Residence routes to Bolivia: from visitor to permanencia definitiva

With a Dutch passport you may stay in Bolivia for 90 days without a visa for a holiday, according to NederlandWereldwijd. If you want to stay, you apply for a residence permission from the Dirección General de Migración, the DIGEMIG. The migration law, Ley 370 of 2013, has three steps: the permanencia transitoria (at most 180 days), the permanencia temporal (at most three years) and the permanencia definitiva. You can apply for the last one after at least three years of residence.

What stands out when you read the law: it contains no pension visa with a fixed income amount, as Colombia or Panama have. For the permanencia temporal the law names four purposes: study, work, health and family.

Step	What it is	Duration	Cost
Visit without a visa	holiday, with a Dutch passport	90 days	none
Visa de objeto determinado	visa in advance from the consulate, for work, family or health	30 days	US$ 100 at the embassy in The Hague
Permanencia transitoria	short stay with a purpose	at most 180 days
Permanencia temporal	temporary residence, applied for in Bolivia	1 year (renewable twice), 2 years (plus 1 year) or 3 years
Permanencia definitiva	lasting residence	unlimited
Cédula de extranjero	ID card from the SEGIP	as long as your permanencia	Bs 600

The DIGEMIG's own fees are not in the law. Ask for them at one of its offices or at the embassy in The Hague.

Do you need a visa in advance?

Not to get in. Under article 30 of Ley 370, someone who entered the country legally can apply for a permanencia temporal themselves. So you can enter as a visitor and apply in Bolivia.

There is one reason to go to the consulate first anyway: your household goods. Customs only lets your removal goods in tax-free if you, as a foreigner, show a visa de objeto determinado (articles 191 and 194 of the customs regulation). That is covered in household goods to Bolivia.

If you are bringing a container, arrange the visa de objeto determinado at the embassy in The Hague before you leave. The customs regulation (articles 191 and 194) asks for that visa for the exemption of up to US$ 35,000; with only a permanencia the exemption isn't in the text. Ask the Aduana before you ship.

For that visa the embassy asks for a passport valid for another six months, proof of what you will do in Bolivia, a certificate of conduct (from age 16), proof that you have enough money (bank statement or credit card) and a 4 by 4 passport photo with a red background. Anyone going to a yellow fever area also shows the vaccination.

Which permanencia temporal suits a retiree?

The law does not say. The four purposes are study, work, health and family. If you have a Bolivian partner or children in Bolivia, family is the obvious route. Anyone coming without work or family has to ask the DIGEMIG which purpose their application falls under and what proof of income it asks for. The requirements per purpose are in the regulation to the law, not in the law itself.

Have your documents certified with an apostille. Bolivia has been a party to the Apostille Convention since Ley 967 of 2017; legalisation through the embassy is then no longer needed.