Category:Border Crossing

From Drive the Americas

Border Crossing

Overview

Crossing borders may be one of the less enjoyable part of your journey, but can make some good stories. In general, border crossings involve two things:

Getting your passport stamped by Immigration (Migracion in Spanish)
Getting your vehicle cleared by Customs (Aduana in Spanish)

These offices at the border are usually separate from each other. You will likely have to deal with both migracion and aduana in the country you are leaving before dealing with both offices in the country you are entering. Check out the specific information by country below for more detailed information on documents and border crossing procedure.

Border Crossing Tips

Validate Your Documents: Check the numbers and letters on all documents before leaving customs. You may run into issues when leaving the country if your license number, VIN, color of car, etc. do not match. We have a general list of documents you should plan on bringing on your trip, but each border is different in its requirements.

Immigration and Customs Fees: Every border will be different, but often you will not have any currency for the country you are entering when you arrive at the border. You can sometimes pay any fees with the currency of the country you are leaving. It is also handy to have $50 to $100 United States dollars on hand, which if often accepted. The last two options are using a bank to exchange money or using a money changer. You will see money changers, men with large stacks of bills walking around that will exchange money for you. It is a good idea to know the exchange rate before interacting with a money changer though, or you may get a very bad rate. If you don't know, ask one (or two) of the customs officials for the current exchange rate.

Arrive early: You don't want to get stuck at the border late in the day and end up driving into the new country at night. Stay at a town close to the border the night before (border towns are usually sketchy) and get up early to arrive early at the border.

Country Information

Check out the specifics by country below for more detailed information on documents and border crossing procedure.

Country	Capital	Official Language	Population
Canada	Ottawa	English/French	33,212,696
Mexico	Mexico City	Spanish	109,955,400
United States	Washington, DC	English	303,824,640

Country	Capital	Official Language	Population
Belize	Belmopan	English	294,385
Costa Rica	San José	Spanish	4,195,914
El Salvador	San Salvador	Spanish	7,066,403
Guatemala	Guatemala City	Spanish	13,002,206
Honduras	Tegucigalpa	Spanish	7,639,327
Nicaragua	Managua	Spanish	5,785,846
Panama	Panama City	Spanish	3,309,679

Country	Capital	Offical Languages	Population
Argentina	Buenos Aires	Spanish	40,677,348
Bolivia	La Paz/Sucre	Spanish and 36 Native Languages	9,247,816
Brazil	Brasília	Portuguese	191,908,598
Chile	Santiago	Spanish	16,454,143
Colombia	Bogotá	Spanish and Native Languages	45,013,674
Ecuador	Quito	Spanish	13,927,650
French Guiana	Cayenne	French	221,450
Guyana	Georgetown	English	770,794
Paraguay	Asunción	Spanish, Guaraní	6,347,884
Peru	Lima	Spanish	28,220,764
Uruguay	Montevideo	Spanish	3,477,778
Venezuela	Caracas	Spanish	26,414,815