Hito Cajón Border crossing Chile-Bolivia | Customs and Immigration

September 14th, 2023 by omstoken

Open and as described in recent check-ins. Minimal inspection of vehicle and relatively quick process around 45 minutes. Two notes:
1) We crossed with two right hand drive vehicles and were immediately told they weren't allowed in Chile. But after some discussion with the supervisor we were allowed to enter.
2) We crossed with a dog with no issues but you must have the Bolivian SENASAG documents including vaccines and anti parasite info. We got the documents in Oruro and asked for a crossing date 10 days later.

September 5th, 2023 by nomadxplorers

Entering Chile
We arrived around 12:15. Took us around 30/45min.
They checked carefully the papers of the van. We have a bicycle and had to declare it. We have a TIP for the bicycle as well. Don t forget to tell them if you have.
Concerning food, they took our honey, plant, lentils, raw chickpeas. We hide our cheese, nuts and charcuterie.
They didn’t search the van. Only where I told them the food was.
They also took an animal bone and don t want feathers.

August 27th, 2023 by gatogoesglobal.com

This station is open. The information on this border is a bit scattered. Going from north to south Bolivia - Chile) you will enter:

Checkpoint Reserva Nacional Eduardo Avaroa,
200m
Aduanas Bolivia (vehicle only)
5km
Immigration Bolivia
5km
Aduanas y Inmigración Chile.

June 29th, 2023 by elixmia

This border post is temporarily inoperable for reasons uncertain. At the post they said their system was down, but in town locals (regular locals, not PDI) said their pipes burst and their generator failed and that no one knew for how long the post would be inoperable. For now all entry and exit formalities for the Chilean side of Hito Cajón must be done in San Pedro de Atacama. This does not impact the Bolivian post, which is functioning normally.

June 27th, 2023 by elixmia

CHILEAN BORDER POST IS TEMPORARILY INOPERABLE!

We arrived at 11:05 and were told they wouldn’t open until noon. Shortly before noon an official came and told us that their system was down and that we’d have to do exiting procedures in San Pedro de Atacama. In town the word was that their pipes burst and the generator doesn’t work so who knows for how long this post will be inoperable. The Bolivian side works fine.

June 15th, 2023 by worldtour.news

Leaving Chile and travelling to Bolivia, we couldn't do the migration and aduana stuff here. They said it's closed and we had to return to San Pedro de Atacama to get stamped out our passports and give back the TIP.
It's better to ask the aduana in San Pedro, if they are working here, before you leave.

April 11th, 2023 by christianluis88

Leaving Chile. Really easy and friendly staff, super slow tough because there where only 5 people working at the moment - took me 2 hours. Obviously tour companies have privileges (preference) over normal travellers.

April 8th, 2023 by phlnicolas

We are a French family with a camper and a Chilean car (our own) and they didn’t let us pass because of the Chilean car. So be careful. Don’t come here to pass Bovian border. It’s better to go to Bolivia from Argentina

March 29th, 2023 by Motoglobe

Entered Chile, friendly staff but a bit complicated. Took us about 1 hour.
Food check they took our nuts away. First time after more then 6 times entering Chile.

January 24th, 2023 by vivendomundoafora

Passed very fast, no worries. Wen we arrived they are playing ping pong.

January 20th, 2023 by marieke_michiel

From Chile to Bolivia, very easy on the chilean side, we were allowed to pass all the touring buses. Our rig is to big to go inside their building, so they let us pass on the right side were we could park and walk inside.
Took our tip papers and stamped our passport, took only 5 minutes.

October 27th, 2022 by follow_nadle

The immigration and aduana to enter Chile were very smooth and fast. The employees were very friendly. They controlled our vaccination certificate. We voluntarily gave up the onions and they didn't find the rest of the fruit/veg.

September 22nd, 2022 by rna.mkr

Driving a Chilean car as foreigners crossing from Chile to Bolivia they didn‘t let us in. Had Declaracion Jurada and Autorización with us (no Padròn, but wasn‘t the problem). There was one very stubborn guy who insisted on a Chilean residency and didn‘t want to discuss about that. Declaracion Jurada is a „useless document“ he said. All of his colleagues were very friendly and tried to help us finding a solution, but he just didn‘t want to give his okay.

September 17th, 2022 by katherineletts

Great crossing and very friendly personnel! The heated building is very nice. No veggies allowed, but canned food and pasta was no problem. You can throw away garbage here, and there are bathrooms.

