Honduras or El Salvador
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
| Honduras | El Salvador | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary in IT | — | — |
| Citizenship | 3 years | 5 years |
| Partner can work | yes | no |
| Parents | — | — |
| Pets | no trouble | no trouble |
| Pet limit | no limit | no limit |
| Quarantine | no | no |
| Residence permit fee | — | — |
| Rent, 2 bedrooms | $ 523 · estimate | $ 983 · estimate |
| Basket | $ 27,1 | $ 31,4 |
| Life expectancy | 73.04 | 72.3 |
| Homicides/100k | 23.92 | 3.3 |
| Natural hazards, 0–10 | 5.8 | 5.6 |
How the two sets of routes differ
Long-stay routes in this reference: Honduras — 25, El Salvador — 28. Types present in both: work, study, family, investment and retirement. The set of types is identical — the difference is in how many routes there are and on what terms, not in the types themselves.
Fees, thresholds and deadlines
Honduras: fees range from 50 to 500 USD. Routes stating an income threshold: 3; the lowest is 1,500 USD a month. El Salvador: fees range from 50 to 690 USD. Routes with no fee: 3.
Beyond the first permit
Permanent status: Honduras after 5 years, El Salvador after 3 years. Citizenship: Honduras after 3 years, El Salvador after 5 years. El Salvador allows a second citizenship, Honduras does not. A spouse’s right to work: Honduras — yes, El Salvador — no.
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).
El Salvador in brief
Residence status is granted under the Ley Especial de Migración y de Extranjería (Decree No. 286 of 02 April 2019): the work category (up to 2 years; paid activity requires a separate ruling from the Ministry of Labour), rentista and pensionado (1 year each, requiring foreign income of at least 4 and 3 minimum wages of the trade and services sector respectively — as of 1 June 2025 that is from US$1,635.20 and US$1,226.40 per month respectively), and shareholder and individual entrepreneur categories for non-Central Americans (from US$10,000 and US$2,500 in investment). Permanent residence generally requires 3 years of continuous temporary status; for rentistas, pensionados, and spouses of Salvadoran citizens, 1 year. Naturalisation takes 5 years for most nationalities (1 year for Spaniards and persons of Latin American origin, 2 years upon marriage to a citizen of the country); separately, natives of the states of the former Federal Republic of Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica) obtain citizenship not through naturalisation but 'by birth', by simple application, with one year of permanent residence, which is in turn granted to them immediately upon entering the country. The official currency is the US dollar (since 2001). Bitcoin held the status of legal tender from June 2021 (Ley Bitcoin, Decree No. 57); the January 2025 reform (Decree No. 199) preserved that status but made acceptance of bitcoin by businesses voluntary instead of mandatory, and repealed provisions on paying taxes in bitcoin and on state conversion infrastructure. A state-of-emergency regime (Régimen de Excepción, Decree No. 333/22) has been in effect since 27 March 2022 and is extended monthly by the Legislative Assembly; the homicide rate fell sharply over this period, reaching 3.3 per 100,000 people in 2024 (UNODC) — one of the lowest rates in Latin America. The largest cities are San Salvador, Santa Ana, and San Miguel; a notable share of inbound tourism goes to the Pacific coast (surf destinations such as El Tunco and El Sunzal) and to colonial Suchitoto on Lake Suchitlán. The country lies in a zone of high seismic and volcanic activity, with active volcanoes near the largest cities.
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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.