#1430 – Navigating Permanent Residency in Guatemala: A Guide for Expats

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now as I wonder Hello there all you ex-pad wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started You know since I mentioned in the last couple of shows about my impending Latin American insider seminar Coming up in late August. Well since then I've had some prospective attendees saying Johnny I like to come down and apply for permanent residency in Guatemala

[00:49] They're wondering if they could kill two birds with one stone come down for the week-long seminar and come a week Early or stay a week late after the seminar to have the extra time to do the paperwork and necessary running around at immigration and such And if so, they were wondering what are the necessary documents they need to bring down to get all that started Basically, what's the step-by-step process? Well, you know residency and immigration laws do change all the time Seems like every time there's a new election new government gets in The new administration fires all the lard asses that were in immigration and put in their own new lard asses Who know and do even less because they're brand new they're green horns that said let's set up today's show with

[01:34] 2025 update on the Latin American residency process for Guatemala Now it's true that most country residency processes are similar throughout Latin America So you could take this as a pretty good guideline for whatever country you're looking at for your plan B Here in Latin America. Now, like I said, there have been some slight changes in the Guatemalan residency process since we last talked about this We'll be covering that stuff today Funny thing is the lard asses in Guatemala immigration have made it slightly easier. I know I know that's hard to believe, huh? Because generally bureaucracies are noted for layering on more and more layers of shit Now if you're planning on coming to my August seminar and getting your permanent residency going at the same time

[02:21] Please send me an email the expat files at gmail.com and I'll send you a hard copy of this So you could get started because you will have to do a little bit of running around Gathering documents from your home state, etc Using snail mail and such to get things certified and apostilled and you know people who've applied for this process people who've been to previous seminars They tell me Getting all your paperwork together Certified and apostilled could take anywhere from two weeks if you're extremely lucky to two months on the average being about one month And since as his show goes out, we're about three and a half to four months away from the seminar That gives you plenty of time to get cracking So we'll get on with it now And like I said, you don't have to take notes Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com and I'll send you a hard copy And for those of you who don't feel like coming down to the seminar

[03:09] This is good information Information you'll need for whatever Latin American country decide to go for residency now, of course at my Latin American insider seminar We have our favorite lawyer Jose he gives a nice long detailed talk on how permanent residency works and How it can lead to a full passport citizenship in approximately five years or thereafter The thing that you have to know however is the citizenship part, you know getting the passport That's changed slightly in the last couple years to turns out in the past You had to just maintain your permanent residency for five years and that meant you only had to pop in and out of Guatemala Did I say Guatemala? Anyway, it used to be you put in your five years of permanent residency by just having to appear in Guatemala

[03:56] one day a year and then you could apply for Citizenship nationality passport, etc However now lawyer Jose is telling me in order to apply for naturalization passport and all that You have to have permanent residency for five years and have remained in the country in Guatemala continuously for two years That would be the two years leading up to your application for naturalization But don't worry He'll go into a lot more detail on that at the seminar But back to permanent residency as of 2025 Guatemala still is one of the easiest and cheapest Latin American residency Programs of all now, of course, you don't have to hire a Guatemalan lawyer to hold your hand through the process But let me tell you I know a couple of gringo expats who've tried it

[04:43] They tried to go through the bureaucratic process on their own because they know some Spanish and said hey I'm a smart gringo. I'm a college graduate. I I'll do it myself. I've got time in my hands. It'll be a great learning experience as well Screw these Latino lawyers. They're not gonna get any of my money Well, guess what? Every last one of those gringos who tried to do it on their own the ones I've talked to anyway for whatever reason Because they had a lot of time on their hands. They wanted a challenge They were just playing cheapskates or just love standing in the Sun for hours on end and hot sweaty lines I could tell you almost all of them had major setbacks some of them ended up having to go back to a lawyer tail between their legs and

[05:29] Ponying up the hand holding fees after all. Hey, I'm not saying you can't do it I know some gringos some expats who were able to do it because they had a Latina girlfriend Walking along and holding their hand through every step in any event to avoid some of the terrible frustrations and setbacks Those eventualities always seem to happen when you're in a strange country With strange customs and you think you know the language better than you really do Funny thing about Latinos. They don't like to correct us when we're speaking crappy Spanish They really don't want to make you feel bad. Even though they probably didn't understand half of what you said Instead they'll just nod and smile and pretend like they got every word Which is why so many gringos and expats think their Spanish is better than it really is

