004) divides foreigners into "no residentes" and "residentes": residence is available directly, with no intermediate temporary step, based on income - rentista (from US$2,500 a month) and pensionado (from US$1,500 a month) - or based on an investment of at least $50,000. A separate, annually renewable category - permiso especial de permanencia - covers contract work, study and economic dependants. Permanent-residence status (residente inmigrado) is reached after 5 years of residence; naturalisation under the general path takes 3 years of continuous residence (Constitution of the Republic, Article 24), 1 year for citizens of other Central American countries, and 2 years for Spaniards and Ibero-Americans by birth; naturalisation under most grounds requires renouncing prior citizenship, except where a bilateral dual-citizenship treaty is in force. Honduras belongs to the CA-4 bloc together with Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua: the visa regime for third-country citizens is harmonised among these four countries (Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores of Honduras), and in practice the 90-day tourist stay (extendable by 30 days) is not reset when moving between the bloc's countries without leaving the bloc - a regular cause of unintentional visa overstays in the region. Importing dogs and cats requires no quarantine or rabies antibody titre testing given current vaccination (according to the UK veterinary agency APHA - the Honduran veterinary service SENASA's own website does not publish substantive requirements). Population and business activity are concentrated in the Distrito Central (Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela) and in San Pedro Sula in the Sula Valley, while tourist flow goes to the Mesoamerican Reef off Roatan (the special ZOLITUR economic regime for Islas de la Bahía) and to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Copán. The level of violent crime is one of the highest in the world, but has fallen markedly: from a peak of 83.2 murders per 100,000 population in 2011 to 23.9 in 2024 (UNODC). The Caribbean coast and adjoining lowlands fall within the hurricane season (June-November), which has historically been accompanied by destructive floods in the Sula Valley and landslides on developed slopes in Tegucigalpa (Hurricane Mitch, 1998; Hurricanes Eta and Iota, 2020).
Other comparisons
Guatemala or… Panama · Costa Rica · Peru · Ecuador · Trinidad and Tobago · El Salvador · Cuba · Guyana
Honduras or… Nicaragua · Belize · Bolivia · Colombia · Greenland · Jamaica · Bahamas · Dominican Republic
More on each: Guatemala · Honduras. Build your own comparison — up to four countries
This material is for reference and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Visa rules, tax thresholds and prices change. Before deciding anything, check the official sources and consult a licensed professional in the relevant country.