Venezuela e-visa: what applicants are reporting
Each month we read what applicants post in the Venezuela Visa Chat, a WhatsApp group of mostly US and Canadian travellers applying in CancillerĂa Digital, and keep what people report first-hand. This edition covers 16 September to 16 October 2026. These are applicants' experiences, not official rules: each card says where it comes from and when it was checked, and nothing here identifies anyone.
Facts on this page verified through Oct 17, 2026.
The headline: approvals are taking about 6 days, not 72 hours
Across 15 reported approvals, the median wait was 6 days and 11 came within two weeks. Some took three weeks. See every report on the wait-time tracker.
How long it is taking
The ministry says about 72 hours. Applicants report something different.
How long approval takes
The June 2026 tourist and business manuals state that the trĂ¡mite will be approved and signed in approximately 72 hours ("aproximadamente 72 horas"). In 15 first-hand reports from 16 September to 15 October 2026, approval took 2 to 23 days, with a median of 6; four took 18 days or more. Applications corrected and resubmitted after a rejection were often approved within 1 to 4 days. Live figures are on the Wait times page.
What to do: Apply at least 3 to 4 weeks before you fly, and longer if a rejection would leave no time to apply again.
Common mistake: Applying the week before the flight because the manual says 72 hours.
Official sourceLast verified Oct 17, 2026Source
Paying the fee
Payment is where most applications go wrong, and a failed payment can look like a rejection.
How much the government fee is
Applicants consistently report a fee of USD 60 per application (three reports, 24 September to 12 October 2026), charged again on every new application. One September 2026 guide said USD 180, and no official source states the fee.
What to do: Pay the amount the portal shows, in the portal only; nobody else collects it for you.
Common mistake: Budgeting from an out-of-date guide, or paying anyone outside the portal.
Reported by applicantsLast verified Oct 17, 2026
Which cards work for the portal payment
US and Canadian big-bank cards were reported working (Chase, Bank of America and TD Visa cards; Zinli also worked). Wise and Revolut cards were declined again. One applicant had Visa cards from four European and Middle East banks blocked as a "high-risk site" and paid with a Mastercard: the bank's fraud filter, not the card network, seems to decide.
What to do: Call your bank's fraud line before paying, keep a second card ready, and turn off any VPN.
Common mistake: Trying the same declined card again and again, or a Wise or Revolut card, then assuming the portal is broken.
Reported by applicantsLast verified Oct 17, 2026
"Pago rechazado" but your card was charged
The portal can show "Pago rechazado" (payment rejected) even though the card was charged. Applicants had to start a new application and pay again; the second payment went through and the visa was approved a day or two later.
What to do: Screenshot the error and keep your bank record, then dispute the first charge with your card issuer.
Common mistake: Waiting for the rejected application to move, or paying the same application repeatedly.
Reported by applicantsLast verified Oct 17, 2026
Turn off your VPN before paying
Applicants report that a VPN blocks the payment step.
What to do: Turn off any VPN before you reach the payment step.
Common mistake: Paying with a VPN on, then retrying the card.
Reported by applicantsLast verified Oct 17, 2026
Every new application is charged again
Each new application after a rejection is charged again. There is no refund of the earlier fee.
What to do: Fix everything that could be wrong before submitting a new solicitud, so you pay once more, not several times.
Common mistake: Resubmitting the same application unchanged.
Reported by applicantsLast verified Sep 25, 2026
Documents
What was accepted, and one rejection that was easy to avoid.
Proof of funds: a screenshot with your name
A bank screenshot or statement showing your name was accepted; one approval showed about USD 2,000. The amount does not appear to matter.
What to do: Upload a recent statement or screenshot that shows your name and balance.
Common mistake: Uploading a balance screenshot without your name on it.
Reported by applicantsLast verified Oct 17, 2026
Estimated travel dates are accepted
Estimated travel dates are accepted. Some applicants entered "N/A" for flight details, and a purchased ticket was not required to apply. A refundable hotel booking, cancelled afterwards, was accepted, including one that covered only 3 of 7 nights. The dates must match across the flight, the hotel and the form.
What to do: Enter your planned dates. If you have not bought a ticket, do not upload one you did not buy; a refundable fare is the safe choice if you want one.
Common mistake: Buying a non-refundable ticket only to fill the form.
