Benque Viejo Del Carmen, Belize to Melchor de Mencos, Guatemala | Customs and Immigration

Guatemala

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11 days ago
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Description

Guatemala to Belize:
Just drove through the fumigation device and stopped the car at the parking lot. The migration is together with the customs in the same building. Personal immigration was free. For the car they charged fumigation (we had to pay 5 USD at the yellow building next to the fumigation station) and some kind of entry fee for the car: 15 USD. It was possible to pay directly in USD. In addition they checked the fridge for fruits, vegetables, diary products and meat: Tomatoes, Peppers, citrus fruits, eggs, cheese and fresh meat are not allowed - as well as the import of beer?!? Wine, rum, apples, cucumbers were fine... The whole process was absolutely friendly and professional and in English language. The required insurance for Belize you can get after the import procedure down the hill on the right side at the small huts - you will get a sticker for the front window. We didn't need any copy's! See next post re insurance.

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GT-->BZ in a van
Fees: 30q for the bridge; 10BZD for fumigation; 30BZD for the car; 60BZD for 1 month car insurance
easy suspension of Guatemalan TIP, not cancelled since we return to Guatemala in a month.
beliz customer only had a quick look into the car and asked for fruits and vegetables. easy boarder

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Very quick and easy border crossing from Belize to Guatemala.

List of copies needed for entering Guatemala (none needed on the Belize side):
- Passport photo page
- Vehicle title
- Vehicle registration (if the title doesn't show the license plate)
- Drivers license of anyone that will be driving
- Newly stamped passport page

Belize side:
- Park in the lot just past the security booth (there's a sign showing prices but we didn't have to pay for parking)
- Politely ignore or refuse the money changers (they told us that we had to pay all fees across the border in Guatemalan Quetzals but that was false. You will get to the bank before you are forced to use only Quetzals)
- Head inside and get yourself stamped out (exit tax is $40 Belize per person)
- They will direct you where to go to cancel your TIP

Now for the Guatemalan side:
- Go through fumigation
- Park in the small lot on the left
- Go pay the fumigation fee on the other side of the road from the parking lot ($6 Belize, not sure what the price in Quetzals is). Be sure to get a receipt, you may need this later (we didn't however).
- Go inside the building next to the parking lot
- Go to the booth that's to your right as you enter the building to get visa stamps. 90 days and it was free.
- At this point a guy started helping us but it ended up fine and he never asked for money. He seemed to work at the copy place.
- Go out of the building and across the street to the copy shack in the right hand corner. The guy led us over and made copies of our newly stamped passport pages. We had all other copies already so it only cost us (2 people) $1 Belize
- Go back inside to the other set of desks (Aduana) and hand them your stack of copies
- They will fill out several pages. Be sure to verify that everything is entered correctly (they got our license plate wrong the first time, luckily we caught it)
- Walk (or taxi) to the bank; it's straight down the main road, about a 10 minute walk
- Get cash from the ATM
- Head inside and take a number
- When it's your turn go to the window and hand them the paper that you got from the Aduana person. Cost for this step is 160 Quetzals.
- Take the paper that they give you and head back to the Aduana
- Give the Aduana people the paper from the bank
- They give you a paper (your TIP) and a blue sticker to put on the inside of your windshield
- Go outside and put the sticker on your windshield then head into Guatemala
- There is a security booth where they verify the TIP and peek inside the vehicle. They didn't ask us any questions about what foods we have and only peeked in the back of our rig briefly.

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In only 1 hour we passed the two border stations. Belize... 10 mins. Guatemala : fumigation and dog... 5 mins. Camper... 30 mins. No need to have a copy of stamp in passport... they made a copy themselves. 160Q... in a shop across the street... 5 mins. Only control of VIN. Did not enter the camper. Smooth.

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I crossed into Guatemala today from Belize at Benque Viejo del Carmen. It took me about an hour to get through. It cost $30 BZD to exit Belize. Walk into the immigration office, and there is a small kiosk on the left to pay the exit fee. Then, stand in line for the immigration exit stamp. After that, go through the door behind the kiosk where you paid the exit fee. Steer to the left and get Customs to cancel the import of your motorcycle. Then, ride through Belize Customs. They will inspect your passport for the exit stamp, as well as request the receipt for the exit fee. Guatemalan Aduana will inspect and fumigate your motorcycle. There's a narrow corridor to the right of the spray booth, so you don't get fumigated, too. Ride through this coordior and park in front
of the building on the right, where you'll pay $16 GTQ for the fumigation. Guatemalan Aduana requires copies of your license, registration, passport, and the page with the
Guatemalan entrance stamp. There are folks around that can help with copies and whatnot. It cost $200 GTQ at a little booth near Aduana on the Guatemalen side. It's $40 GTQ more than the posted $160. 0therwise, you have to walk down to the bank.

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Frontière traversée en 2 heures de temps. On est arrivés à 11 heures du matin pour passer du Belize au Guatemala.

CÔTÉ BELIZE:
- se garer sur le parking avant les barrières (gratuit).
- aller dans le bâtiment pour arrêter les visas (immigration: payer la taxe de 40 dollars BZE par personne), passer aux douanes (gratuit) et ne pas oublier d'arrêter le TIP (même bâtiment aussi, mais passer par le couloir qui rejoint les arrivées de l'autre côté). Aucune inspection du véhicule.
- reprendre la voiture et s'arrêter au check-point pour montrer les documents.

ARRIVEE AU GUATEMALA:
- Passer à la fumigation en passant au ralenti sous le portique (c'est bidon niveau efficacité...).
- se garer sur le tout petit parking en terre sur la gauche entre la fumigation et la barrière.
- de nombreuses personnes viendront proposer leur aide, mais c'est inutile...
- aller payer la fumigation côté droit par rapport à votre arrivée: 6 dollars BZE, mais ils prennent bien sûr aussi les quetzal et les USD. Ils donnent un reçu.
- puis traverser côté gauche (côté parking) et entrer dans le bâtiment.
- faire l'immigration pour avoir un visa (90j): gratuit.
- aller au bureau des douanes dans le même hall. Là, ça prend du temps su vous tombez sur un agent très mou comme ce fut le cas pour nous! Il faut lui fournir une photocopie du passeport avec le nouveau tampon du visa qu'on vient d'obtenir, une autre de la carte grise et une autre du permis de conduire. Finalement il les a faites pour nous, mais on peut facilement les faire juste en allant à pied dans une petite boutique juste après la frontière.
L'agent vient alors avec nous au vehicule pour contrôler la correspondance entre le numéro VIN de la carte grise (véhicule français) et le numéro frappé sur le châssis.
- puis il faut aller retirer de l'argent à la banque (taux plus favorable qu'en échangeant votre cash aux personnes qui le proposent avant ou après la frontière). On est allés à pied en 5mn à la banque Banroural (pas besoin de taxi!) et on a retiré notre cash en quetzal à l'ATM 5B qui est juste devant.
- ensuite, entrer dans la banque et faire la queue avec un ticket. Donner le formulaire en 2 parties à l'agent, lui payer 160 Q correspondant aux droits d'entrée. Il note ça dans son ordinateur et nous rend 1 exemplaire tamponné.
- retourner à la douane, donner le papier et en échange, on nous donne un autre papier à garder précieusement.
- reprendre la voiture et avancer au check-point. Montrer le passeport avec le visa et le papier des douanes. Pas d'inspection du véhicule dans notre cas.
- entrer au Guatemala! Attendre Florès pour faire le plein, c'est encore moins cher qu'à la frontière, et beaucoup moins cher qu'au Belize! Les prix sont en gallons.

