Border Crossing: Chile-Bolivia | Customs and Immigration

March 5th, 2024 by xtgfamily

migration from Bolivia. Pretty quick passage, very nice staff. For the French they give 90 days. They even lent us the wifi. Customs is 5 km further.

migration de Bolivie. passage assez rapide, personnel très sympa. pour les français ils donnent 90 jours. ils nous ont même prêté la wifi. la douane est 5 km plus loin.

February 5th, 2024 by mitreisend.com

Like everyone mentioned - the people who are working there might be a sleep or so. Ringing the bell 100 times, Walking around the building and knocking on windows.
We honked many times and then he came - said a bit annoyed „why arent you ringing“…

December 24th, 2023 by white_troopy

We arrived here around 1pm on Christmas Eve. As you head towards Chile the building is in the right. Has a red roof. The building looks new but abandoned. We knocked, yelled. Nobody around. Went to the back of the building and finally found a guy…think I woke him up! He met us at the front door and it took all of 2 minutes to stamp us out of Bolivia.

Be Persistent…..someone is there even if it looks closed.

October 12th, 2023 by It's not a slow car, it's a fast house

Exiting Bolivia- Newish building but seems locked up. DO NOT PASS WITHOUT GETTING STAMPED OUT!
Park. Honk. Knock. Whatever it takes to get someone to open the glass doors. Quick procedure once you’re in.
Drive 5K to Chile processing.

October 5th, 2023 by ioverlander

dont pay the scam fee. they asked for 15, but we said no.

September 5th, 2023 by nomadxplorers

Leaving Bolivia
We arrived at 12pm and no one was here. Door was closed. Don t leave ! Nock on door or honk so someone will come and attend you.
Fast process, 10 min tops. He just stamp your passport out of Bolivia.
Next step in Chile.

August 27th, 2023 by Gatogoesglobal

this border is open 7 days and was easy. friendly people. they check the car inside a building so you're out of the cold. took maybe 15 min and not very strict, we got to keep the one egg and the little bit of honey. we didn't need to open the engine or anything. no scanner or dog. we were there around 12 midday and the only ones there.

July 23rd, 2023 by roaming_dutchies

Let’s remove the old descriptions from 5 years ago that are not that relevant anymore.

Office in operation. Leaving Chile, Arrived at 9.30 and were the only ones there. Had to wait for a Bolivian van inspection to enter Chile. But still fast, all took 20min. Super friendly, young staff. They were chill. Some even spoke English. The height is killing though. We felt dizzy

June 27th, 2023 by elixmia

Entering Bolivia - arrived just before 14:00. Note: I am a US citizen and my husband has a European passport. He was stamped with barely a glance at his passport. Mine was looked at a little closer, but not much. And they also had to summon a different (very grumpy) official to do my visa.

For US citizens as long as you show up with all the required visa paperwork and photos they basically just do a cursory check to make sure you brought everything. They don’t actually examine any of the documents. They care more about the money, still $160 in cash only. They will examine the bills closely so make sure they’re immaculate. The process for getting a visa took maybe 10 minutes and they gave me a visa valid for 10 years. They didn’t say how long our entry was for. The aduana told us it was for 90 days, like our TIP.

Not stated anywhere online: they told me I needed to have a copy of my COVID vaccinations, which I don’t have since I only have my original card. They dropped the matter eventually. They did not ask my husband for any proof of COVID vaccination.

April 11th, 2023 by christianluis88

Really easy border. Only migration service, not customs. Superfast, 2 people working there giving 90days without ask anything to everybody.

March 29th, 2023 by Motoglobe

Easy and fast. We left Bolivia. Only immigration

January 24th, 2023 by vivendomundoafora

Border crossed with nobody, very fast. Doesn't ask nothing. They are building a new place right on the side, in 30 days it's ready they said.