July 30th, 2022 by Footloose

Very friendly border personal. Office is heated!
1. Salud controlled the C19 on our mobiles. Did not ask to see Vac certificates nor anything else
2. Passports stamped with Migration (90 days)
3. TIP issued with Aduana (90 days)
4. Car was briefly checked and asked if we had food. Spotted the honey and confiscated it
Took under 30 minutes.

February 29th, 2020 by laurens.gomes

Chile to Bolivia: too many confusing experiences here on iOverlander. The border crossing into Bolivia was easy and straightforward. We brought fruits, vegetables, eggs, etc. No issues, nobody asked about it. Could not have done without during the days ahead whilst wildcamping. We did experience a hold up at the Bolivian end, because many 4x4 tours were making the border crossing. This was around 10.30am.

January 3rd, 2020 by nicolas.desclee

Good news everyone ! This is where we left Chile and entered Bolivia. we came here today as foreign owners of a Chilean car, quite apprehensively after having read the horror stories below. expecting the worse, we were surprised by the kind and helpful PDI and Aduana officers who work here. The process took 10 minutes and only required our passports, the padron of the vehicle and the immigration slip we received on entry into chile. once the paperwork was completed, they gave a cursory glance at the car (literally only checked that the number plate was the same as on the form) and wished us a good journey. Very straightforward (didn't even need a declaración jurada) and easy border control.

December 17th, 2019 by Jaartjeverlof.com

Best border crossing ever. We were greeted by some friendly and enthousiastic guys, playing Iron Maiden through their speakers on full power and singing along while stamping our passports. The other guys were enjoying a game of pingpong.

The whole process was very fast, not too thorough a search but very correct. Took seeds and leftover veggies but we knew that was coming so no complains there. Our wooden poles for our tarp were not allowed as well unless we'd paint them right in front of them ... ofcourse we left the poles at the border crossing. All in all super nice!

November 14th, 2019 by Monkeys on the Road

Friendliest border entry ever! Yes they take fruit, veg, raw eggs, honey.

October 4th, 2019 by Tim's Bicycle Tours

I passed through the Hito Cajón Border Post (also called the “Portezuelo del Cajón”) going N-S on my solo bike tour thru SAm. I had no hassles.

I have included a summary in the other IOV entry, called "Border crossing Chile-Bolivia". Its gps co-ordinates are at the official CH/BO border (-22.880969, -67.798465). The BO Border Post is there. The CH Border Post is 5 km S (inside CH), at S22.91649 W67.79801.

For details and photos, see Day 203 of my blog "Cycling from Ecuador to Ushuaia -2019/20".

May 28th, 2019 by how-much-is-enough.blog

Easy pass thru from Bolivia. Nice guys. Inside the garage from wind.

April 29th, 2019 by rok.hocevar

No way to cross with chilean car here. Before even saying "good morning" they asked us if we have chilean car and chilean residency. Then it was just a row of No, no, no to any of our questions, negotions...

March 26th, 2019 by kristendyck

Open and full of guards playing ping pong. Took us about 20 minutes here. They do a rather thorough search so make sure you claim all fruits & veg. They take your honey, seeds, all produce. Milk products, rice, cooked food, packaged food is ok.

February 24th, 2019 by destinovagabun2

For travelers with pets, make sure you bring a Bolivian health certificate (10 day prior) with all the vaccines to date. Very strict rules in Chile. Otherwise you will have to beg for them to let you bring a veterinarian from Atacama to issue one. See requirements in pic.

February 16th, 2019 by vivendomundoafora

Attention!!! We crossed from here to other side until San Cristobal... We are in a VWbus 2wd differential locked... (kombi ) we not recommend do this... the road was terrible, lots of mud and water overall.. we just see Toyotas and Nissan heavy prepared doing this road... almost destroyed our car... If we know that, we never get inside... but inside the park was absolutely amazing, the desert we want to see... Even with a 4x4 think twice, you could easy destroy your car in this road... Lucky!

November 2nd, 2018 by hordago.fr

Bolivia to Chile immigration and TIP.
A few question about where we come from and where we go. Nice custom team.
TIP for 3 months.
A real inspection : question about forbidden products, search of the vehicle, tiny camera in the body of the car.
45min/1hour for everything.

July 13th, 2018 by timrossie

Bolivia ->Chile:
Overall very easy process with Vehicle Inspection. You cannot bring vegetables, fruits, animal products (even cheese), seeds, and even honey into Chile.
One advice though: They only have a one lane passing. All the tour companies bring their tourists to the Bolivian Border Post in the morning. They will first process all exiting Vans and busses before they let you enter. We waited 90 Minutes together with all the other tour busses before we could even enter the border post... :(
If possible avoid mornings...

