Bolivia

Visa speed

The migration service must authorise the issue of the visa to the consulate within a maximum of 15 working days (Ley N° 370 de Migración (2013), art. 20.V). The law sets no processing deadlines for permanencia transitoria, temporal, definitiva or naturalisation, and none are published on the migration service's site.

Degree required

no

Changing employer

Status is not tied to an employer. Ley 370, art. 48.I permits any paid activity — employed or self-employed — for everyone holding permanencia transitoria, temporal or definitiva. Art. 49.2 expressly establishes the right to choose an occupation freely and to look for other work when the previous one ends. The Ministry of Labour endorses a foreign national's employment contract for compliance with labour law and maintains the mandatory register of employers ROE (D.S. N° 1923 (2014), the regulation to Ley 370, art. 26-27), but it does not issue migration status.

Visa types: Visa de objeto determinado — Trabajo: 30 calendar days, carries a right to obtain permanencia transitoria or temporal (D.S. 1923, art. 9) · Visa de objeto determinado — Trabajo transitorio: up to 180 calendar days · Permanencia temporal por trabajo: 1, 2 or 3 years, the term tied to the duration of the activity (D.S. 1923, art. 13) · Visa Múltiple: 1 year with extension, for investment and business activity · Permanencia definitiva: indefinite, after 3 years of residence (Ley 370, art. 31)

How the grounds are arranged. A visa is issued by a consular post of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while stay (permanencia) is granted by the DIGEMIG migration service once inside the country; a visa by itself gives no long-term status and almost always serves only as an entry. There are three steps: transitory stay for a specific purpose of up to 180 days, temporary stay of one, two or three years, and permanent stay after three years. The list of nine classes of visa is closed by statute (Ley 370, art. 21), and the list of kinds of stay by article 28. The terms in the cards are calendar terms, as in the rules themselves. Fees. Tariffs for migration services are set in “housing development units” (UFV) by the migration service together with the revenue directorate of the Ministry of Government and are approved by an order of the minister; payment is made in the boliviano equivalent at the rate of the day of payment (D.S. 1923, art. 6). Neither the order nor a summary table of rates is published by the service or by the ministry — which is why the fees in the cards are empty. The rules themselves name only fines (from 12 to 6,000 UFV) and three free grounds. Income threshold. There is none in any of the rules: wherever solvency is required, what is required is “solvencia económica” — a sworn declaration with supporting documents attached, without a sum. Processing times. There is no standard for stays. For visas the law gives the migration service 15 working days to authorise issuance by the consulate (Ley 370, art. 20) and 10 calendar days to answer an enquiry about an applicant from a group III country (Ley 997). These are internal deadlines of the agencies, not the applicant’s waiting time. Absences. A stay is cancelled if one leaves for longer than a quarter of the term in the case of transitory stay for a specific purpose, for 90 calendar days a year continuously or in total in the case of temporary stay, and for two continuous years in the case of permanent stay (D.S. 1923, art. 17 as amended by D.S. 4828). Nationals of the MERCOSUR and Andean Community countries have separate grounds available under international agreements: they require neither a purpose of arrival, nor an employer, nor an income threshold — nationality and criminal record certificates are enough. A higher education diploma appears in none of the lists of requirements: D.S. 1923, art. 11 (visa), art. 12 (permanencia transitoria), art. 13 (temporal), art. 15 (definitiva), arts. 20-21 (naturalisation). What is required is a declaration form, a passport valid for at least 6 months, documents on the purpose of the stay, criminal record certificates (national and international), a medical certificate, proof of solvency and payment of the fee. Bolivia has no digital nomad visa: the list of nine classes of visa is closed by statute (Ley 370, art. 21.I), and the word “nómada” does not appear in the regulation. The closest instrument in meaning is the Visa Múltiple, but that is a visa for investment and business, not for remote work.

Permanent residence after

3 years

Citizenship after

3 years

Dual citizenship

allowed

Absence limits: Permanent stay (permanencia definitiva) is annulled by absence from the country for more than 2 years in a row. Temporary stay (temporal, 1-3 years) — by more than 90 calendar days in a year, whether continuous or in total. Transit stay — by more than a quarter of the permitted period. A departure expressly authorised by the migration service does not interrupt the count (D.S. N° 1923 (2014), the regulation to Ley 370, art. 17; for naturalisation — art. 20).