Voilà, en espérant que ça vous soit utile! Bon voyage

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Belize to Guatemala:
Das Bordercrossing ist verhältnismäßig einfach:
Parken am Seitenstreifen vor der Belizegrenze. Links im Gebäude bezahlt man 40BZ pro Person Ausreisegebühr.
Dann zum nächsten Schalter, da bekommt man den Ausreisestempel.
Der Fahrer muss mit der Customserklärung der Einreise zum TIP Counter (wie Einreise) und diesen Ausstempeln.
Fertig.

Weiterfahren nach Guatemala.
Durch die Fumigantes - rechts direkt bezahlen 39Q (Visa).
Dann steht man mit dem Auto vor der Grenze im Weg rum, aber das interessiert niemanden.
Links im Gebäude bekommt man rechter Hand seinen Einreisestempel in den Pass.
Das Tip wird auch gestempelt am Schalter Links.
Keine weiteren Kontrollen.
Die Brücke müssen wir auch wieder bezahlen, diesesmal nur 20Q.

Dauert circa 30min alles zusammen.

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Belize to Guatemala:
It is as previosly described, just want to had some details.
To get the copy of the passport stamp, there's a small tienda just across the street from the office building that does it for 1Q. There are several tiendas around, this one is very small but easy to spot as the printer is close to the entrance.

We crossed on a Saturday noon so Banks were closed, there are 2 options for paying the TIP. If you don't want to walk to the town you can pay it at the same place you've got the copy early, they only take cash and ask for a 40Q commission (200Q in total). Another option, if you don't mind walking to the town, there's a farmacy, also mentioned on iOverlander. You walk about 500m, they charge a 5Q commission, if you pay with card there is an additional 5%fee (we payed with card a total of 173,25Q).

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Not much to add to the already elaborate description of the border steps. Just that you do not need to get a copy of the step you got at the border for your TIP at the aduana desk they will make the copie. Just have the rest ready and don’t get pushed that you need to copy of the stamp. You can pay either in the center (so walk) or go across the street where there are some food stalls, one will have a place were you can pay your TIP for 40 quetzals extra. This is what the guys do when they say they can pay for you at the bank and be back quickly.

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Belize to Guatemala:
Crossing over our persons was fairly painless, aside from a couple of pushy helpers who kept pointing at where we were going and saying, "yes, go here."

Getting the vehicle through customs was more difficult, because we crossed on a Sunday. After you start the car registration process on the Guatemalan side, you must produce a copy of the stamp you just got in your passport, so there's no way to prepare this beforehand. We had to walk into town, past several closed copy shops, before we found an electronics store that was open and willing to make us a copy. Then back to the customs office, where we were then told we needed to go back into town to pay 160QT for the import fee. We walk to the Banrural (about 1km into Guatemala), only to see a huge line and were told we would not be able to enter because the bank closes at noon (we were there a few minutes before noon).
I was able to pay a guy standing in line to pay my fees for me, though it's always nerve wracking to give money to a stranger and trust that they won't run off. Luckily, he came out with the stamped receipt and we were able to enter.
I would not recommend trying to cross outside of regular banking hours:
9am-6pm Mon-Fri
closed Saturday
9am-noon Sunday

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Easy crossing to Guatemala, everything as described. We just gave the TIP guy all the copies we had of Passport, license, title and then he didn't need a copy of the immigration stamp of our passport after all so and thus we were able to skip the copy step. So we just recommend to come prepared with all the copies you have.

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Update: Guate did not require a negative Covid test, just proof of vaccination.

We also had the health certificate for our dog and they said they did not require it. I would still recommend having one just in case.

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belize to Guatemala: I was able to get my test done for free at the Guatemala side. It may have helped that I arrived early on a Monday. Easy crossing, all else was as described.

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Belize to Guatemala
Very smooth border, like one hour or two(but we went eat at the comedor just near it).

So everything as described in Belize border (pay the exit tax, made exchange money in front of it, they just the stamp our passport with an other stamp for the tip).
Careful at the cambio they told us you have to pay everything in cash in guatemala, it's false, we paid by card and went to the bank for the rest and withdraw at this moment).
In guatemala it's begin with fumigation, paid with Visa card 39Qz, park and went for the passport. First a lady took our name, check our vaccin card and our 2 doses of vaccine and negative test and went to the immigration just stamp our passport no question, very friendly.
for the Car, went to the aduana/custom, take our paper and the photocopies, you need one of the stamp in passport so made it just in the transport store just near the border 0,5 Qz. After that we went at right to the main street and we withdraw at the bank the first one in the pharmacy, paid at the fashion boutique near it, 160qz.
and after that we eat at a comedor near the border, even see our friends from the custom and went back to give them the paid tip and the copies and 2s it was done.
So everyone was really nice and a little waiting but it was 12' so everyone was eating.

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Belize to Guatemala: pay for services (BZD 40 per person), have your TIP for your vehicle cancelled (extra stamp in passport and "exported" handwritten), have yourself stamped out at immigration. Several Belizian people directed us to a COVID test which we declined.

Checked with Guatemalan officials: since Jan 10, 2022, a negative test is required. There is no Guatemalan test capacity, so you'll have to go back to Belize (and pay BZD 100 per person for a rapid Ag test).

Immigration is straightforward. For the Guatemalan TIP, you need photocopies of your passport, of the entry stamp, of your drivers licence and of the title (copy service available just outside). Then, you'll have to go into town to pay GTQ 160 at a bank (we hit the ATM there as well). You'll get a form with a date by which you need to export and a sticker to go on your windshield.

They completely forgot to check our vehicle for contraband and organic stuff. After one last check of passports and TIP, we crossed the bridge. We were asked for GTQ 20 toll.

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Smooth process as described...until you come to the bridge. Had to pay 150Qz today for a campervan after a long discussion with "the lady".

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Crossed Border in MAN Truck, Belize to Guatemala.

Belize Departure Tax B$ 40 pP

Guatemala:
Fumigation QZ59 (CC or Cash)
Vehicle QZ160 (young guy at the border went to the Bank to pay it, gave him QZ20 for his Service)
Bridge Fee for „Casa Rodante Grande“ the Lady told us is now QZ100😳.

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At the moment, it's possible to enter Belize with your motorhome. As indicated in the governmental web page, we had a confirmed 3 nights booking of a Gold Standard hotel/camping (Log Cab-Inn, San Ignacio; 15US$/night/motorhome). We did the car fumigation (10US$), the mandatory Covid anti-gen test (50US/person) and got a 10 day visa only. The officers told us later, that you need a travel iterinary, inclusive all hotel/camping bookings in email, to stay longer in Belize. Max. 30 days in total.
It's not permitted to bring cigarettes, alcohol, soft drinks, vegetables or fruits into Belize.

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Before checking out of Guatemala in my big rig MAN, I was permitted to walk to the Belize authorities to check the status.
Tourists must have a certified hotel booking, take a certified taxi, tourist vehicles are not permitted to enter Belize at this time.
The immigration people made a telephone call to their HQ to double check.
No motorhomes, cars, no exceptions.
All personnel are polite, helpful, and very disappointed as they knew I was going to spend a fortune scuba diving!
C'est la vie

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crossing into Belize:

1: get stamped out of Guatemala just before the spray booth. if you can't find parking it's okay to cross the sprayer and walk back later.
2. get fumigated and pay, for us it was $4usd or 8 Belize.
3. go to immigration and get stamped in
4. customs desk can do your vehicle import but must have been too lazy that day because he told us to go to the cargo import building for the paperwork. once there, some guy stamped my passport and wrote some notes in it and sent us on our way. no fees.

buy insurance at some point. we got stopped in town for paperwork check soon after.