Reported by applicantsLast verified Oct 17, 2026
Order of a translation packet
A translation packet goes in the order: translation, translator's declaration, original English document. Upload the original together with the translation: one applicant was rejected for uploading only the translation. Apostille the original first, then translate the document together with its apostille.
What to do: Combine the three parts in that order into one file before uploading.
Common mistake: Uploading the original first, or the parts as separate files.
Reported by applicantsLast verified Oct 17, 2026
Health insurance is not needed for the e-visa
Applicants report that health insurance is not required for the e-visa; the list that mentions it applies to visas issued at embassies.
What to do: Skip health insurance for the e-visa unless the portal asks for it.
Common mistake: Delaying the application to buy insurance.
Reported by applicantsLast verified Oct 17, 2026
Uploaded documents can only be replaced
Uploaded documents cannot be deleted, only replaced, and they reappear in new requests.
What to do: Check every document before you submit, and replace any old file when you start a new request.
Common mistake: Assuming a new request starts with an empty document list.
Reported by applicantsLast verified Oct 17, 2026
The portal itself
Quirks applicants ran into in CancillerĂa Digital.
One request at a time
You cannot open a new request while another one is still pending.
What to do: Wait for the pending request to be decided (or rejected) before starting a new one.
Common mistake: Starting a second request to "speed things up".
Reported by applicantsLast verified Oct 17, 2026
Who to add as your contact person
The contact person should not be a family member and should live in your country of residence; whether they are Venezuelan does not matter. This is one experienced helper's guidance, not an official rule.
What to do: Add a non-family contact who lives in the same country as you.
Common mistake: Adding a relative in Venezuela as the contact.
Reported by applicantsLast verified Oct 17, 2026
"Falla inesperada" when registering: a possible cause
Two applicants whose passport number had earlier been entered as a contact on someone else's account got "Falla inesperada, intente mĂ¡s tarde" when registering themselves, and removing the contact did not fix it. It has been reported to the ministry's technical department. Not confirmed.
What to do: If you see this error, try again later; if it persists and your number was ever used as someone's contact, report it to CancillerĂa.
Common mistake: Using a relative's passport number as your contact, then later trying to register that relative.
Reported by applicantsLast verified Oct 17, 2026
Children with a Venezuelan parent
The reports conflict, so here are both.
A child with one Venezuelan parent can use a tourist visa
A US-passport child with one Venezuelan parent can enter on a tourist visa. Reports conflict on the "Datos filiatorios" section: one family was rejected after uploading the birth certificate there again and approved after uploading the parents' passports instead; another family put the birth certificate there and had both children approved.
What to do: Apply for the child's tourist visa like any other applicant if you want the child to travel on the US passport.
Common mistake: Assuming the child cannot get a tourist visa because a parent is Venezuelan.
Reported by applicantsLast verified Oct 17, 2026Source
Validity and arrival
After approval: how long the visa lasts and what happened at the airport.
How long the tourist visa is valid
The approved tourist e-visa has been reported as valid for one year from approval, with multiple entries. A group organiser says tourist visas issued since March 2026 also limit your total stay to 90 days within that year; another member said there was no limit, then withdrew it. Not yet confirmed by an official source.
What to do: Plan on at most 90 days in Venezuela per year of validity. Extending requires an in-person visit to SAIME, with no guaranteed outcome.
Common mistake: Assuming the visa is valid only for one trip.
Reported by applicantsLast verified Oct 17, 2026
What to have ready at arrival
At arrival, have the return ticket, hotel reservation, visa and passport ready on your phone or printed. Officers may keep or photograph the documents. A fingerprint and photo are taken. Reports from September and October 2026: at Caracas on 6 October, no questions, only the return flight was checked, and a tour operator's itinerary was accepted instead of hotel bookings; another Caracas arrival had a 10-minute line with questions about the purpose of the trip and where the traveller was staying; at Maracaibo on 20 September the immigration system was down for foreigners and the wait was about two hours.
What to do: Carry printed copies as well as the files on your phone.
Common mistake: Arriving with the visa only in an email you cannot open offline.
Reported by applicantsLast verified Oct 17, 2026
Still unanswered
Applicants asked these and nobody had a sourced answer. We will add them when we find an official one.
- Whether ADHD medication such as Adderall can be brought into Venezuela.
- How to enter a hyphenated or compound surname.
- Whether Haitian, Pakistani or Indian passport holders are being approved.
Applying now?
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