January 20th, 2023 by marieke_michiel

From Chile to Bolivia. Here you have to stamp your passport and show your proof of vaccination for Covid.
Long line of tourists outside from the tourbuses when we were there at 9.30 am. Took us an hour. Carpapers you do on the next stop.

October 27th, 2022 by follow_nadle

We left Bolivia fast without problems. Nobody asked us for money.

October 20th, 2022 by instagram.com/lembo.on.the.go

Keep in mind that there's an hour time change between Bolivia and Chile. Chilean border closes at 6:00 p.m. Chile time. We got to the first stop at the Bolivia border at 5:00 p.m. Bolivian time and made to the Chilean border at what we thought was 5:45 p.m., but it was already 6:45 p.m. in Chile. At first they said we couldn't pass, but in the end they were nice enough to let us through. Checked COVID vax (it seems the C19 is no longer required), paperwork for the dog, passports, and vehicle registration for the TIP. Given 90 days.

September 17th, 2022 by katherineletts

Building on the left (as opposed to the red top building). Looks vacant, but just knock!

July 30th, 2022 by Footloose

Crossing from Bolivia into Chile/Chile immigration/customs:
All officials very friendly and the office heated!
1. Salud controlled the C19 but did not ask for vac certificates
2. Stamped our passports (90 days)
3. TIP issued (90 days)
4. Asked if we had any food but did not do a proper search, spotted the honey and confiscated it....
All in under half an hour

May 5th, 2022 by skytraintovenus

easy crossing here today.police migracion was a few kms b4.Aduana was almost fun to interact and have to translate my truck papers.once u are dome with all paperwork there is another gate .apparently they charge to pass the national park(?(!) but I didnt have they re currency and passed without "ticket" ,(which sounded like a rip off)

March 9th, 2020 by EverUpwardsTravel

Crossing with our US registered car from Chile to Bolivia here was easy! They didn't look at the car at all here, but instead 5km up ahead into Bolivia. Just stamped our passports and were very friendly :) a relief after reading some of the other reviews!

December 23rd, 2019 by true.dit

Don’t pay the 15B... it’s a scam. He asked for it and we politely replied that we read there was no payment necessary. He responded with “ok, if you don’t want to pay it you don’t have to.” 🙄

December 6th, 2019 by Drieu

Going from Chile to Bolivia.
We have 2 chilean motorbikes, as foreigner and non resident of Chile, they didn't let us out of the country, even with the paper from the notario.
Not friendly at all. Not really professional neither.
Apparently border crossing like this depends of the reading of the law by the officer in charge. Good luck to all!

November 23rd, 2019 by PanamePanam

We arrived a 7:30 pm, Chili time
Everything looks like closed. We waited for 5/7 minutes, engine running fronting a closed gate
So i decided by foot to have a look. Inside of the warehouse, no light and nobody. I did a walk around the place, and there was nobody
So we decided to sleep here and tried to find a shelter as the wind was really strong
As this moment the gate was openning and woman came with gun in her hand.
We tried to explain that we were wainting since 10 minutes....blabla
They just answerer « Next time we ll shoot you and put you in jail for illegaly border crossing »
Then as for others, no fruits no vegetable no coca no Woods no Burger cheese despite we crossed thé chilean border at Arica with all thèse stuff
We had to provide the proof that our children were our chidren!!!
Worst border since we re travelling and we did a lot of tricky like Iran, Mauritania and all from Canada

November 18th, 2019 by insta

Here we got our Bolivia exit stamp in our passport.