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Entering Belize there are signs reading ‘Absolutely No!’, followed by a list of about anything you might bring, like any kind of drinks including sodas, cigarettes and fireworks ;) Nobody asked for any of these things though and inspection was just a quick look into our car without opening anything. At the final barrier we were asked for fruits and vegetables and as we admitted to have some we had to give anything away (including two of our eggs;).

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Everything as described except we paid $17Q for fumigation but we have a Vw Vanagon so maybe we paid less as we are smaller than an RV/bigger van.
We had some issues with an officer that wouldn’t accept our British Columbia Vehicle Registration as title for the vehicle. He couldn’t understand that it was the same thing and we spent 30 minutes trying to explain him the thing. Luckily another officer arrived and explained him that for Bc that was the right document.
The whole thing took about 1 1/2 hour.

Recap:
Belize exit 40$BZ x person
Fumigation 17Q (cash but I saw a card machine)
Import 160Q+20Q (can be paid at the copy store next door, the fee is confirmed)
Toll bridge 20Q

Please note they ask a copy of the stamped page of the driver’s passport for the TIP. It can be made at the store where you pay the import fee, 1 page costs 1Q

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From Guatemala to Belize. Today straight forward procedure no RV inspection at all.

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Straight forward and easy crossing from Belize to Guatemala, only things different for us were it now costs $40 bzd per person for exit fee and we were able to pay our fumigation by visa.
They didn’t even look inside for what foods we were bringing across.

Fumigation $39Q
Belize exit fee $80B or $40US (for 2 people)
Vehicle import $160Q + 20Q service fee to the guy to pay our import next door. (Taxi was $30Q return to the bank)

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Belize to Guatemala. Fairly straightforward process. Go to immigration and customs on the Belize side - note: it's $20BZ pp to leave the country, said they only take cash. Then drive through fumigation, park right after to the right and pay for fumigation $39Q, then park across the street and go to immigration and customs for Guatemala. Able to walk right next door and pay for everything there, didn't have to go to bank. Roughly $280Q total (including fumigation). Didn't ask go look in van, or about our dog. Definitely double check customs form for vehicle, they had one letter wrong on ours, we heard this can be pretty common. Took roughly 1.5hrs.

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From Belize to Guatemala. Smooth border crossing.

At exiting Belize, make sure you keep the recipe for the exit tax you pay at the passport stamping booth since they will ask for it.

If you have a car, make sure you have it canceled from you passport at the “aduana” office in Belize.

Money exchange BZN -> Q at the fumigation booth. We got a 3,5 exchange rate.

If you have to register your car, make sure you triple check each and every information on the TIP document. A señora in Belize told us about some scams they do, changing a little number here and there and charging you afterwards to change it. For example for us, they had tipped “Germany” instead of “Luxembourg” for the “car registration place”. We spotted the error and ask for it to be corrected right away.

The whole procedure took us less than 1 hour.

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Just crossed and it remains exactly as described by Kristina.bair with 2 exceptions: 1) our fumigation was only 18 GTQ ( truck and camper ), and 2) it was no problem to use the ‘shop’ next door and pay the 30 GTQ to process the TIP fee. If the shop owner does not appear to be there ask someone nearby and they will get him.
Super easy and friendly crossing on both sides especially considering the two countries don’t really get along and are taking a territorial dispute to the International court of justice ( you’ll see signs everywhere in Belize about it )

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everything went smooth, after exiting Belize, some guy offered the exchange rate at 7, after a bit negotiation we agreed with 7.2.
At Guatemala border they said we can pay in US dollars. Everything went smoothly but still took us couple of hours, the weather is super humid and they asked us to walk for 15 minutes to walk to a small box(a bank) to make copies, it's almost impossible to walk for so long under this kind of weather so we took a taxi for 10q. Bought insurance in Flores but the store closes at 5pm and bank BAM next door had a long queue.

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Belize to Guatemala.

As described, fairly simple except for one part. Leaving Belize you park up and pay your exit fee (20USD or 40Belize pp), wait in line to show the receipt and get stamped, then go back to your car. You’ll need Quetzales and there are money exchangers on both sides of the border. We got 3.5 Quetzales for 1 Belize dollar (and 7Q/1USD), don’t take less. Drive through fumigation, then park and pay the 38q fee on the right. This is where someone may start guiding you around, but I assure you, you don’t need them. We politely declined the service. Cross the street and get your passport stamped (costs nothing), then at “aduana” you do the paperwork for the vehicle. We had copies already, which made the process easy. They’ll need to keep a copy of your passport, drivers license, and registration (doesn’t cost extra to have more than one driver listed, but copies of all drivers’ docs needed). Here’s the odd part- they guy behind the desk explained that it costs 160q, but you have to either pay at the bank which is 1.5 km away, or go next door and pay it there, but they’ll charge you a 30q fee because they have to run to the bank. We opted to go next door, but they said they couldn’t take our payment, no idea why. So we got a taxi to the bank because it was hot af. You can pay at either of 2 banks which are directly across the street from one another. We picked the one on the right because it had a smaller queue. We also used the ATM, then got another taxi back to the border. 10q each way, don’t pay more. Back into the aduana to show your receipt, sign a few papers, put the sticker on your windshield and you’re on your way. Leaving, you’ll have to pay a bridge tax of 20q. Because of all the scrutiny regarding the fee on this app, I asked about it. He said keep the receipt, it’s only a one time fee per month, and that the rest of the locals all pay it monthly as well. Also, there are plenty of fuel stations heading out of town, all similar prices, and way cheaper than Belize!

Side note- insurance is not mandatory in Guatemala, and the closest place to get it is Flores. It’s marked on this app.

Another side note- You’ll need at least 218q just to get through the import process, BUT technically you could just exchange 38 (enough for the fumigation fee), do the import paperwork, then just get money from the ATM right before you go inside the bank to pay the fee.

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Crossing Belize to Guatemala with a truck camper
Exit fee Belize 20 USD pp
Fumigation 39 Q
TIP vehicle Guatemala 160 Q (we pay 190 Q to the guy who make copies otherwise you need to walk to the bank)
Bridge fee 20 Q (they asked us 30 because we are big but we didn’t have it so we pay 20)
We change USD at the border (Belize side)
1 USD - 7,30 Q
We already have our own copies but they asked us for two more (of course)
The guy of the car inspection was super nice and helpful.
Plan to change around 250/260 Q
Wait to be in Guatemala to get gas (is cheaper)

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Leaving Belize still 40 BZD, after short talk got 3,5 QTZ for 1 BZD from the money exchange guys.

Entering Guatemala, motorcycle "fumigation" was 16 QTZ, vehicle papers 160 QTZ + 10 QTZ for copies of passport, driving licence and vehicle papers. Bridge for moto was 10 QTZ.

They do some weird tricks with the 160 QTZ payment, saying there is no bank to pay so they try to charge you 200 "because somebody has to go to bank with it". I refused to pay more (another option on spot was copy machine guy who asked for 185) so I have been send to bank, which is in the town, after the bridge uphill between Texaco and Shell gas stations.

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from Belize to guatemala. This process should have been quick. the guy at fumigation seen our dog and took my partners passport and all the dog papers an had a runner waste about an hr of our time and then shorted us 5Q. when we could have done the paperwork ourselves. on top of it the fumigation guy laughed at us an said "its all ok because you have american dollars". were actually Canadian is what we told him but he just laughed. and didnt give our money back....so rule #1 whatever you do...do not let them take your passport with a "runner". your able to do all the work yourself at the bank. this guy held us up by over an hour now with the hassle an then my partner had to go get the TIP at the bank anyways and we almost missed the bank we made it with 5mins to spare. The fumigation guy seems cocky and shady. whatever you do dont ever let anyone take your passport. give them a copy if you have to. this was by far the worst boarder crossing expierence we have had. It also took so long (3hrs total) that we had to drive in the dark. give yourself plenty of time.
30Q for fumigation
115Q for our dog (that includes the money he shorted us)
160Q TIP
$20US per person to leave Belize.

