Leaving El Salvador | Customs and Immigration

Simply passed through the cops. No questions asked.

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This TIP checkout point doesn't exist anymore. TIP checkout is now at the next roundabout RIGHT, where the Trucks are.

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We missed this at first because we arrived right after they opened and no one was there yet. As soon as you see a set of 4 cameras, that is the first Aduana.

If no one is there yet, wait for them to show up. Make a TIP copy here if you didn't make one before arriving at the border. They require both a copy and the original and sign both as you move through the TIP cancellation process.

A man in an Aduana uniform will sign the original and copy before you head to the official aduana office (the Aduana marked as El Salvador Entry Aduana on iOverlander).

Turn right at the blue building onto the pothole-filled dirt road right after the Aduana stop on the main road, and drive down it a few hundred yards to a yellow building. There are fixers in matching shirts waiting all over there.

This is the aduana where you cancel your tip, but also the one where you get entry paperwork. After they cancel your tip, you can then proceed to the border to exit.

Pass the long line of trucks waiting for border inspection. You'l have to drive on the other side of the road, which is a bit hectic but will prepare you for future southbound borders.

If you go past the covered site with 4 more cameras (the truck aduana) without canceling your tip then you have gone way too far.

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Our experience was a bit different.
Leaving El Salvador
1. Get stopped by the guy while your in the car. He signs your TIP.
2. Turn right onto the road just past that. There’s a big truck parking lot. There’s a little blue and white building, cancel your TIP here (need a copy).
3. Drive and park under the covered part of immigration, go to the last window and give them passports. They give you a little receipt that you give to the guard to leave.

Honduras:
4. Park on the bridge, go to the little building on the right, right after the bridge. There’s a QR code on the door to fill out your info for Covid on your phone. Once finished, enter the building and show your vaccination proof. You’ll get a little receipt. At no point did they check that you actually filled in the online form.
5. Enter the big blue and white Honduras immigration building (air conditioned, yay!). Line up on the Entrada side (written on the wall). Passports, fingerprints, picture, $3pp.
6. Go to the windows on the opposite side that are covered in stickers for aduana (bring your sticker to add!). Give your title + copy, El Salvador TIP copy from earlier, drivers license + copy, passport + copy. They keep this and you wait, took a long time for us. Then when they’re done, you pay. Ours was 800L or $35, which they took as cash at the window. Handed us our stuff, we asked for an extra copy of the TIP, which they gave us.

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Quitter El Salvador environ 30 min

1-Passer les camions et rouler sur les gars en bleu.

2-1er checkpoint dans l'auto. Ils prennent le TIP

3- Passer à la guérite 30 mètres plus loin à gauche

4- Faire une photocopie des papiers qu'ils tamponnent (petit bureau directement à côté) et redonner les papiers au gars d'avant.

5- Rouler quelques minutes et passer les camions. Se garer au gros Building des Aduanas et migracion. Aller au bureau (5 dernières fenêtres) = Tampon de sortie du pays.

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Everything same as before except do not turn down towards the other aduana to turn around after getting your permit stamped out. Multiple people will stop you to get your permit stamped out again. Then they get angry when you just let them take your paperwork and realize it was already stamped out.

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DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES USE A HELPER! Do not even make eye contact with one or else they will follow you all the way to the other side of the border.

Make sure if you read the instructions for exiting and entering in advance. If you show any interest in using a helper they will take your paperwork to make believe places and then bring the documents back saying you owe them money because they covered fumigation (this does not exist) and other things. Once you give them a little something for their time then they guilt trip you that you haven’t paid enough. The whole thing is a scam and you walk away feeling terrible.

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As described below, don’t get overwhelmed by the hundreds of trucks! The queue started 10kms down the road, we’ll beyond the roundabout! Just weave your way through… easy to get out especially if you already have some
Copies etc… tooks us about 10’ here. Tramistas will try hard to get you to pay $10 for their services but it’s definitely not necessary… they’ll talk about fumigation and vehicle checks that if you use them you can avoid, the reality, there is no fumigation or checks! I joked with the guys and made it clear I wasn’t interested and they were just friendly and helpful anyway, all good…

Good luck!