October 4th, 2019 by Tim's Bicycle Tours

I passed through the Hito Cajón Border Post (also called the “Portezuelo del Cajón”) going N-S on my solo bike tour thru SAm. I had no hassles. Here I am including a summary:

0.0 km. 4350m. National Park Entrance Office. S22.83117 W67.77908. Lucy = guard. She checks that visitors have paid the 150 BOB pp Park entrance fee. If not, pay her when leaving, in cash. No fine. (Park’s full name is “The Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve”).
0.0km. Ecoturistico de Alta Montaña Hotel, Laguna Blanca. S22.83125 W67.77877. I spent 2 nights here. Excellent. See my blog. Link is above. The hotel was 100 m from the Park Entrance.
6.6km. 4477m. Bolivian Immigration. S22.88093 W67.79846. No hassles. No food services. Gravel road was fair to good since hotel. Some washboard and sand.
6.7 km. BO/CH border. Start of good pavement (CH side).
11.6km. 4635m. 11h45/12h15. Chilean Immigration. S22.91649 W67.79801. No food services. 15 min to pass through. No hassles. They gave me a 90 day visa, saying that I would qualify for another 90 days if and when I exited and then re-entered Chile. No fruit, vegetables, dairy or meats were allowed into Chile, packaged or not. There was no restriction on sugar, cookies, bread, jam, nuts, or similar, whether opened or packaged. The agent was friendly and offered to bring me a mug of hot water so I could fix myself coffee and eat cookies before being processed. How often does one get such nice treatment at a border post?
11.7km. 4648mm. High Point. S22.91715 W67.79672
54.3km. 2437m. 14h10. 24C. Town of San Pedro de Atacama. S22.91349 W68.19228.

For details and photos, see Day 203 of my blog "Cycling from Ecuador to Ushuaia -2019/20".

September 23rd, 2019 by polarsteps.com

Be very careful here !!! We had an horrible day crossing this Bolivian border ! First, at the immigration, the man gave us 30 days of visa, we said we could have 90 days as we are European, but he said 30 is enough. The Aduana was nicer, but then at the entry of the park, we stupidly didn’t know that we was suppose to pay 150 BOB per person. We didn’t have boliviano and the rangers didn’t wanted to hear anything to help us. There is NO way to exchange money and take out money !! They just said “you have to go back to Chile. “
We were very shocked, but went back to the aduana. The guy there was furious !!! He said it was unrespectful and after screaming at us he said we couldn’t cross this border anymore, otherwise they will take our car. He also said that the Chilean border will possibly don’t allow us to cross the border, but it was really false, we could pass and people were very nice !
So, be careful, if you want to cross this border, take enough boliviano to enter in the park and be aware that at the immigration they give you the right amount of time on your visa !!!

August 12th, 2019 by emilio.szc

Crossing from Bolivia into Chile. Interesting crossing. After passing the aduana at 5 pm, the guy tells me to go to a military post close to the aduana, next to the lake instead of going to the migration office at the border. He told me the migration officers are there and if I go to the office i will have to wait for them to come. I went there and found them playing soccer. The officer just took my ticket and didn't stamp my passport because they didn't have the stamp there but he told me it is ok and that I can just go and cross the border. I went to the border with the barrier down. Absolutely nobody there. I surround the facilities with my motorbike and step on chilean territory. Right after, I reached to the chilean aduana and entered in Chile legally.

June 29th, 2019 by phonography.world

easy border, bolivia to chile, they asses 15bol for exit, it's a scam, asked for what ? and they wave us.

June 9th, 2019 by thebarnsleysbigadventure

Most unfriendly border crossing in 2 years with an over the top customs check... took all of our fruit and vegetables (and honey?) which was ok but also took a machete that we had carried for 2 years through 25 countries!! very annoying... all done without cracking even a smile :-(

April 13th, 2019 by blog.kohla.art

Exit Bolivia to Chile no pbm. He took or tramite

April 9th, 2019 by charlietewson

Fast and easy stamping out of Bolivia. The man at the desk tried to ask for 15BOB for leaving. We asked “por que”? He immediately gave up and let us go without paying anything.

TIP FOR THOSE ENTERING BOLIVIA:
We got stopped about 6 times at various points in Bolivia by police who asked us for tiny amounts of money to pass, as if in an official capacity. Each time we simply asked “por que?” and without any further argument they gave up and let us pass without paying. If they persist, consider filming their response on your phone and make them explain why the money is required...

