To stay in Belize, whether or not you own property or a home, you must get your passport stamped and extended every thirty days. Before the advent of Covid-19, it was possible to do this at the Guatemala border just out of Benque. When the border closed, Belmopan became the nearest site for passport renewal or other government processes related to immigration. A single month’s passport extension is $100 but it’s possible to pay ahead two or three months. You have to request it.
Extending your passport is not usually considered a fun sort of thing to do, but there are some things you can do to make the process easier.
1. Go as close to your renewal date as possible. If you go late, you may get a scolding, although no one at BIB has reported any other repercussions. If you arrive any day before the scheduled day, you will lose however many days you were early. For example, if you are due to extend your passport on the 5th of the month and you go in on the 2nd, your next renewal date will be thirty days later, on the 1st or 2nd of the following month.
2. Remember to take your passport and your money. Credit cards are accepted, but take cash along if possible, in case the machines go down. It’s 42 miles from BIB to Belmopan, and you might not want to return the next day. When you go for your first extension, take along your land title and a printout of your most recent bank statement (or something similar you can call up on your device). You may never be asked for it, but if you are, it may save you another trip to Belmopan.
3. Arrive between 10-10:30am if possible. Lines shorten considerably by mid-morning so you can move through faster.
The process has improved hugely over the past decade. For instance, at one point a few years back, you had to rise at 4:30am, drive to Belmopan in the dark, stand in line before sunrise to get a number, then wait as long as five to seven hours on hard folding chairs or benches for your number to be called. The offices closed for lunch, and sometimes closed for the day before your turn came, so you had to return the next day.
The situation now is relatively painless. Here’s what to expect:
On arrival at the Immigration building, you go to an outside window and type in your reason for being there. The machine gives you a ticket printed with either an X or Y and a number. Passport extensions receive an X, and Y is for everything else – passport photos, residency requests, etc.
You wait outside on a bench in a covered area and go into the building when an electronic board brings up your number. When you enter, your temperature will be taken and your hands sanitized before you are served. You hand over your passport and answer some questions (name, address, etc.), are given a receipt for however much you owe, go to another window to pay, then return with the receipt to get your passport stamped. Lunch hour is staggered, which slows the process, but at least they don’t close these days.
After that, the day is yours. Some people schedule shopping tasks for their passport extension days and stop by Spanish Lookout or San Ignacio for shopping on the way home. With distances to towns, bad roads, and high gas prices, that makes a lot of sense.
(Thanks to Linda DeGirolamo for tips and advice)
It may be a good idea to take your income information and land title with you in the beginning. I’ve had my info also on my iPad and it has been accepted.