"Your word
is a lamp to
my feet and
a light to
my path."
Psalm 119:105

Residency Procedure

Citizens of the United States and Canada do not need to secure a visa before entering Nicaragua. A 90-day tourist visa will be given to you upon arrival and costs $5.00. By law, each person who resides in Nicaragua for more than 90 days or is employed in Nicaragua must obtain a Nicaraguan residency card (cédula de residencia), issued by the Immigration Department of Nicaragua. You will need to bring some paperwork from the United States or Canada in order to apply for residency. Getting the paperwork may take up to 4 weeks, so you should start with plenty of time before departure. Please read the following steps very carefully and begin working on them at least 2 months before your arrival in Nicaragua:

1. Obtain an official copy of your birth certificate from the county offices where you were born. This will not be returned to you, so you should get an additional certified original if you want to keep your original birth certificate.
2. If you are married, obtain an official copy of your marriage certificate from the county offices where you were married. This will not be returned to you, so you should get an additional certified original if you want to keep your original marriage certificate.
3. Obtain an official statement of good conduct (criminal history report) from the police department of the city where you have lived for the past year. Note: this expires in 6 months; wait until at least May 15 to obtain this.
4. Obtain a health certificate or letter from your family physician or another doctor in your country of origin (U.S. or Canada). This is just the most basic of employment or physical exams. It does not necessarily need to include any lab tests if your doctor doesn't require them. It should, however, have a summary statement that says that you are in good health. Note: this expires in 6 months; wait until at least May 15 to obtain this.
5. Make sure that your personal data (full legal name and date of birth) is accurate and identical on all of these documents and your passport. A single discrepancy could be cause for rejection.
6. Get your health certificate and statement of good conduct notarized by a local notary public and accompanied by a document signed by a Secretary of State (Apostille) which certifies that the Notary Public is properly registered. For contact information, do an internet search for "Florida Secretary of State", replacing Florida with the name of your state.
7. Make two photocopies of all documents. One set of copies will be sent with the original documents for authentication, and you should keep the other set for your own records.
8. Locate the Nicaraguan Consulate that has jurisdiction over the state of origin of the documents. Note that if the documents come from different states, you may need to use different consulates. See list below for a list of consulates and jurisdiction.
9. Send the original documents and one set of copies along with a money order of $25 per document and a self-addressed stamped envelope to the consulate. Include a note requesting that the documents be authenticated for use in Nicaragua.
10. The consulate will authenticate the documents, placing an official seal on them, and return them to you. This usually takes 1-2 weeks. Bring these authenticated documents with you to Nicaragua.

Nicaraguan Consulates

For a list of Nicaraguan Consulates, please refer to Appendix A of the following document:

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