March 30th, 2019 by germainbasle

So nice agent, fast, nothing to pay don’t worry

March 26th, 2019 by kristendyck

Here all of one minute to stamp our passports head into Chile! Hello pavement!

March 9th, 2019 by sunflower_hanna

As foreigners with chilean car you are still not able to exit, even with declaracion Jurada. You seem to need permanent residency... We tried twice without success.

November 2nd, 2018 by hordago.fr

We exit Bolivia by this way and received a stamp on our passport.
No question from the custom agent.

October 19th, 2018 by lipp.spam

Only immigration is here. Customs officer told us with a smug face that the aduana was 84km back at the geysirs. Not helpful or friendly at all so we just got our passports stamped and left. No chance on earth we were going to go back 84km of horrendous washboard simply because Bolivia is incapable of putting a border aduana where it belongs....at the border.

September 20th, 2018 by Calderescapes

We were able to exit Bolivia and leave our TIP here and took a picture of it and the immigration officer. He actually had a small pile of them which he said he was going to give the Aduana person when they come through next time.

August 17th, 2018 by lucianosfer

Just as mentioned before. Very corrupt officers were charging 15 Bol pp. I paid but asked for a receipt, since they did not have one they became really annoyed and started looking for something wrong with our passports. He looked up on the system and after a while gave me the money back and our passports. Do not pay, it’s bribery!! Kind of happy to leave such beautiful but so corrupt a country!

July 13th, 2018 by timrossie

Bolivia-Chile:
We have done our aduana process before at the Aduana Building next to the National Parc Entrance. Very easy and no problem at all!
Make sure you take a picture of the stamped out TIP!
Because at this Bolivian Migration Point, they wanted to charge us 15BOB per Person as an exit Fee. We refused but they tried to be difficult and asked questions about our Aduana Exit. We showed them the picture with the stamp. They then let us go without paying.

STOP BRIBERY and make sure to not pay anything. You dont need to!!

June 26th, 2018 by instagram.com/beaworldnomad/

If you are driving a Chilean car and you don't have permanent residence in Chile be aware that you probably won't be able to cross at this point, there is a new worker here who loves to refuse the entrance to people from abroad... there was no way of making him change his mind, and we spent 2 hours talking abou the matter... no chance... be aware! :)

March 22nd, 2018 by rozenn001

Things change almost every months but there are 5 places from chile to Bolivia:
-Custom in San Pedro
-Chilean immigration (and sometimes custom too) at the border
-5 more km to the Bolivian Immigration
-5 more km to the boliviam customs
-200 m to the parc entrance (150 bols/p)
From Chile to bolivian or from bolivia to Chile, ask everywhere.

Mars2018: Custom in San Pedro is only for truck. Custom for us is at the border. You may have to insist to have the paper.

March 18th, 2018 by happinessiscamping.wordpress.com

Entering to Bolivia: here we could only do the immigration - for aduana we have to drive 84km in direction to the Laguna Colorado. Aduana can change - always ask at the immigration point (and check the other descriptions in iOv).

March 11th, 2018 by vueltamerica.com

Immigration office was open. Here is where we stamped out of Bolivia on our way to Chile.

February 17th, 2018 by j_vermeulen

easy exit of Bolivia
knock on the door and get your stamp in 2 mins
we already handed our tip earlier at the geysers

February 15th, 2018 by ichbinkreativ

February 2018: All travelers that want to travel from Chile to Bolivia over Hito Cajón or vice versa, have to do the the Bolivian immigration at this point, while customs are uncertain – check the other points for more information. The Chilean immigration and customs are in San Pedro de Atacama. The other place near the border was closed by February 2018.