[06:17] The false confidence that comes with that gives many gringos and expats the idea that they can conquer the residency process on their own Or maybe I should put it this way I've lived down here 30 plus years now and I've got permanent residency in four Latin American countries I can speak Spanish much better than most gringos, which is not saying much. That means I'm about 70 or 80 percent proficient Even so I elected to go through an immigration lawyer with all four of those residency processes I know my limits man, or let's just say I've learned by by past mistakes Now if you're still thinking about trying it do the calculations and figure out how much your time is worth Because you're gonna be spending a hell of a lot of time just chasing your tail and decide for yourself

[07:03] I decided it wasn't worth it for me to stand in those lines Basically, I'm just no good at standing in hot sweaty lines With people who don't mind invading your personal space and they don't even realize it Am I being too much of a jerk here? Maybe but back to applying for residency in Guatemala First you have to understand that all your necessary documents need to be apostilled I know I know when I first heard it. It was a very strange word and a very strange concept In other words, it's not enough to get your documents certified and registered They have to be apostilled and only the US State Department can apostille federal documents and only your own state Whether it's New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Minnesota They'll only apostille documents that originate from their own states

[07:51] Like for example birth certificates marriage and death certificates or any kind of legal document issued from that state Now it always seems there's some confusion about this apostille process It actually doesn't make much sense. But when you're dealing with governments, can you expect it to so here's how the process goes Suppose you want to get your marriage Certificate a pastille because well you're married and you're coming down to Guatemala and you want you and your wife To apply for a permanent residency now being that Latin America is a racist and sexist society now, of course a woke American would say that because you see if a guy's coming down with his wife and kids and They're all plying for a permanent residency under the same umbrella. The principal is the guy

[08:39] He's considered the number one residency prospect not the wife in Latin America When you apply for permanent residency for you and your wife or your kids Whatever according to the paperwork you're number one and she's just along for the ride In other words, it's always a guy listed as the principal applicant on the documents So then all you woke stirs in California listening in does that make you mad? Well boo-hoo down here in Latin America It's a macho society remember That said as mentioned all documents required need to be apostilled. So how do you do that? Well keep listening now as mentioned if you're married, you'll need the marriage certificate apostilled So what you do is you go down to your county registrar get a certified copy of your marriage certificate

[09:26] Understand all documents must be notarized first which they might do right there when you pick up the certificate Otherwise you might have to go into a sheriff's office or Justice of Peace or lawyers office Whatever next step you go to your state government's website. If you check the index there You'll see there's a section on getting documents apostilled. Yep. There's a section right there on your state government's website They'll spell it all out and tell you exactly how to do it by snail mail By the way, most states will tell you to send a self-addressed stamped envelope along with a document to be apostilled So they can send it back to you without paying the postage Figures, right and of course all this costs money So there used to be a small fee for that apostilling service

[10:13] Maybe 20 or 25 bucks and that could take two or three weeks talking about business days However, if you wanted fast-tracked, which is another way for the state to suck more dough out here You can pay an extra 10 20 or 30 bucks whatever and you'll get it back in less than seven days scoundrels and scumbags they are in government, aren't they I? Guess the guys and gals working in the fast-track office there are probably being punished or are on probation or something I bet there's a lot less instant crap and tick-tock watching in the fast-track department. Yep working for government Oh the pain of it all, you know, it's hard to look busy when your net output is less than zero But I digress as usual anyway Again, I repeat the state you're in your state will only certify or apostille documents within their purview

[11:01] And otherwise the only apostille documents that were issued within their state like for example, if you're going for permanent residency in Guatemala and bringing your underage kids down and Having them apply along with you on the family plan in that case. You'll have to go to your local courthouse Get the birth certificates have them notarized right there at the courthouse Don't forget that step because it's required to get it apostilled Then and only then will you send it to your state government by snail mail and then they'll apostolate for you Isn't it odd though that Guatemala doesn't require adults to get their birth certificates and have them certified and apostilled that only applies to your underage kids Thank God for small favors as they say by the way, what most people don't know is that every state All 50 of them have a department within the government called the State Department