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FOR PETS BE CAREFUL: YOU'LL HAVE TO PAY 100 USD IF YOU DON'T APPLY TO THE PAPER WORK ONLINE OF BAHA.

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Entering Belize there now is a sign reading that it is forbidden to bring about anything, including alcohol and cigarettes. We have no further information about that as we were crossing in the opposite direction.

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Belize to Guatemala:

Park car before getting to gate. A guy will want to exchange BLZ dollars to Quetzals....do not do it! Very bad rates. Enter building to pay exit tax 20Blz pp. Take receipt to get passports stamped at immigration. Exit the front of the building and go to aduana (when exiting, go past the bathrooms and enter where it says, ‘do not enter’). They want to see your permit was canceled...they didn’t check anything else for us.

Drive through gate...show receipt of exit fee and passports.

In Guatemala, a guy or two will guide you through the process...you can accept their help if you choose. But be clear with them if you don’t want their help. It was only a few Q tip, so not a worry.

Enter fumigation, pay at building (39Q) to the right after getting sprayed. Before paying, you will need to change Belizian to Quetzals. Do it here...we got 3.5Q to 1Blz and 7Q to $1US....don’t accept less.

After paying, leave vehicle there and enter building on the left. Get passport stamped, then go to aduana. You will need title, drivers licenses, registration and passport (or copies of each). They verified with the vehicle and gave us paperwork to take to bank teller to pay:160Q. Take receipt back to aduana and they give you the sticker for your car. Install in car, tip the helpers (if you choose), and you’re on your way.

The ‘helpers’ said there was a bridge payment, but there was none for us on Sunday at 3pm.

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small campervan crossing from Belize to Guatemala:

exit Belize 20 USD per person

entry Guatemala
39 Q fumigation
160 Q TIP
20 Q bridge fee

everything close together. easy border crossing. whole border crossong took us in total around 90 min

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We did't pay any toll for the bridge crossing - nobody asked. Entering Belize fresh meat, diary products, fruits and vegetables are forbidden. All the payments as described by others.

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Process as described, exit fee for Belize is no BLZ 40 pp (30 departure fee, 7.50 environment fee and 2.5 border development fee)

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Belize:
- exit fee is 40 BZ$ / person
- we got 3,2 QTZ for 1 BZ$ from the change guys

Guatemala:
- 59 GTQ fumigation for our 25ft RV (the receipt says "buses")
- 160 GTQ TIP
- 50 GTQ bridge fee

Nobody asked any question or want to see our RV. You need a copy of your vehicle registration and each driver needs copies from his drivers licence and passport. Give the copies of the passport to the immigration officer to get the entry stamp.

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Nossa entrada em Belize foi super rápida, não tinha muitas pessoas, passamos a noite na fronteira porque não conseguimos fazer o seguro do carro as 20h, acabamos fazendo no dia seguinte, se eles te pegam dirigindo sem seguro a multa é bem alta, preferimos não arriscar.

Pagamos $8,00 dólares Belizenho de fumigação, mais $12,00 de seguro por dia, mais $30,00 de taxa de circulação.

Pedimos a opção de trânsito para passar pelo país, assim não pagamos tantas taxas. Ganhamos 3 dias para cruzar Belize.

Escondemos nosso cachorro para não pagar as taxas que são absurdas, eles revisaram bem de boa a Kombi e nem notarem ele ali.

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Don't cross after 6pm, the border is open but the insurance Booth isn't ! You will have to leave your car, take a taxi to a private insurance in town (bz20) and back to the border. Police checks and could give you a huge fine if you don't have insurance.

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Everything as described below very easy border! We didn't have all the copies we need but they copier our driving licensed for free at the desk.

Few Pricing updates:
Change guys gave us 3.3QTZ per BLZ, not the worst
We were charged 39 in our van. It says microbus on the receipt so think it's legit based on size.
The toll at the bridge they now have a barrier and give you a receipt, 20 QTZ. Who knows how official but you can't just drive through anymore...

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Exchanging money - we didn't have other choice, because it was bank holiday. Don't believe the money guys on Belizean side, they will want you to buy more quetzals that is necessary to cross the border or exchange money for some fees that don't make sense (at least to me). And you can always exchange more on the Guatemalan side from other money guys if you don't have enough. We paid 197GTQ total = 17GTQ - car fumigation, the receipt said pick-up, not sure if size matters; 160GTQ - vehicle import; 20GTQ - municipal fee on the bridge.
Entering Guatemala, you can ask to put more than one driver on the TIP, it's the same price.

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the municipal Fee for the bridge is tricky. There is no sign about anything to Pay. Of course everybody at the boarder tells you that they think it is legal, if you ask them. we had quite an argument at the "toll Both". In the end we payed 20q per car and got a municipal receip, just like in Semuc Champey and other sites. Not 100% how official that Fee is.

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Just wanted to add our experience. For the fumigation it was 17 Qtzl for my SUV and 37qtzl for our friends Ford E-150 Van(Micro Bus) they wanted to charge 3 usd and 7usd which is not accurate. It should have been 2.25 and 5. So if you can pay in qtzl.
The import permit was spot on and no trouble. 160 Qtzl per vehicle in cash only.
The bridge toll was 20 and they were not letting it go. We didn’t have any cash and didn’t want to pay for other dollars, several local people got involved saying that we are bad people and that they are nice people and so on. In the end, they agreed to let one car through to go to an atm and get money. They even took my photo (which I made the toll girl delete before I ever gave her the money). So yeah... our experience. So the lesson here. Make sure you have enough Quetzal cash. We had it with us from our bank back home. But we were 10 Quetzal short on the end.

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You can take free maps of Belize and discounts of 50% off to go to the cayes with San Pedro Belize Express Ferry (only $28 belizian dollars pp, return ticket to Caye Caulker). I’m not sure if this was because it’s low season or it’s available at all times. You will need one discount coupon per person.

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You don’t need to pay the municipal fee before crossing the bridge. You can say you have been informed by the INGUAT (Guatemalan Institute of Tourism). We said that and drove through without paying, no problems!

Entering Belize: US$4 fumigation, US$15 vehicle permit and US$15 one week insurance. They will ask you where you will stay and for how long. You can get free nice maps of the country! Very nice people, they didn’t even check our vehicle at all!

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Forgot to mention: before getting the import papers for Guatemala you'll have to pay the 160 GTQ.
There are two windows on the side of the desks where you can pay. Not sure which other currencies are allowed.

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Exit Belize - You need:
* passport
* 40BZD pp
* Vehicle import paper
* any leftover BZD or MXN money you may want to exchange to GTQ

- Park your vehicle outside the office.
- Go to first desk and pay 40 BZD pp as exit fee (keep receipts).
- Go to second desk and fill in your exit forms.
Hand in your forms and get your passport stamped.
- In between both desks there is a door to a hallway (says "authorised personnel only" but they'll let you through anyway). Go through the hallway, open second door and go to your left.
This is the desk to cancel your vehicle temporary import - the guy will take your import paper and seal the passport of the driver.
- Go back the same way you came in and back to your car.
- There are some guys exchanging money outside: 3 GTQ = 1 BZD (not great, I know). You'll need GTQ to pay on the Guatemala side (also exchange guys on the other side).
- Drive through the gate and show passports and receipts to guards.

