8

My girlfriend and I will be visiting Guatemala, together. She is Guatemalan, and now has Spanish citizenship as well (along with a Spanish passport).

Her Spanish passport is current, but her Guatemalan passport has expired.

Will this pose a problem for her when entering Guatemala? Which passport should she present?

Flimzy
  • 20,437
  • 15
  • 89
  • 162

2 Answers2

5

Spanish citizen do not require a visa to enter Guatemala for 90 days.

I would therefore in general advise her to use the Spanish passport since there will be no questions at immigration. She can then have her Guatemalan passport renewed, once inside the country.

If the immigration officer sees the expired passport, there is a chance that he will let her go through without question, but most likely he will check if there is anything wrong with her legal status. This might take time, cause questions etc.

I do not think the trouble is worth it if she can go through without any problems using the Spanish passport.

uncovery
  • 26,287
  • 1
  • 61
  • 114
2

Not familiar with specifics laws of Guatemala, but in general:

  • You can usually enter your country of citizenship on any ID conclusively proving that citizenship (with varying degrees of hassle). An expired passport should suffice. However, she'd almost certainly need to obtain a new Guatemalan passport in order to leave (i.e. could not use the Spanish one to exit if she did not use it to enter).
  • Some countries frown on their citizens using a passport from another country to enter (in the U.S. this is illegal), but many are fine with this.

I hope somebody has an answer specific to Guatemala.

dbkk
  • 2,751
  • 20
  • 17