January 4th, 2018 by st.messing

of course aduana was closed.
the other aduana place next to the geysir is only helpful if you leave the very same day.

immigration was easy. officer asked for 15 bol per person but dropped it after we asked for receipts

November 28th, 2017 by chasingtheblackandwhitedog.wordpress.com

Did my aduana paperwork in the place to the north, only migration here. Asked for money and told him I had none, and I had to wait 30 mins in the cold for him to finish his lunch before he would come out. Other than that no issues getting stamped out of Bolivia!

November 12th, 2017 by Desk to Dirtbag

Did not ask for any money, everything smooth and super quick. I left my TIP with him when they aduana was unexpectedly not open despite everyone telling me it was since they "left three days ago"

October 6th, 2017 by travelamateurs.com

Exiting Bolivia - Had our passports stamped out here. Official asked for 15 pp "exit fee." When we told him there were no fees to exit Bolivia he mumbled something and stamped our passports.

September 30th, 2017 by detourbydesign

The Aduana was open when we visited (about 2pm on a Saturday). We had already done paperwork at the other aduana and had taken a photo of it. He was fine with this and just waved us through.

September 3rd, 2017 by eckert_mc

Aduana was here when we went through. very easy.

September 1st, 2017 by Honza On The Road

Opening hours: 8:30 - 12:30 and 14:30 - 16:30.

August 25th, 2017 by instagram.com/griffuh

Arrived late on a bicycle after a long day climbing from San Pedro. Office was closed for the day but the officer was super nice and stamped us for the next day, plus gave us 60 days on our entry stamp. There's a small Refugio we were allowed to set up our tents in, perfect protection from the wind. Had to vacate by 7am so the tourist parade from San Pedro could use it for breakfast

July 16th, 2017 by cruiseroutfitters.com

Refused to let us check out without paying the 15/pp "exit fee". We pressed the issue and they didn't budget so we just paid and moved on.

May 21st, 2017 by Auf großer Tour durch Südamerika 2016/2017

ATTENTION: Altitude in iOverlander is indicated as 0m. The real altitude is 4.520m.
The opening hours are 8:00 til12:00 and 14:00 til 18:00.

April 30th, 2017 by anoukjonker

Going into Bolivia: we checked out in San Pedro de Atacama. We checked in here. An aduana guy was there too but he told us he didnt have his stamps/forms here, so he hitched a ride with us 5 km up to an aduana building (which was closed up until then) near one of the park entrances. Here we got our aduana stuff done. After we had to buy our park tickets at $150 pp. Bit unclear, the aduana seems to be travelling back and forth between here and actual aduana building, but it worked out in the end...

April 8th, 2017 by nhussmann

Only immigration at this point today. We were the second ones in row at 8 am. The man was very rude and told us we cant go into Bolivia without a tourism operator. We waited a little bit time outside, another officer came an handed us forms to fill out. Then we get in to the first officer and he stamped our passports normally as nothing happened few minutes ago and told us to do the Aduana 80 kms further at the mine.

March 19th, 2017 by stephanwagner.me

There was no Aduana officer there when I exited Bolivia on a Sunday. The immigration officer asked me to take a photo of the temporary import paper. He kept the paper and said I'm good to go.

March 1st, 2017 by jkgetlost

Tiny run down building. Very straight forward and we got 60 days visa for Bolivia. He instructed us to go 80km for the vehicle aduana but we tried our luck at the office close to the park entrance and had the car stamped in there. Details in the Bolivia vehicle aduana point (north of here) on iOverlander.

November 7th, 2016 by sabbat-on-tour.de

sometimes many tourist tours, so you have to wait a little bit. Get only passport stamp for leaving Bolivia. Entering for Chile in San Pedro de Atacama.

November 2nd, 2016 by michael.mikolai

Entered Bolivia and left Bolivia (only one night stay at laguna -12degrees in the night) No problems with aduana or migration. IMPORTANT: If you leave Bolivia and you like to move on to Argentinia you have to Check in at San Pedro de Atacama Aduana. The sign after the entrance to Chile is a bit misleading as it shows into "Argentinia" or "Chile". So first you have to go to San Pedro, then to Jama Pass Aduana to Argentinia. Currently the Chilean Border Control is setting up a new Checkpoint so this shall be avoided in future.