Enter Guatemala - You need:
* passport
* copy of car title
* copy of passport
* copy of driver's license (of the car's owner)
* 6USD (or GTQ equivalent) for fumigation
* 160 GTQ for car import
* 20 GTQ for bridge toll

- Close your window before entering the fumigation area.
- Wait until car is fumigated (5 seconds). Drive out and park to one of the sides, descend the vehicle.
- Go to the fumigation desk and pay the fee: 6USD (GTQ also accepted). Guy says it's the same price for any vehicle and not related to size.
- Go to the immigration building across the street.
- Go to the desk where it says "Guatemala Ingreso" (middle area). Get the official to stamp your passport with the entry date. This is a C4 visa, meaning you have a 90 day max stay between Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua (extensions possible and you still need to get your passport stamped in each country).
- Since they need the copy of the passport with the Guatemala stamp, you can ask the person at the desk to stamp your passport copy directly - no need to make any more copies.
- Go to the desk on the left, right next to this one. Show the stamped passport, the stamped copy of the passport, the car title and the driver's license of the owner(s).
- The guy will check the VIN number in your title matches the car - no inside inspection.
- They will show you the temporary permit - make sure details are correct and sign both copies. Keep one for yourself to cancel it when you exit Guatemala.
- They will also give you a sticker - you'll have to put it in your windshield on the passenger side.
- Insurance not mandatory but you can get it inside Guatemala (check iOverlander locations).
- Go back to the car and drive out, show the import permit and fumigation receipt at the exit.
- After the bridge there is a toll. Guys at the border said they're not sure how much it is, not sure how official this is. Locals do not seem to stop here. Lady just came out to stop us as we were driving by so we just kept going. Supposedly 20 GQT per car.
Overall very easy border, nice and friendly staff. Over in less than an hour.
Welcome to Guatemala!

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Pretty much same process as everyone described. We said no to the kids that tried to « help » us and we were just fine. We needed to change US or Belize $ in Quetzal though. Negotiate the rate with the guys who are exchanging money !! We got better then what he first proposed.

They never checked our vehicle or bags or anything. They didn’t even see our vehicle which was strange. 160QZ for 90 import of the vehicle.

At the exit, on the bridge, the municipal police asked us for 30QZ to use the bridge but we knew it was 20QZ and they made us pay 20QZ.

What a first bad impression coming in Guatemala !! Polices were bad and you're not even on the road yet ...

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DOG: little office left of the window where you pay for Fumigation.
Didn’t ask for health certificate, only looked at my book with immunization stamps.
Fee: G25

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Belize To Guatemala
-40$ BZ for each exit to Belize
-37 quetzal fumigation
-170 quetzal importation permit
- 20 quetzal city enter

Deux Bretons autour du monde

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Exit Belize
1. Park and enter the building
2. Stop at the first counter and pay 40 BZD pp & Get your departure receipt.
3. Immigration counter: answer questions about your stay & get your passport stamped
4. Customs counter (other part of the building...we had to ask for a little guidance): get the vehicle stamp in your passport voided
5. Go Back to the car and head toward Guatemala

Enter Guatemala
1. Drive through Fumigation, pay $6 USD, and get a receipt
2. Park and Walk to Immigration & get your Passport stamped
3a. Get in the Customs line (same counter, just to the left) ***You will need:
*1 copy of your vehicle's title
*1 copy of your drivers licence
*1 copy of your passport's photo page
*1 copy of your passport's page with the Guatemalan stamp (The copy machine close by was not working, so we walked across the bridge into town to an Internet/Xbox shop and had the copies made for 30 Q. We were guided by 2 very helpful teenage guides.)
3b. Have your vehicle inspected (verify VIN), fill out some paperwork, & Pay 160Q for your vehicle permit.

4. Drive across the bridge and pay the 20 Q toll.

Whole process: 1 hour 30 minutes

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Same steps as described with a few value updates:
Going from belize to guatemala

1) did not charge to stamp the
passports on guatemala side
2) bridge charge was $QZ 20

Some kids offering help but not much harassing. Overall very easy crossing

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Guatemala to Belize - Melchor de Mencos - Thursday 1 February 2018 - 11:30am

Easy border crossing! No buses in sight!

A man in uniform with a holstered gun stopped us on the bridge just before the Guatemala Border and demanded Q20 'Exit Fee'. Many local vehicles drove straight by without stopping. I told him it is a Scam. We drove on without paying. He did not shoot us, or come after us. DON'T PAY - IT'S A SCAM FOR SURE!!

We reached the Guatemalan Border Office - parked right outside at the side of the road - no queue - Passports stamped - next booth - no queue - TIP and Window Sticker handed over - TIP cancelled - done! Total time 5 minutes.

Drove on through Fumigation Tunnel which marks entry to Belize side of the Border. Drove slowly through (windows up). Was stopped just after Fumigation and asked to pay US$5 (or BZD10). Given a Receipt. Total time 2 minutes.

Drove on 100 metres and parked on Right Hand Side - marked parking spaces. Walked across road to Migration. Short queue at Passport Control. Migration Officer gave us a form to complete (one per person) - usual stuff - annoying they didn't have the forms at the start of the queue! Left queue to complete forms - returned to queue - passports stamped. Total time 10 minutes.

Walked on into same building - 10 metres - to Customs & Excise (Aduana) Counter - no queue - Customs Officer said we should bring all our bags from the vehicle and put them on the table there - we persuaded him this wasn't a good idea - told him we have a Mobile Home and a lot of stuff (it's a Toyota 4Runner). He came to the vehicle and checked for Fruit & Vegetables. We had none. Asked if we had any weapons? I showed him my Machete. he advised we should travel with this in the front of the car out of it's sheath rather than in the boot (trunk)! I think he was having a joke with us!

Walked back to the Customs counter and he did the paperwork. usual stuff - Driver's Passport/ Ownership Documents/Driving Licence - NO COPIES REQUIRED. Asked me to read conditions of vehicle entry (nothing bad) and sign the TIP. Gave me the TIP and advised there's a BZD30 Entry Fee for vehicles - to be paid at the Booth on the right just outside the door. Total time 20 minutes.

Lady at the Booth advised fee is BZD30 or US$15. Cash only - no Credit Cards - no ATM at the Border. Opted for BZD and changed my last few Quetzels to BZDs with the Cambio Money Changers loitering in the car park just through the gate into Belize - they have a tin shed which has Money Change/Cambio painted on it! I got BZD25 for Q100 - not sure if that's good but needs must! Went back and paid the Lady BZD30. TIP stamped and returned with a receipt for the BZD30. Total time 10 minutes (including money changers).

Walked back to vehicle - drove back to Border Post (the place where it says Welcome Prince Harry - March 2012) showed the man at the barrier Passports and TIP and drove into Belize.

Insurance is obligatory - there's an Insurance Sales Office about 200 metres past the Border gate - Right Hand Side at the end of a chain link fence. Parked up at the Office. No queue. Man in there asked a few questions and wanted the Ownership papers. Tapped away on his Computer for 5 minutes and printed the Insurance Document. Cut a section out and put it on a window sticker to go on the front windscreen drivers side top. Paid him BZD40 for 30 days cover. Had a chat about the British Royal Family. God save the Queen! Got back into vehicle - affixed window sticker - drove off. Total time 10 minutes.

Total end to end time to cross the border = 57 minutes! Quickest one yet (of 16 Pan Am Borders Crossed so far)

Safe journey! David H

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40 blz dollars per person older than 12 years old for exit country.

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Belize to Guatemala:
Today we paid :
40 Belize $ pp to exit Belize
17 Q to fumigate our truck camper
160 Q for the truck permit
Nothing for the bridge (holiday?)
No inspection of the truck.

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DOG: You need to get permit for your dog by web. It takes 7 days. Details are on wikioverland. You pay 60 BZD if you have permit. You pay 100 BZD if you don't have a permit. You should have a health report from your last country (Guatemala at this border) by a vet. The form is on BAHA website. You pay 100 BZD+10 BZD tax if you don't have health report from vet. They accept USD.
FOOD:They take all your food and dogfood if they find in your fridge. BAHA man checks your fridge (not all your vehicle).