[11:50] Yeah, you've heard of State Department at the federal level. We hear people talking about it all the time It's on the news, etc. Etc. Every day. It's something US State Department officials meet with Putin. There's a lens key Asian dwarf transgender State Department official with kitty porn on his computer gets caught skipping out on a six hundred dollar restaurant bill Etc. Etc. Anyway, that's the US Federal State Department But your state also has a State Department whose officials are probably slightly less corrupt than the federal ones so again your state's State Department will apostille documents generated within your state and The federal State Department located in Washington DC will apostille documents generated by the federal government Like for example when you're applying for residency in any Latin country

[12:36] You'll need an FBI report that needs to be apostilled by the US State Department Yep, that's right. You'll need a clean FBI report with the lack of any criminal record on it Now that may or may not be a hang-up for you Because you're thinking about all those overdue speeding tickets You're racked up in the adjacent state or maybe you got caught smoking a joint at a drive-in theater back in the hippie days Tell you the truth. A lot of gringles and expats have had misdemeanors in the past and they're worried It might show up on their FBI report Problem is if anything out of the ordinary shows up on your FBI report. It will disqualify you from permanent residency however, it's pretty well known that misdemeanors just don't show up on FBI reports and Sometimes if something shows up on an FBI report after five or ten years, it just disappears

[13:27] That's been known to happen So if you're a little bit worried about the night you spent in the drunk tank when you were 18 or Anything else you might be worried about that happened in your past What you have to do is apply for that FBI report and see how yours turns up I know a few gringles who thought something or other would show up on their FBI report and it didn't and first visa If you got a felony in your past, it's gonna show up on your FBI report So forget about applying for residency. Oh and about that FBI report You'll need to have your fingerprints for that one and they've got to be done the correct way So call your local police department to inquire where to get your fingerprints taken correctly for your FBI report By the way, many police departments will oblige and do your prints for you Oh and another thing the names are all the documents you submit need to exactly match your name on your passport

[14:17] not a letter missing or Transposed. Oh and another thing about getting your fingerprints done. You can I understand get them electronically scanned at some Designated United States postal offices So just walk into a post office and ask them by the way the current version of the fingerprint card for Identity history checks with the FBI is called form FD 1164 you can download it print it out and bring it to your local police department and they'll usually do your prints for you Right there. It's important. You do it on the correct FBI form FD 1164 now the easiest and quickest way to do all this is through an FBI service company that will do your report online They'll do everything for you. Of course, you'll have to pay around a hundred bucks or so for the service

[15:07] But they'll hold your hand through it all and do the apostille part of the process, you know Send it off to the federal government the State Department have it apostilled So you won't have to deal with that at all. You can pay extra and get that fast-track, too Now we're talking about permanent residency here not temporary residency. You can try for temporary residency, but it's not advised Yeah, it exists. All right, but it involves getting most of the same documents So I go through the hassle with temporary residency you have to keep renewing it and frankly most all Guatemalan lawyers Think it's a waste of time and mostly always advised skipping it and going right to permanent residency So anyway after you have all those apostille documents in your hands you send them down to your local Guatemalan lawyer If you're coming down to the seminar and trying to kill two birds with one stone, you'll give it to seminar lawyer Jose

[15:56] He'll do the rest hold your hand and advise you on all the steps Anyway, you'll gather them up and send them down use a courier like DHL UPS or FedEx cost around 70 to 100 bucks But they're guaranteed to deliver right to the door of your Latin lawyer Just a tip here do not use the US Postal Service if you use them The documents will arrive at your lawyer's office though. Sometimes they may not arrive for months Many gringles and expats have reported that to me and it's happened to me myself. Luckily had an insanity sensitive documents So then why would someone try to use the US Postal Service over FedEx UPS or DHL because it's so much cheaper Like I said DHL UPS FedEx couriers will charge 70 to 100 bucks