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went there today and they said no one can get into honduras. if I passed here I would have been stuck in the middle

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pretty straightforward process. drive past the line of trucks and you will get to the offical on the right. he/she will take your original TIP and a copy (make before arrival), and give it a stamp. you will then take the stamped TIP and copy to the small office to the right side of the road, where they will stamp it again. and they will then tell you to make of copy of that stamped paper, which you can do at a house to the right of the office. they keep the original, and you keep the copy. then drive a few minutes down the road to the immigration building. go to the right of the building, and you can park on the left (in the covered area). walk to the end of the building (outside), to the last five windows. get your passport stamped and get a receipt. you will give the receipt to the officer when you drive towards the bridge to Honduras. we paid no money. you are done in El Salvador.

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Warning: you don’t need tramidors/fixers.

Alexander and Lino will try to scam you by creating additional fees. These borders are very easy to cross on your own. The officials are very helpful.

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everything went unexpectedly smooth. followed the accurate instructions below and it's been the easiest border so far. entering Honduras we didn't even have to go to the bank... the lovely lady at the counter managed everything, we paid on the spot and were free to go. super easy

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Just as described by others here. We came with copies (El Salvador TIP, vehicle registration, driver's license, and passport) and all went well. Paid $3 USD for passport stamp and 784 HNL (about $32 USD) for vehicle permit processing fee. Everyone was helpful and friendly! The guys in blue, the "helpers", were pretty aggressive at this border but we either kept on driving past them when they tried to stop us OR kindly told them we didn't need them and did not continue the conversation. The whole thing for both sides (from El Salvador to Honduras) took us 90 minutes. FYI: PROTESTS GOING ON IN THE CAPITAL AT THIS TIME. We went up to La Esperanza from RN-112 and had no issues (other than bad road conditions after the first hour).

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1: drive past trucks that are parked on the right.
2: guy will stop you and ask for TIP and a copy (get before you get here). He will sign/stamp both.
3: stop at building directly after stop sign...before road that turns right! They will stamp again.
4: continue straight about 1.5km to building and park on left. Can drive to the end of the building to park on the left. (Pass Auduana sign)
5: get passports stamped or reviewed...they may want copy of passport, car registration and drivers license.
6: drive to bridge where guard will take the copy of cancelled TIP....do not hand original.
7: drive to Honduras ...

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We went through very fast. We’re cyclists and didn’t have any problems or long time waits. Paid $3 pp for the stamps and we where free to go in not even 5 minutes.

And indeed you don’t need the fixers. It’s pretty straight forward and easy to find yourself.

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Fizemos a saída do carro e nossa na fronteira de Honduras, foi rápido e não pagamos nada.

Para a entrada em El Salvador fizemos nossa imigração, depois Aduana. Revisaram nosso carro, demorou 1h30 mais ou menos. Não pediram nenhum papel para o cachorro, não pagamos nada de imigração e nem de aduana e o seguro do carro não é obrigatório.

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Leaving El Salvador was fast and easy. We didn't need any help. Bring 1 copy of TIP, the first guy will check the car and stamp both original TIP and the copy. To finish the process bring the papers to the booth about 300m from the first guy. Make 2 copies of the final paper. Continue to immigration (last 5 windows in the big building), chat a little with a guy, he'll check the passport and give receipt. Further down the road other guy will take the receipt and TIP.

On the Honduran side nobody picked us up. We parked in front of the building, walked in and did everything ourselves as the officers directed us. Finger prints, picture taken, passport stamped for $3 on the right hand side. Car TIP on the left in Aduana window took the longest. They will keep your passport, drivers license and owner's certificate until the process is finished (bring copies to give), send you to make copies of different documents and pay in the bank (BAC opens 8am and the door is not that visible, Banco Occidente is further up the road with big sign and opens later). We payed nearly 800 L ~ $35 USD for our Xterra after all the taxes added. Bring back papers from the bank, get your originals back and enjoy Honduras.

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Hi, overlanders!
1, When you come here, there are many people with green polo come and want to give help, for sure they will ask for tips, 5USD more or less. No need for help, just make one copy of TIP(when youentry El Salvador, the one with sticker in digital print information). Take it to cancel the TIP on the right side of the road, the officer is inside the window.
2, Finishing cancellation, you need to make copies of the document they give you(with the sticker). You can make copy near here or in Honduras side.