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We crossed today from Guatemala to Belize. Slowest border so far (a big bus got in right before us), took us 2hs and 20mins. We could not avoid the bridge toll, they charged us 20Q and gave us a receipt, we actually tried the small bridge to the left but some locals said it was closed. Fumigation was 10BLD and entry fee 30BLD. They checked our fruit but did not search inside the camper. The workers were very nice.

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Belize-Guatemala: Fumigation is now 37Q and the bridge 20Q. You get a receipt for both. Today the copymachine was broken, make sure you have copies of: drivers license and passports of every driver, vehicle registration.

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Fumigation is now 37 Q. They didn't even look at the car, so I guess they don't care for fruit or vegetables.. Still would not stock up on food in Belize, there is a big(ish) market in the little town,cheaper than Belize and good quality. We asked for a place where we could buy car insurance, they told us at the bank, but the bank told us not for foreigners...

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From Belize to Guatemala

Easy border crossing.
We paid:
80blz for 2 people exit fee Belize
160 Q temporary car permit Guatemala
54 Q fumigation for truck camper
30 Q to cross the bridge.

As below mentioned:
1. Pay exit fee in Belize and cancel your temporary car permit.
2. Exchange money in Belize or Guatemala side, both bad exchange rate.
3. Drive through fumigation
4. Pay at the building window on the right hand side after fumigation.
5. Walk to immigration office across the street and get passport stamped and your vehicle permit.

Time: 45min

Nobody checked our truck camper!

Now you are ready to enjoy Guatemala

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A useful piece of information. if you are going into Belize for a short amount of time then you don't have the cancel your import permit for Guatemala. just tell the aduana, you will then need a photocopy of your permit, they will add some details to it and you are set. when you come back show them the permit and provide another copy, more details are added and away you go. it saves paying the import fee a second time. please note that the permit is not suspended, the time allowed by it will continue to elapse

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The bridge on the Guatemalan side is for fee only for foreigners. We waived to stop. They asked 50Q first. We asked why we have to pay. Then the fee was 15Q. We asked again why we have to pay with no answer that you just have to. Because there was some local cars behind us they told to park on the side of the road. Locals just drove by without paying and we just left without paying as well. If you don't just want to drive by them without stopping then just before that bride, small road leads down from the right side to the smaller bride. Just after last official checks your documents in front some red bontoons.
Some locals used that bride. There is nobody there to ask money

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Due to the confusion, fuzz and many people, somehow did not get the entrance to guatemala stamped on the passport and didnt realised it. No one stopped us on the way neither checked the passports. If u travel by bicycle make sure u go to the office to get it stamped. We are now stucked at the border to salvador and need to get back to guatemala city to the immigration office.

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When entering from Guatemala :
Stop at the crossing before the bridge. Don't go to the gate. Wait for the lady and the guy to be busy with trucks and hurry up to take the small road on the left of the bridge. You spare 7 dollars that way.
No insurance to pay if you cross Belize in one day.

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My girlfriend and I crossed on December 7/2016 in our British Columbian-plated Toyota 4runner from Belize into Guatemala. We got through in about an hour.

First we got our passports stamped on the Belizean side which cost BZD$40 per person. We then had to go walk through the building to get the temporary import permit cancelled by customs on the 'entering Belize' side. They didn't look at the vehicle, just cancelled it and we were done.

We then changed currencies outside the Belize building. Exchange rate wasn't great; lost about Q100 in total.

Then drove through a gate where a guard checked our passports to ensure they'd been stamped, we then drove immediately through fumigation on the Guatemalan side. Immediately after the fumigation we parked the vehicle and then paid Q17 at a booth on the right side and got a receipt. Then walked across the road to the immigration building. Here we began the process of getting the import permit. We showed our passports as well as my driver's license and the vehicle title. They required a photocopy of my passport, license, and the title. Our passports were stamped at the right-side of the desk, as well as the photocopy of my passport, which I then gave to the man working on the import permit.

After giving the man the copies, we walked over to the vehicle where he looked at the VIN and the plate. He looked through the vehicle's window, and then we walked back to the desk where he printed out two forms and got me to sign them. I then walked over to a teller on the right wall to pay Q160 fee for the import permit. I then walked back with the receipt and the man gave me one of the forms (the permit) as well as a sticker for the windshield, and my passport, license, and title back.

My girlfriend and I then drove across the bridge without being stopped by any officers to search the vehicle or ask for a copy of the import permit. The booth at the end of the bridge charged Q20 for our vehicle, which I paid. However, other vehicles were going through without paying anything.

Overall and in total, we paid BZD$80 for the Belizean exit tax, Q17 for the fumigation, Q160 for the import permit, plus Q20 for the bridge. We didn't have to pay to get our passports stamped.

There were many kids hanging around trying to help but we didn't pay them anything, and told them no thanks.

We filled up and got money out at the Texaco on the way out of town.

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Guate to Belize: quick and easy, 45min. Fees: bridge toll (Guatemala) 50Q, fumigation (Belize) BZD 4, vehicle entry BZD 30. Insurance: paid BZD 50 for a van (one month). Everyone in Belize happy with USD.

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Confirm change of exit fee, now BZ40. On the Guatemala side, while we were able to negotiate 17Q for fumigation previously, this time they wouldn't budge from 38Q. We were able to get a TIP for our van, even though it had not been out of Guatemala for 90 days, by importing it under the second owner listed on the registration. We did get questioned a little, one of the guys recognized us, without issue. We also had all copies except for the new entry stamp but we had already given them a passport copy so they just stamped it too, preventing us from having to walk to the copy shop (the one right next to the customs building looks closed). The bridge lady and guard were insisting upon 50Q, but couldn't provide a receipt for that amount so we ended up just driving away without paying since they refused to take the 20Q I was trying to hand them and a line of vehicles had formed behind us.

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Crossed from Belize to Guatemala. Notes:

The exit fee is now $40 BZD pp. They have added another $2.50 fee for development or something to the signs.

The fee to fumigate our (big) van was 38Q, not 18Q as some people mentioned below. It may have to do with the size.

We didn't pay any 20Q entrance fee (they didn't ask for any).

The money changers around the Guatemala immigration give 7Q per USD, about 7℅ worse than spot. I suppose you could conceivably walk into town to change money at a bank but it may be better to just change the small amount needed for fees.

Copies: to make copies we needed to cross the big bridge and hang a right around the first set of little store, and there is an internet place there that makes copies for 1Q.

We forgot about the little bridge tip (to avoid the "toll') mentioned below and the woman in the booth tried to charge us Q50! We refused and turned around on the bridge and went back around to the small bridge. The toll lady was angry and ran over and said we were going to get a fine and said she would get the police to follow us. We ignored her and just drove away without issue.

I added a photo of the big and little bridges, from the position of the border, just before crossing it.

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Belize to Guatemala

Same as bunnyhummer's experience with a few additional notes.

-After paying your Belize exit fee(s) it is easy to exchange your remaining belizian $ on the Belize side of the border rather than on Guatemala side.

-Fumigation office/window is directly on the right as soon as you drive through the fumigation "tent."

-Parking after fumigation is sparse.  We squeezed in front of the fumigation window.

-Once all paperwork is finished walk across the street and look down below the main bridge to take note of the smaller bridge.  The entrance is a hard right and downhill just before entering the main bridge.  Hard to see if driving.

-You can AVOID THE BRIDGE TOLL/ENTRANCE FEE by taking a smaller bridge that sits below and to the right of the main bridge.  We asked around and the immigration guy gave us the tip.

-live.travel.play blog also has a great write-up for this border crossing.

