Bolivia Entry Requirements

Entry rules change, and they have changed for United States passport holders more than once in recent years. Nothing on this page is a substitute for asking the Bolivian consulate responsible for your state what applies to you, close to the date you travel. What follows is what the sources this cluster cites actually say, with each one attributed, so you know what you are checking against.

⚠ The yellow fever certificate is a requirement, not a recommendation

This is the single most important line on the page, and it is the one most often reported wrongly. The cited health authority states that proof of yellow fever vaccination is required for all arriving travelers aged one year and over. There is no condition attached about where you are flying from. A traveler boarding a direct flight from the United States is covered by it.

That is a separate matter from the vaccine recommendation, which is narrower. The same authority recommends the vaccine for travelers aged nine months and over going to areas below 2,300 meters east of the Andes: the entire departments of Beni, Pando and Santa Cruz, and designated areas of Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz and Tarija. It is not recommended above 2,300 meters.

Read those two together and the odd result is the normal case. La Paz, Lake Titicaca, Potosi, Sucre and the Salar de Uyuni all sit above 2,300 meters, so a classic highland itinerary is outside the area the vaccine is recommended for, and still needs the certificate to get in. Whether the vaccine is appropriate for you is a question for a travel health professional, and it is one to ask early, because a certificate takes time to become valid.

How long you may stay

The source this cluster cites was written for British passport holders, and it records 90 days of visa free travel in a one-year period. It also records something that catches people out: border officials issue 30-day stamps, but the holder may stay 90 days without any new stamp. So a stamp that appears to give you a month is not necessarily the limit.

Do not extrapolate that to a United States passport. The nationality the rule was written for is part of the rule. Confirm your own allowance with the consulate, and if you plan to stay beyond it, ask about extension before you travel rather than after you arrive.

Before you book

• Check the yellow fever requirement first, because it has a lead time and everything else does not.
• Confirm the current visa position for your own passport with a Bolivian consulate, not with a travel forum.
• Check your passport's expiry against your return date with room to spare.
• If a child will travel with one parent or with neither, ask the consulate what documentation Bolivia expects. Several countries in the region require a notarized letter, and the requirement is not something to discover at a check-in desk.

Arriving

Most international arrivals come through El Alto for La Paz or Viru Viru for Santa Cruz. If you are flying into El Alto, read the altitude section of the best time to visit guide before you fix the first two days of the itinerary, because arriving above four thousand meters from sea level is the part of a Bolivian trip that most often goes wrong.

For what to do about money once you are through, see the currency and money guide.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Bolivia entry requirements: 90 days of visa free travel in a one-year period, and the note that border officials issue 30-day stamps although a visitor may stay 90 days without a new one. Accessed 17 September 2026.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Bolivia traveler health: a yellow fever vaccination certificate required for all arriving travelers aged one year and over, and separately a vaccine recommendation limited to travelers aged nine months and over going to areas below 2,300 meters east of the Andes, namely the entire departments of Beni, Pando and Santa Cruz and designated areas of Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz and Tarija, with the vaccine not recommended above 2,300 meters; malaria risk recorded in areas below 2,500 meters and none recorded in the city of La Paz. Accessed 17 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Bolivia travel advice: the index to the entry, safety, regional and health pages this cluster draws on, the advice against all but essential travel to the Chapare region of Cochabamba Department, the State of Emergency under which police and armed forces may detain a person who does not comply for up to eight hours without charge, and the standing guidance that no travel can be guaranteed safe. Accessed 17 September 2026.