In today’s world, traveling has become an integral part of our lives. Be it for leisure or work, many of us find ourselves regularly on the move across borders. However, one integral aspect that you may overlook is the safety of your travel documents. Losing these critical papers can turn a dream holiday into a
Visa policy for Puerto Rico
The Puerto Rico visa policy determines who may enter the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico without a visa and which foreign citizens need a visa to travel to this archipelago in the northeast Caribbean Sea.
As Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States, it shares the US visa policy and imposes the same immigration rules and regulations on foreign citizens. As Puerto Ricans have been US citizens since 1917, they are granted freedom of movement between the island and mainland USA.
At present, there are currently 40 nationalities who do not need a visa for Puerto Rico, including citizens of Canada who may enter the archipelago simply by presenting a valid Canadian passport at border checkpoints.
Under the terms of the US visa waiver program, all other visa-exempt nationalities are required to have an approved US ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) visa waiver to travel to Puerto Rico. This electronic travel authorization is available through a simple online application.
An approved ESTA for Puerto Rico allows a stay of 90 days with each entry for tourism, transit, or business purposes, and is valid for a total of 2 years from issue, meaning there is no need to re-apply for every trip to US territories.
To visit Puerto Rico for other purposes or longer periods of stay, visa waiver citizens are required to apply for a Puerto Rican embassy visa from a US diplomatic government office.
Additionally, over 190 nationalities need to apply for a visa from an embassy no matter the intended duration of stay or travel purpose.
At present, there is a Puerto Rican visa ban in place for roughly 5 nationalities worldwide.
Discover further information about the different entry types for Puerto Rico below.