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Guatemala to Belize

Guatemala
1. Pull up to the blockade and the guy will tell you where to park. Bring the TIP sticker with you.
2. Go to the open stone building on the right. There is a counter labeled Salida. Get your passport stamped. 3. 3 seats over at the same counter is the aduana. Give your TIP paper and the sticker. he will verify the vin/plate #. Done

Belize
1. At the Yellow house is fumigaion. pay 35bzd. 2. park. 3. go to immigration. complete paper. get passport stamped. 4...if you have a dog, go to BAHA first. have a copy of the import permission, health cert, cert de salud. pay 65bz. 5. go to aduana. give docs and passport. if on a poder, show the english version. there is a sign thay says it has to be in english (which i have) and within 3 months but the agent didnt seem to mind mine being 6 months old. he will give you a carbon copy book to sign and give you the front paper. your passport has a stamp with the car info. 6. go to pay the border people at the window outside. 30bzd. 7. Get your car and drive it to inspection. the agent will not be very nice. he didnt believe me that i went to BAHA already and had the paperwork for my dog and went back to baha. baha confirmed i was good. the guy was a little embarrased and let me go without checking my car. they dont allow beer, fruit, or soda in. beware! 8. Drive a bit further. across where the yellow median stops is a set of offices. buy insurance there. home protector was 29bz for 1 week.

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Belize > Guatemala update: 18Q for fumigation of van, requested 20Q (not 50Q) when leaving border for driving... We had no change left and didn't have to pay this :)

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We went BZ to GT. Agree with bunnyhummer below BUT we were charged 39Q for fumigation for our 26' rig. We already had a copy of our passport so vehicle permit man just had it stamped so we didn't need to make a copy. Also argued with "toll woman" and only paid 20Q.

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the belizian boarder staff was a bit pickey. they didn't want to let us in with our dreamcatcher with feders on it (so we packed it away). they also told us, that the import of gasoline isn't allowed. it was just 4 gallons in a spare tank but after a short discussion they let us pass! one man was really unfriendly and bossy, he even shouted at us (our behaviour was decent!)!

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Belize to Guatemala

here, an update about fees and papers. fast and easy crossing.

Exit Belize:
-exit fee 37.50 BZD / person
-exit stamp
-car exit stamp at the other side of the building(actually where you do the Belize immigration from Guatemala)

Enter Guatemala:

-fumigation entered automatically
-park the car on the right
-pay 16 GTQ for the fumigation
-go to the other side of he street for immigration
-get entry stamp
-get copy of pass and entry stamp, driving license, vehicle permit. 3 GTQ/copy at the copy shop next to immigration
-get car permit for 160 GTQ, paid at small windows

once you're in Guatemala, a lady tries to charge you 50 QTY for driving in Guatemala; have fun discussing with here. the police said its mandatory too. ended up paying 20, because the max amount is 20 on their receipt

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$50 Q to cross the bridge, $6 BZD for fumigation, $30 BZD to get the car through, $110 BZD for a dog permit and 29 BZD for 1 week of car insurance from the little shacks on the right after the border crossing. Apparently you can do the dog permit online 2 weeks before your arrival and they can have the information sent to the border crossing you will be entering at and its only $50 BZD.

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FYI the people at the border (on the way in to Belize) who sell car insurance are definitely there no later than 6 pm and in our case they had already left by 5 pm. You can call (501) 823 2319 or 621 7013 if they are closed. There is apparently also a phone in the customs office that will call this number for you. See business card in posted photo. If they do not answer, you will need to leave your car at the border and get in a taxi with a driver who knows an insurance agent and go to find the agent to purchase insurance. It sounds bad but seems to be a common (and the only) option. You cannot leave the border in your car without insurance, there were police on the road out checking everyone had insurance.

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Just drove through the fumigation device and stopped the car at the parking lot. The migration is together with the customs in the same building. Personal immigration was free. For the car they charged fumigation (we had to pay 4 USD at the yellow building next to the fumigation station) and some kind of entry fee for the car: 15 USD. It was possible to pay directly in USD. In addition they checked the fridge for fruits, vegetables and meat: Tomatoes, Peppers, citrus fruits and fresh meat are not allowed - as well as the import of beer?!? Wine, rum, apples, cucumbers were fine... The whole process was absolutely friendly and professional and in English language. The required insurance for Belize you can get after the import procedure down the hill on the right side at the small huts - you will get a sticker for the front window. We didn't need any copy's!

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http://nelisbigadventure.com/belizeguatemala-border-crossing-with-a-dog/

Park in front of the large building, try to ignore the helpers.

Belize Immigration

At the first desk you come to you will pay your Exit Fee. 37.50 BZD

At the second desk they will stamp you out of Belize. Make sure you get this stamp as if you try to come back into Belize without the stamp it will be a hassle (according to the border agent we spoke with).

Go through the door to the left of Immigration to continue to BAHA and Customs

BAHA Office

At the office on the left in front of Customs, hand in your Belizean Landing Permit. No Fee.

Belize Customs

Here you will hand in your Import Form and they will stamp your vehicle out in the driver’s passport. No inspection, No Fee.

Enter Guatemala

Fumigation

Drive through Fumigation Garage, make sure your windows are rolled up.

Try to ignore the helpers, park over on the left and walk back to the small office across the street to pay for the fumigation. 40 Q, keep receipt.

NOTE: Double check the information on receipt as they messed up our license plate number.

If you are traveling with a dog, in this same office they will stamp whatever documents you have. We do not have a Doggie Passport so they just stamped everything we gave them without actually looking at anthing. No Fee.

Guatemala Immigration

Across the street from the Fumigation Office, is a large open-air building. Immigration is to the far right. They will stamp your passports and the copies of your passports. No Fee.

NOTE: We had heard that come people were charged 30Q/person here but we did not get asked for anything

Belize Customs

The desk right next to Immigrations is Customs.

Hand in your passports and copies, show them your Title and give them the copy

They will give you a form to fill out by hand and then enter everything into the computer. This is where we noticed the Fumigation Receipt was incorrect but the Customs Agent just shrugged it off and updated everything in the computer.

Pay Vehicle Import at the Banjercito (small window by Immigration, look for the man with the large gun). 160Q

Take receipt from Banjercito back to Customs to receive Import Permit.

Customs Agent will walk out to your vehicle, look at VIN and stick the permit on your vehicle.

Inspection Gate

Someone will take your Import Permit, look at your license plate, walk into a small brown hut, come back a few minutes later and tell you to go. No Fee.

Municipal Tax

As you drive over the bridge to enter Belize, you will get stopped and asked to pay a Municipal Tax Fee. 50Q

We have head this is also a scam for foreign-plated vehicles but we didn’t even bother arguing.

Insurance: Insurance is not mandatory in Guatemala

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This post is from  Life Remotely. To read their full experience and see photos, see the detailed article at  http://liferemotely.com/trip-shenanigans/guatemala/150-belize-to-guatemala-border-crossing

Border name: Melchor de Mencos
Between cities: Benque Viejo Del Carmen, Belize and Melchor de Mencos, Guatemala
Cost to exit Belize: BZ37.50 ($18.75 USD)
Cost for visas: Q20 ($2.60 USD) per person (unofficially)
Cost for vehicle: Q18 ($2.34 USD) for fumigation, Q160 ($20.78 USD) for Vehicle Import Permit
Total time: 55 minutes

The steps: Go to the Belize immigration building.Pay the exit fee at the first counter.Have your passport stamped at the second counter.The driver takes the Belize vehicle permit to a third counter (the customs desk) on the side. Where the permit is cancelled.Passengers meet the driver on the other side of the customs checkpoint and proceed to Guatemala.First stop is the huge fumigation area. Your car is sprayed as you drive through. Pay the man upon exit and get a fumigation receipt.Walk to the open air customs and immigration building.Stand in the “Entrada” line. Get passports stamped and pay Q20 per person fee. There is no receipt for this fee, it isn’t official. And we probably could have argued our way out of it.Go to another man on the left side of the long counter. Present vehicle title, drivers passport and copies of both documents. He will give you a printed form with your vehicle information and the amount you have to pay.Go to the cashier window on the other side of the big building. Present the vehicle paperwork and pay the fee. The cashier will stamp the paperwork and return it to you.Go back to the vehicle import counter and show the official your stamped receipt from the cashier. He will issue you a permit sticker for your windshield and give you a paper permit and the receipt. He will keep the copies of your title and the drivers ID.Return to your car and affix the sticker, we were told on the top drivers side corner of the windshield, then drive towards the bridge.An officer will stop you and ask for your permit paperwork. He may take the paperwork to the side and consult with his gun toting colleagues. Then hopefully, he’ll return the paperwork and wave you through.