August 13th, 2016 by ycgfwcge

They stamped our passports to get out of Bolivia. Wanted 15 Bol/person "exit fee", which we did NOT pay.

August 7th, 2016 by We Ride South America

From Chile to Bolivia. Easy crossing. 30 days only. Couldn't have more...
The road from San pedro de Atacama is paved until the intersection for the border with Bolivia (40km paved, 5.4km dirt). It's a good paved road, but really steep and hard for the engine!! With the motorbike, 1rs gear, 10-15km/h. If your are cycling (and exiting chili) avoid this road. We saw many trucks stopped on the side, cooling the engine.
You ll pass from 2400m to 4600m, and then going down a 4500 for the border. The dirt road (5.4km) is quite good compare to the park in Bolivia. No aduana for the vehicule here.

July 30th, 2016 by www.practicingforretirement.com

Took 3 minutes to exit bolivia. Guy only spoke Spanish, but managed to ask for the 'exit fee' in English! Lol. We paid him 15bob total (for two people) cause we didn't feel like making a fuss over it.

July 4th, 2016 by Both Roads

Exiting Bolivia- We were asked to pay 15bol/p for an exit fee. He refused to give us a receipt and said the exit stamp in our passports was our receipt...

June 11th, 2016 by 4ever2wherever (Margriet & Jan)

Entering Bolivia from Chile. Immigration only, customs is 80 km north. We easily got 90 days without costs (Dutch passports). Friendly officer, quick, no issues.

May 29th, 2016 by alexm_

quik and easy crossing. They can not do the car papers here and send us to the aduana near Gysir field to the north (70km, but in our case in our direction). Very tiny crossing, might be closed now and then.

March 3rd, 2016 by cyfrowinomadzi.pl

Be aware that sometimes this aduana is closed and you have to go to aduana in Apacheta close to Sol de Manana geyser field. Be also aware that you might have bad luck like we did and pass aduaneros (who are going to Hito Cajones!) without knowing it!

February 25th, 2016 by afewmoremonths

Exiting Bolivia and entering Chile. In my case there was nobody from Aduana either at the border or at the park entrance. The told me to drive 80k to the other border. They seemed to not know when there would be an Aduana officer here. Very unfriendly. I told them I didn't have enough gas to get to the other border and they just shrugged. Only after I sat down in a chair in the office and made a show of being there for the long term, they decided to stamp my passport and took my vehicle import paper. Friends of mine the previous day had to bribe them $20. If I were to do it again, I would NOT have purchased the park pass on the way out and would have simply joined a que of backpackers at the border to get my passport stamped when a bus load came in. (Often) No one in San Pedro de Atacama asked if I unimported my vehicle from Bolivia.

February 24th, 2016 by marc

Exited the country but didn't have our aduana done because of the rain in the northern section, we had read on here you could exit the country and get your aduana done. That is false. Maybe on the correct day. Make sure you do the aduana at Laguna Colorado. Had to pay 100 bolivianos to get each aduana paper done... Really fast otherwise.

November 6th, 2015 by the-elys.com

Very friendly guys. No vehicle check at all.

October 17th, 2015 by nonurbia

Very quick and friendly migration office. There was one officer who stamped the passports. We took care of the car papers two days earlier in the aduana office on the Laguna route.

July 28th, 2015 by walla24

Friendly bolivianos!
chile to bolivia, no vehicle check, no fees just go in for a stamp and some simple paperwork.
Thought it would be much harder :)

June 10th, 2015 by ajsml

Warning for Americans entering Bolivia here: they will only sell you the 10 year visa ($160 usd) and you will need to provide photocopies and a picture

October 16th, 2014 by ines.braun

In ouer case was also a Aduana Officer ther.