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Easy to get out of El Salvador.
Go past the line of trucks, stop at the first office and get your TIP cancelled. Go back a few steps and make copies (you’ll need them later).
Get the original back to the guy and he’ll give you a copy with a sticker.
Drive about 1.5 km further ahead, and stop at Migracion.
Get your passport checked here, they’ll give you a small slip of paper - keep it and hand it over later.
Tip: lempiras exchange rate is better here than in Honduras (22:1) but not really necessary unless you are staying (all border paperwork can be paid in usd).

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Process leaving El Sal and entering Honduras was smooth on both sides, requiring a total of just over an hour. Everything more or less as described below.

As mentioned, when entering Honduras a guy in a light blue shirt with a walkie talkie stopped us, showed usted wjere to park and took our paperwork to the vehicle processing window, but he was not a tramitador (the guys on the El Sal side with brighter blue shirts definitely are).

Another note, this is a reasonable place to change any money from other CA countries, say Guatemala, that you ended up finding stashed somewhere as we always do. That is, they accept currencies other than those of the countries you are passing between.

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The comments below are all helpful for crossing border. We passed through very smoothly but slowly (1 hour El Salvador side) and 1.15 (Honduras side).

Please note the line up of trucks on El Salvador side was more than 1km for us. Also please note after getting TIP canceled you go left at fork and you still need to drive 1km down road before reaching the migration office (it’s a separate bridge from the trucks).
Recommend getting there early.

On the Honduras side - the immigration offical at the end of the bridge took all our documents (title, drivers licence, and El Salvador exit TIP) and walked us to the customs window (this is normal offical process - they will be wearing a light blue shirt with offical badge). Note while he takes you to customs office first, you can’t finish this process until you have gone through immigration (same building) and get passport stamped. We can confirm $35 for TIP and $3 per person for entry. The TIP process required usual documents (rego, drivers licence, title, passport) - but we also needed to get at the copy shop 2 copies of passport with its Honduras stamp in it and 3 copies of the newly issued TIP. Costs 10c per copy. Absolutely lovely offical behind the counter at the TIP processing.

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you definitely do not need a boarder officials help to cross here. its super straight forward if you've crossed other boarders in central before. they will insist so be firm if you dont want help.

you need photocopies of
passport x4
license x4
rego/title x4

$3USD immigration
$35USD TVIP

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WARNING: The people in the light blue shirts with official looking badges are fixers. YOU DO NOT NEED THEM.

Exit El Salvador:
Part 1
1. About 1 KM gett you TIP stamped out (pass all the trucks waiting)
2. Proceed to Aduana (Stay to the left at the fork, don't follow the trucks)
Part 2
1. Park your vehicle at Aduana
2. Got the end of the building and get your "stamp" for your passport.
3. If you need copies of your exit TIP this is the place
4. Drive/ride towards Honduras, the man at the checkpoint will take a copy of your expired TIP
(Note: I made copies of my TIP before I arrived. The man at the checkpoint took my copy no questions as I showed him my original)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/VGYSf0itDIExlANt2

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You need a photocopy of your permit el salvador. Took 5 min

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new years day copy shops at customs are closed. officials helped us out but it took time. sort out copies in advance if a holiday to speed the process.

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All the process took one hour, in El Salvador don't follow the google maps route since there is another way of tourist vehicles. We refused the helpers and we did it alone. Very nice people. When entering Honduras usual passport and then aduana. It didn't take much time. The road just after is under construction

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Just an additional information. When leaving Salvador, you can request a temporary salida for your car (as Guatemala does, and let you use the full 90 day permit), that means that you will have to request another permit when coming back (if you plan to). However, if you didn't stay long enough outside of el Salvador (90 days), you will not be able to get a new temporary permit. You then only can get a transito permit, which gives you only one day to cross the country. Just saying...

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We got to this first exit at 5:30 pm today (Sunday). After driving all the way to the crossing point close to Perquin, on the Northern border (our goal was to reach La Esperanza, in Honduras), only to find out that those officers couldn't deal with our foreign car's paperwork (the exit stamp), we drove back and wondered if we should spend another night in El Salvador to cross the border in the morning. We decided to try and it was very fast, considering the reports on iOverlander. We got to the first stop at 5:30 pm, started the process with Honduran authorities at 5:55 pm and by 6:20 pm we were all set driving in Honduras. Pros: we were the only ones in a small car (we could drive around all the big trucks); because it was late, the sun wasn't shining, which made it less hot. Con: it was dark and the road has multiple areas "under construction". But we reached the hotel no problem.