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Belize To Guatemala - Exiting Belize

Approaching the border from the Belize side heading toward Guatemala there is an area to park your moto on the right hand side only metres from the exit gate.

You go in and pay your $37.50 BZD to get out, these are Belize levies at  $30.00 BZD tourist tax and a $7.50 BZD Eco- fee.

You then proceed to the next desk to get your passport stamped out with your tax receipt.

Having a moto means you have to turn around and go back to the door opposite the first counter, this door is on your right heading back or left entering the building and takes you through an air conditioned hallway about 8 metres long through another door to clock out your TVIP.

You can then go back out to your moto that is aptly parked for your exit from Belize and entry in Guatemala and show the border guard your passport and receipts at which time he will open the gate and wave you on through.

Entering Guatemala

You ride through an open area in no mans land and ride over to and through the right hand side spray booth which is gratis.

You can park you moto either left or right hand side, better if you park on the left close to the office which is the first building on your left, the reason is the customs TVIP officer has to place you sticker on the inside of your windscreen.

Both you and you moto can be clocked in at the same counter just further along, on clocking yourself in you will be charged an entry fee of $3.00 USD each and stamped in, very easy.

You then turn left to the TVIP offcier and fill out a myriad of paperwork, you will require your original title, registration and your passport, note you will need to produce copies of these as well.

The catch here is they want a photocopy of the stamp they just gave you in your passport so you HAVE to go out of that office and go back to Belize if the Guatemalan side is closed then get back in line.      

Formalities done you pay $160.00 Quetzales which is about $20.00 USD and is not refundable, you will then receive you piece of paper (keep this safe) and your sticker which the officer will fix to your moto screen.

Armed with all this proceed to the exit cones and show your sticker and you are free to go to start enjoying Guatemala.    

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This is our experience/record of crossing the Belize-Guatemala border on Tuesday, 6 January 2015. Our traveling party consisted of two people, two motorcycles, and one dog (Chihuahua).

Step by step instructions can be found at:  http://www.smboilerworks.com/belize-to-guatemala-border-crossing-with-a-dog/

They are too long to post here. 

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This post is from Dave G's crossing in 2008. Pictures are available on his blog. 
Crossing the Belize -> Guatemala border with a motorcycle
EASY!! I’m waiting for these horrible Central American borders that I read about. Maybe I keep getting lucky, but this one was even easier than the Mexico -> Belize border. The whole experience only took about 30 minutes. None of it was waiting in lines. Most of it was me just chatting with a money changer. BTW, if you use a money changer, use one on the Guatemala side. They gave a significantly better rate than the changers on the Belize side. You just have to do your negotiating in spanish. I uninformedly (is that a word?) changed $25USD (50 Belize) on the Belize side. They offered me 6 quetzales per USD, I got them up to 6.5. On the Guatemala side, you can get 7.10 / USD.
Anyway. Here’s the step by step.

What you need:
* Passport with Belize entry stamp for you and your motorcycle
* Customs declaration page for your motorcycle
* Your “Original” title (see note)
* 1 copy of your title
* 1 copy of your drivers license
* 1 copy of your passport

Belize Side:
1. Park bike under the trees under the P sign right next to the final checkpoint
2. Enter the Departure Hall and present passport and $37 Belize to immigration. The $37 is your exit fee.
3. After paying the bill, get your exit stamp at the next counter
4. Walk all the way back out of the door you entered and enter the “Entry Hall”. There will be lots of taxis and tourist promoters. They’ll ignore you because you’re going the opposite way that everyone else is
5. Stop at the customs desk ignoring the desk at the end of the hall with the big line. That is for people coming from Guatemala. You only need to visit customs.
6. Give customs your passport and your customs declaration page for your motorcycle
7. They will cancel it with a stamp and take the paper from you
8. Exit the hall from the door you entered. Now all the tourist guys will bother you even though they just saw you walk in from the Belize side 4 minutes ago.
9. Remount the bike and show checkpoint guard your stamped passport
10. Drive to Guatemala side

Guatemala Side:
1. Bypass the fumigation station by driving on the pedestrian section
2. Park on the sidewalk right next to the migration building on the left.
3. Stand in line at the Migration Entry side. There are two lines. One is for exiting, the other is for entering. In my case, the Exit line looked like it would take about an hour. The Entry line only took 1 minute.
4. Stamp into Guatemala. This costs $7 quetzales. I paid $3 Belize
5. Hop the rope barrier to your left and talk to customs
6. Show them your “Original” title, and present them the 1 copy each of your DL, title, and passport
7. The officer will enter your info into the computer and hand you a sticker for your windshield
8. Cross the bridge and BOOM, you’re in Guatemala

NOTE: I thought I was going to have a close call. I never present my original ANYTHING except my passport. Everything else I present, even as originals, is a copy. I have a fantastic photocopy of my title that I use. I was afraid I’d get questioned about it because the guy next to me was importing his VW Jetta from Texas. So there were two Texas titles within 5 feet of each other. Mine looked a littttle fake. I guess he never actually asked me for my original. He just assumed that the little double sided printed piece of paper was my original title.

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This is guest post from Sellheim (Dom), originally posted on  Horizons Unlimited http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/central-america-and-mexico/complete-central-america-mexico-colombia-71892 .
Guatemala-Belize, Melchor de Mencos Border: Crossed 16/9/12. 
There's only one well signposted border crossing. 

Exit Belize: 
Belize immigration gave exit stamp in passport 37 Belizean dollars(BZD) or USD$18.50 and aduana gave an exit stamp in passport (no charge). 

Enter Guatemala: 
Motorbikes didn't have to get fumigated, you're just signalled to drive around the side of the fumigator shed. Unfortunately I misunderstood this signal and got fumigated with the bike, cost 12 Guatemalan Quetzales (GTQ) or USD$1.50. Then got entry stamp in passport for USD$2.50 or GTQ20 at immigration and combined aduana building. Guy at aduana was painfully slow, got the SAT temporary vehicle import paper and sticker for my windscreen valid for 90 days. I was told to hand this over as I left Nicaragua or if I left Guatemala. This paper has some affiliation with Honduras and Nicaragua, although I still had to do all the usual vehicle entry requirements in those countries. This paper I believe was then cancelled when I left Nicaragua, so it was worth keeping. I guess you would get this vice versa if you were coming north into Nicaragua. The fee for the vehicle temporary import paper was GTQ160 or USD$20. I was told insurance wasn't necessary. Whole process took about 1hr and 30mins. There's a real nice hotel just after the turn off to Tikal about 1hr 30mins ride from the border overlooking the lake, with aircon and a great restaurant. Think there was gas and ATM's at the Guatemalan border, but it was nighttime so not too sure. Gas stations were on the Belize side. 

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