Naturalisation by length of stay — more than 3 years of continuous lawful residence under state supervision (Constitution 2009, art. 142.I; Ley N° 370 de Migración (2013), art. 41; D.S. N° 1923 (2014), art. 20 as amended by D.S. N° 4828 of 23.11.2022). The file is handled by the migration service, and the decision is taken by the president by supreme resolution. The qualifying period drops to 2 years where there is a family link, but the 2022 regulation recognises only two cases — marriage to a Bolivian and having Bolivian children (D.S. 1923, art. 21 as amended by D.S. 4828); the statute itself adds “Bolivian substitute parents” to them (Ley 370, art. 42.I.1), yet the regulation contains no procedure for that case. Citizenship is not lost on widowhood or divorce. Separate grounds are military service and services to the country (the latter by an act of the Legislative Assembly). There is no language exam in the law, but an exam on elementary Bolivian culture and history is compulsory; children under 12 are exempt. Beyond the usual documents, what is required is a SERECI certificate that there is no Bolivian birth record, a police certificate of address verification, REJAP and CUDAP certificates, an Interpol certificate, a Comptroller General’s certificate of fiscal solvency, a certificate of migration movements and a sworn declaration of occupation.

Document certification

apostille

The country is party to the 1961 Hague Convention: a degree or certificate is authenticated with a single apostille in the country that issued it.

Limit

no limit

Quarantine

no

About the limit: No general limit on the number of animals per owner was found in REGENSA (Reglamento General de Sanidad Animal), ch. 4.1, SENASAG. The only numerical restriction is 3 animals per document, and only for entry for shows and competitions (art. 4.1.1.1.e). The veterinary certificate of the country of origin is issued individually for each animal.

A zoosanitary import permit (Permiso Zoosanitario de Importación, form SENASAG-IMP-FOR-001) is required; it is filed at the single window of the departmental SENASAG office. Issuance time: 24 hours for online filing, 72 hours when filed at the window (REGENSA (Reglamento General de Sanidad Animal), ch. 4.1, SENASAG, art. 4.1.4.2). The permit is valid for 60 days for entry by air or by land and 90 days for a sea route, and may be extended once by 30 days (art. 4.1.2.a). There is no quarantine for pets: after the documents are checked, the inspector at the border crossing point issues final release, and quarantine confinement is not required (art. 4.1.3.2). On entry a veterinary certificate from the country of origin is presented (art. 4.1.1.1.f); a European pet passport is accepted instead of it (art. 4.1.1.1.j). IMPORTANT LIMITATION: the rabies vaccination deadlines, the need for a rabies antibody titre test and the validity window of the veterinary certificate for IMPORT are not fixed by national rules — art. 4.1.1.1.b refers them to Andean Community rules or to a risk analysis for the specific country of origin. Exact values have to be requested from SENASAG for one's own route. The figures in chapter 4.2 of REGENSA (vaccination 14 days in advance, titre testing only for the EU, a certificate issued 10 days in advance, a minimum age of 3 months) relate to the EXPORT of animals from Bolivia and do not carry over to import. No list of banned breeds was found in REGENSA or in other SENASAG materials — this does not mean that none exists.

Life expectancy

68.7 years

Bread, 500 g

$ 1,19

Milk, 1 l

$ 1,12

Eggs, 12

$ 1,89

Chicken breast, 1 kg

$ 4,72

Cheese, 1 kg

$ 5,17

Rice, 1 kg

$ 1,33

Potatoes, 1 kg

$ 1,04

Apples, 1 kg

$ 2,48

Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 l

$ 1,84

Total

$ 20,8

The same set for every country, so the comparison is fair.

Rent, 1 bedroom

$ 296 a month

Rent, 3 bedrooms

$ 645 a month

Utility bills

$ 47,4 a month

Home internet

$ 28,5 a month

Monthly transport pass

$ 25,4 a month

Single transport ticket

$ 0,37

Petrol, litre

$ 0,73

Cold medicine

$ 6,13 for a week

Country averages. City prices, where collected, are shown above and are more precise.

Life expectancy

68,7 years2024

Homicides

3,7 per 100k2024

Road deaths

17,6 per 100k2021

Unemployment

3 %2025

Unemployment, ages 15–24

5 %2025

Inequality (Gini)

40,92024

Health spending per person

$ 255 a year

Air pollution, PM2.5

28,1 µg/m³2023

Access to clean water

93,4 %2024

Internet, fixed line

73,7 Mbit/s2026

Internet, mobile

16,6 Mbit/s2026

Governance

Political stability

below average · -0,6

Control of corruption

below average · -1

Rule of law

low · -1,3

Government effectiveness

below average · -0,6

World Bank estimates on a −2.5 to +2.5 scale, higher is better.

Natural hazards

Earthquakes

7,2 out of 10

River floods

5,5 out of 10

Coastal floods

0 out of 10

Tropical cyclones

0 out of 10

Droughts

7,1 out of 10

Tsunamis

0 out of 10

Each value carries the year it refers to. “Data lags behind” means this country's figure was collected noticeably earlier than the rest. Natural hazards use one 0–10 scale and are meant to be compared against each other.

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