[16:42] The US Postal Service even if you go certified or registered mail Would probably only cost you 15 or 20 bucks, but don't do it. If you do you're taking a chance Now earlier we were talking about birth certificates You don't need to have a certified or apostille copy of your birth certificate at all. That used to be a requirement It's not anymore However, if you're bringing in underage kids, you'll need to have their birth certificates certified and apostilled Now there's one part of this process that doesn't make a lot of sense Unless you're thinking about how the US can just squeeze money out of its citizens in other countries Get this to be compliant with the US State Department's rules for Guatemalan residency submission You must go to the US Embassy in Guatemala City in person

[17:30] To get a certified copy of your US passport. You need that document to give to Guatemalan immigration. Now, that's awful strange Because look if you're in Guatemala, that means you flew from the United States to Guatemala And obviously your passport was legit and real or you'd have been tripped up somewhere along the way But no You still must go in person to the US Embassy in Guatemala City to get a certified copy of your passport So what they'll do is look at your passport and check it against your face The then they'll certify a copy of your passport and they'll do it for a fee like 50 bucks. Oh and an additional 10 bucks or so for a photocopy if you don't bring an extra Yep If you want the most expensive photocopy in the world

[18:17] Just go down to the US Embassy because you know in little corner tien does you can get a nice photocopy for 30 cents? Where's Elon when you need him? Anyway, a certified passport copy can only be obtained in the US Embassy in Guatemala City Nope You can't go down to an embassy in the states or in your town or down to your local post office in Milwaukee That'd be too logical and easy Which means you'll have to be down in Guatemala City for five to seven business days To get your document package in order and go down to the US Embassy and get that certified copy of your passport During that time your immigration lawyer will take the reports income verification certified copy your passport, etc Etc and translate those documents into Spanish for submission to the immigration department That's why it was mentioned You should schedule five to seven days more either in front of or after the seminar if you're coming down

[19:08] Trying to kill two birds with one stone go into the seminar and applying for a permanent residency Now towards the end of that five to seven extra days you're down here You'll need to be present in person to sign a few things at Guatemala immigration Now the tricky part of all this is that you or your Guatemalan lawyer must make an appointment online With the notarial services at the US Embassy in Guatemala to get that idiotic and redundant certified passport copy In other words, you have to get an appointment online Which is not all that easy This must be done some weeks before you arrive in Guatemala in order to get that appointment on the right date I'm talking about a date that you happen to be in the country Now if you hire Jose our seminar lawyer to take you through the residency process

[19:55] He has assistance that will go online weeks before you arrive in Guatemala and get those appointments for one of the dates You're here again. It must be done weeks in advance because of the limited availability for appointments at the US Embassy I repeat if you were doing this in conjunction with our expat insider seminar as many have done in the past our seminar lawyer Jose will guide you through this and all steps By the way, the US Embassy in Guatemala is a short walk from the seminar hotel in Guatemala City Again, you must bring your passport and an extra copy of your passport at that scheduled embassy appointment Here's the thing though. You and everything you bring into the embassy will be heavily scanned Because you know every 65 year old pot-bellied gringo with a cane and bifogals is a suspected terrorist and get this

[20:45] You will not be allowed into the embassy with any electronics at all including your smartphone And there are no lockers or provisions to store or hold your stuff You'll have to have someone outside hold that stuff for you like your lawyers assistant Another good reason to have a Guatemalan lawyer help you with your residency But he or she will not be allowed into the embassy They'll have to wait outside the gates only you will be allowed at your appointment So yes, there's a few steps for you to go through up in the US It might take a month more or less but if you come down to this seminar and decide not to go back to Milwaukee or Cleveland and remain in Guatemala for Five to seven working days. You can kill those two birds with one stone By the way, most people going for a permanent residency take the week after the seminar to do all that stuff

[21:32] We were talking about oh and you won't be sitting in your hotel room bored during that week My seminar logistics ladies will make sure you've got a nice itinerary to keep you busy There are lots of amazing things to see and do in Guatemala. You won't be disappointed Now, of course to be approved for permanent residency. You must prove a monthly continuous stream of income for a single person 1300 US dollars a month minimum That's the financial solvency requirement for the process and if there's a way for kids involved in the process You have to prove another three hundred dollars in income each month continuously for each of them So what kind of proof do you have to show that you're getting that kind of income every month or more? If you're getting Social Security, just print out your yearly disbursements. I'm sure if you get Social Security