July 1st, 2018 by anna_bo_verkerk

They told us they were open from 9am (not sure until which time).
We were here at 8.30 so we had to wait for half an hour. This was on a Sunday.

April 8th, 2018 by info

All our paperwork was done here, not in San Pedro. They said its open since March. We went to bolivia. In bolivia the papers for our car were done 5 km after the migracion.

March 31st, 2018 by andersonrachel

now open 8am to 8pm daily. very efficient and friendly. were fine with us taking our cooked meat and veg through.

March 26th, 2018 by roadtotuk.de

The place is open now and you have to do immigration and aduana here when coming from Bolivia. It looks closed, but just drive up to the white gates. If they don't open right away, it might be that the place is full ( you can look through the window). If it is not full but no one opens, go around, there is a door bell on the other side.
Officers were very friendly. They were happy with us handing them some leftover vegetables and did not check the rest of the car.

March 18th, 2018 by happinessiscamping.wordpress.com

Chilean Immigration and Custom in Hito Cajon are open (we passed today).

March 11th, 2018 by vueltamerica.com

This place was open and processing many tour busses. They processed our passport stamps into Chile and our TIP for our vehicle.
Beware that going into Chile, they have a very thorough inspection of vehicle and personal items. They will confiscate animal products, produce and seeds such as honey, dried beans, fresh vegetables and fruits, uncooked meat, poultry, eggs etc

February 15th, 2018 by ichbinkreativ

February 2018: This place is closed. All travelers that want to travel from Chile to Bolivia over Hito Cajón or vice versa, have to do the Chilean immigration and customs in San Pedro de Atacama. The Bolivian immigration is located at Hito Cajón, while customs are uncertain – check the other points for more information.

January 4th, 2018 by st.messing

still closed. looks like big construction is going on. only 3 workers here but no aduana or immigration, yet. get your papers done in San Pedro.

December 10th, 2017 by hifi

Was still closed and we were told to do everything in San Pedro. There everything gone well.

December 8th, 2017 by raisedontheroad.com

This place is closed go to San Pedro :)

November 11th, 2017 by Desk to Dirtbag

Was not open when we passed through, drove to San Pedro

October 6th, 2017 by travelamateurs.com

Stopped here at 2:30 on a Friday. Knocked on the door for more than 10 minutes before someone answered. We were told several times to go to San Pedro for immigration. When we asked "what is this office?" He replied "nothing." We did not want to have to drive back to this location for immigrarion so we asked again and were told to go to San Pedro. We suggest stopping by just in case something changes again but we completed immigration and Aduana at the office in San Pedro.

October 1st, 2017 by detourbydesign

This place was shut when we got there. Spoke to border patrol after just sitting there waiting for a bit. They told us to go on to San Pedro for immigration.

September 24th, 2017 by vollzeitreisen.de

Not Open since two days cause no water. Migración in San Pedro. No signs!

September 23rd, 2017 by panchosway2015

Apparently closed. Honked and a very kind lady opened and told us that the immigration is now right next the Aduana. She was right!

September 1st, 2017 by Honza On The Road

The border office is open. No need to stamp your passport in San Pedro anymore.

August 27th, 2017 by worldvetadventures.blogspot.com

Need to get your passports stamped into Chile here. Aduana still in San Pedro but it will eventually be here as well.

August 14th, 2017 by hana.grundmannova

UPDATE: Entering Chile from Bolivia. This post is opened since 1. 8. 2017. It is mandatory to do your immigration here. In the afternoon and evening it seems to be completely abandoned but it is already open. If you see the main gate closed, it is only because of the wind so just drive as close as possible and the cameras will detect you. We did not know this, there was nobody around, we drove to San Pedro. There we have been thoroughly searched for 2 hours like the worst smugglers, informed that the car is okay, but both of us are personally illegally in Chile. So next morning we had to drive back to Hito Cajon to get the immigration stamp. Luckily the PDI guys were very friendly and cool. So current situation: immigration in the new building at Hito Cajon, Aduana+SAG still down in San Pedro. Later on Aduana will also move up to Hito Cajon, but we do not know when and it is going to be easy to recognize, we suppose. Right now the opening hours are 8 - 18 but this may vary.

May 21st, 2017 by Auf großer Tour durch Südamerika 2016/2017

This is the new immigration office for travellers from and to Bolivia laguna route. It is ready built but not opened yet. Currently you can just pass by. So for Chile immigration you still have to go to San Pedro de Atacama.