We had to pay US$3/person for a Honduran stamp (didn't really get what it was) + US$35 for the car. We are allowed to drive for 90 days, but plan to stay only 3.

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Got here a bit later than planned. Exiting El Salvador wasn't bad, entering Honduras was slow and hot. Got to Honduras immigration around 9:30am, took us close to 3.5 hours before we left. Much of the time was waiting for the Aduana as several overlanders were ahead of us.

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You need the copy they gave you when you entered the Country. Vehicle permit, license, passport.

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xit El Salvador

First tip, try to avoid the ‘helpers.’ We were swarmed by at least ten men all screaming at us that we needed their help. We got most of them to leave by telling them ‘no’ over and over and over again. The guy we ended up tipping basically stalked us and in the end we felt bad for him so threw him a few dollars.

El Salvador Customs: Right before the border, at what looks like a traffic jam, an official will flag you down and tell you to pull over. He will take your Salvadoran Import Permit and one copy of same, check your vehicle’s VIN and give you the copy back with a new sticker. Find a copy shop and make three copies of this. This effectively cancels your Salvadoran Vehicle Import. 0.20 USD for copies

Drive ahead until the road forks. Go to the left, to the right will probably be full of trucks.

Park on the right side of the street, next to the large Immigration building.

El Salvador Immigration: At the end of the building, go to the Migracion counter and hand over your passports. The immigration official will look at your passports and give you a tiny piece of white paper with your passport numbers written on it. You will not receive a stamp. No Fee.

El Salvador Cuarentena: In the middle of the building is an unmarked door. Our ‘helper’ took us right there but you could ask anyone where cuarentena is and they could point you there. The officials will stamp all your dog papers again. No Fee.

Get back in your vehicle and drive to the next bridge. Here, an El Salvadoran customs official will take a copy of your canceled vehicle import permit.

Enter Honduras

Drive over the bridge into Honduras. At the end of the bridge you will be stopped by a Honduran official who will ask for your title, the driver’s passport and license, and the canceled Salvadoran Import Permit. He will the walk you towards the Immigration building and show you where to park. In theory, he should take you to the Immigration counter but for some reason he took us right to customs where a very unhelpful woman spoke very quietly in rapid fire Spanish. She told us we couldn’t do our vehicle import until we took the dogs to a vet. After a frustrating 20 minutes, we managed to get our documents back from her and went off to find the Cuarentena office.

Honduran Cuarentena: After wandering around aimlessly our ‘helper’ finally pointed to the window marked SEPA across from Customs. When you walk into the building, it is on the righthand side and the window will probably be closed. This does not mean no one is there, it just means the air conditioning is on inside. A very friendly SEPA official will ask for one copy of all of your dogs’ papers along with the originals. He will stamp the originals and issue an Import Permit for the dogs. 250 HNL for both dogs

Honduran Immigration: In the large building, next to the SEPA window is a window marked Migracion. This is no longer open. Exit the large building, cross the street to the large yellow building, here the Migracion window is on the right-hand side when you enter. Give the friendly immigration woman your passports, she will stamp them and issue you tourists cards. Keep the receipt. 3 USD per person.

Honduran Customs: In the original building, across from SEPA, is the Aduana. She will want your vehicle title plus three copies, driver’s passport plus three copies of the photo page, driver’s license plus three copies, and the canceled Salvadoran vehicle import permit plus three copies. She will add a stamp to the driver’s passport, ask for a fee, present you with a receipt and request a photocopy of the newly stamped page.

Take the receipt from the Aduana to the bank down the street where you can only pay in HNL. 865 HNL.

Go back to the copy shop and make three copies of the receipt and the new passport stamp. Return to the Aduana, she will take two copies of the receipt from the bank and issue you a Vehicle Import Permit.

Receive all your original documents and check to make sure everything matches.

Get back in your car and drive towards Honduras. Less than a mile down the road, a very friendly guard will ask for a copy of the vehicle import permit and to see the dog permit.

NOTE: Anytime we needed HNL we ran outside to the money exchangers. We received 20 HNL : 1 USD.

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