[22:21] You've got an online account You can go into an account and get a year-to-date printout so you can prove that monthly income with your Social Security statement a US bank statement a Private or public pension statement or other proof of financial solvency Received from whatever institution you get a continuous monthly check or disbursement The thing is once you get that pension or Social Security statement, whatever you have to have it notarized with a US notary Then you send that notarized document with the affixed financial record to the appropriate state office To have it apostilles as mentioned previously. All documents must be apostilled By the way a US notary only guarantees that the signature on the document is real He's not signifying the document itself is real

[23:09] For all he knows it could be all lies. He's just notarizing that the signature is real same within a pastille When you have it apostilled then the Secretary of State whichever state you're sending it to will apostille the signature On the document not the documents validity itself Kind of left-handed stupid, huh? But again so much for logic. We are dealing with governments You know crazy thing is putting all that on a blockchain could eliminate all that permanently and you'd never need to apostille Or certify anything again, but you knew that already, right? By the way, there's sort of a workaround Let's say you happen to be in another country and can't get your documents your financial documents certified up in the states and apostille Because of the distance logistics physical incapacity, whatever, but here's what you can do though

[23:58] I don't know anyone who's actually done this the US citizen may bring in their printed US Bank statement Social Security statement or pension statement or other proof of financial solvacy go directly to a US Embassy and Sign an affidavit swearing or affirming that those are true and correct copies The US Embassy will then notarize the US citizens signature on those affidavits in that case No, apostilles are required. However, once again, you have to go online and get an appointment at the embassy Oh and one thing to remember if your income is not Social Security and it's from a private source Like a private pension fund then the US State Department won't apostille it You should then get that document apostilled at your local state government level

[24:45] Remember I mentioned there are instructions on your state government's website. You do it through snail mail, of course Oh and one more thing you can apply for permanent residency in Guatemala if you've invested at least a hundred grand in some kind of project investment CD real estate SA corporation or business That you can do in lieu of the monthly income requirement your Guatemalan lawyer will know the ropes Oh, and if any of these income options don't work for you, there are some loopholes This is Latin America, you know and rules are meant to be bent sometimes till they almost break Just have a nice sit down with your Guatemalan lawyer and find out all about it However, you should know this the only unbreakable Unpardonable rule is if you have a messed up FBI report

[25:32] There's no wiggle room there you're screwed By the way, once you've applied for permanent residency, you'll get a certified paper copy that shows you've applied That will immediately be in the system and you will be considered a resident from then on you You no longer have to leave the country every 90 days like normal tourists to you should however Carry that paper when traveling back and forth through Guatemalan borders But if you want to leave the country after your 90-day tourist visa You will have to apply for an exit visa that can be processed and delivered in a few hours at the immigration office or through Your latino lawyer. Oh and note that certified paper copy from immigration may be used to open a Guatemalan bank account Oh and one important thing to know is there is a time limit on the paperwork when you apply the FBI report proof of income

[26:20] Etc can not have been issued more than six months from the date you submit the application for residency And finally once you've applied how long will it take before you get your Sedula your residency card? Well, the residency paperwork waiting game process will last from about six to twelve months It all depends on the lazy ass slugs in the immigration or what's called the migration department here in Guatemala Sometimes an applicant will be shocked and surprised to see it only took four months to get permanent residency Other people have said well I had to wait the whole year which again begs that question where the hell's Elon when you need him So there you have it. That's the low down on getting permanent residency in Guatemala More importantly those of you who plan on coming to my next expat insider seminar

[27:09] Which we're scheduling for late August. We'll have the dates exactly pretty soon That gives you plenty of time to get your paperwork in order if you're planning on killing two birds with one stone You know come into the seminar and applying for permanent residency Just let me know if that's your plan and I'll hook you up with our seminar lawyer Jose for any questions You might have or guidance. You might need and getting together that paperwork You've been listening to the expat files living in Latin America If you need some help with your own plan be we can schedule a one-on-one phone or Skype consult Just send me an email the expat files at Gmail dot-com And if you want to get on the waiting list for my next week long expat insider seminar in Central America Where you're guaranteed to get a two to five year head start on your plan B

[27:55] Send me an email the expat files at Gmail dot-com. No spammos