Border Posts
This provides an excellent opportunity for me to expand on a travel topic that is near and dear to my heart: border fees. When moving overland across borders, travelers are often required to pay some sort of border fee -think of it like the price of admission. These fees manifest in various forms, the most common being the visa fee, which can run anywhere from a few bucks to as much as $100, or even more. Often, countries will apply different amounts to travelers from different countries, depending on the ´normalcy´of their relationship. When traveling in Africa, most countries we entered charged us either nothing, or a very nominal amount for our tourist visas, while our counterparts from the U.K. got royally screwed to the tune of a hundy or more --a lot of folks still pissed off at Europeans over the whole African Colonization thing. In Tanzania, our visa fee (for which we had to apply in advance of our trip) was $100, basically a reciprocation of the amount the U.S. regularly charges foreigners for their visas to visit the states. In place of a visa fee, some countries simply charge a ¨stamp fee¨or ¨entrance fee¨of a few bucks to cover the cost of border operations. These are all quite tolerable, when you can be certain it is the government that you are actually paying.
See, border guards and immigration officers are not paid very well. And like many other beauracrats throughout the world, they often see fit to pad their meager paychecks by lightening the wallets of others. In the case of border officials in far too many countries, this is achieved through the levying of certain fees that have not been sanctioned by their superiors, and when we are out of earshot, we call this ¨corruption¨. This is more of a nuisance than anything else, and surely many travelers opt to simply pay the few dollars that are asked of them in the interest of expediency and, well, their personal safety. But I think every traveler should at least be aware of where their money is going, and distinguishing between official charges and bogus fees is actually quite easy.
When a country´s government establishes fees to be collected by its border officers, it also prints very official-looking signs stating the amount to be paid, as well as at least somewhat-official-looking receipts, cards, or visas (which are actual stamps that are pasted into passports) as proof of payment. Often times one has the ability to check a country´s official websites for the latest on its entry or exit fees, but some times this is not possible and we are left to figure out for ourselves whether the fee being asked of us is legitimate, or if we are simly paying the tab on a night´s boozing at the local watering hole for the border corps. 9 times out of 10 (because there must be an exception out there, though I haven´t seen it myself), the signs and receipts rule applies. If you don´t see an official sign stating clearly the fee expected, and if the border official cannot provide you with some sort of believable receipt, you are being had. And this happens ALL THE TIME.
It is of course up to your discretion how much challenge you want to put up to the guys holding both your passport and all the guns, but patience and cheerful resistance will win the day more times than not. I bring this up now because after bidding a tearful farewell to our good friends at the Belizean border post, the entire staff on the Guatemalan side tried to take us for an expensive ride. Now, we knew ahead of time that they might try a stunt, because eventually enough travelers complain for the folks at the travel book companies to do some research and name the border posts that are particularly problematic. So, when stepping up to the immigration counter the (very professional looking) officer informed us of the fees we would be required to pay, I knew he was full of crap. In the four country region of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua (known as the CA-4 zone), visitors are allowed unrestricted travel within the zone for a period of 90 days, and can only be charge upon their exit from the zone, either by plane, or across a border into an unaffiliated country. This is widely known, so it is really quite audacious for a border officer to pull this sort of thing. But just in case, I fell back to the signs and receipts rule.
I took a look around, noting of course the absence of any sign stating visa fees, and asked the officer where the visas fees were posted, officially. And he of course ceased to understand me altogether, repeating only that I must pay the amount, and could pay in dollars if I did not have enough Belizean or Guatemalan currency. I smiled and explained to him that I had researched the immigration rules of the CA-4 zone, and would be paying my fees when we flew out of Guatemala City at the end of our trip. He shook his head, and did some pointing at his computer screen as proof of the fees that must be paid. I leaned over the counter and followed his finger (which I guess he assumed I would not do) and the best I could gather from his screen was that he had just finished a losing hand of solitaire.
It was really quite hard not to laugh. Raising my eyebrows, I asked once more if he could provide any official documents certifying the collection of fees from an incoming visitor, and he gave up in frustration, passing me on to the border officer on his left. She made us wait a while before kicking off the same twisted conversation. When we refused to pay without seeing some official document, she called over her boss (who was dressed in civilian clothes, a trait I have found common among people who hold enough power to demonstrate it by not confining themselves to standard protocol). For the next few minutes we had a very polite debate, and they talked some gibberish to each other, and they asked a number of questions about how we were traveling that seemed to be aimed at finding a point on which we were not knowledgeable of the immigration laws.
Finally, as we were by this time at the head of a growing line of travelers queing up to get screwed, the big bossman told us to follow him to his office, I supposed to educate us on the law, or sort us out, or shoot us. We followed, a bit reluctantly, but after a few corners found ourselves not in his office, but a courtyard which led out to the road beyond the checkpoint. He asked a final question about whether we were traveling on by bus or taxi (as though it mattered), then simply handed us our passports and told us we were free to go. This really pissed me off. I had half a mind to go around to the front and tell everyone in line that we didn't pay a cent, but I figured we'd pushed our luck far enough for one day and they had all probably seen enough to ask a few questions of their own. Remember, when in doubt, signs and receipts... good luck.
See, border guards and immigration officers are not paid very well. And like many other beauracrats throughout the world, they often see fit to pad their meager paychecks by lightening the wallets of others. In the case of border officials in far too many countries, this is achieved through the levying of certain fees that have not been sanctioned by their superiors, and when we are out of earshot, we call this ¨corruption¨. This is more of a nuisance than anything else, and surely many travelers opt to simply pay the few dollars that are asked of them in the interest of expediency and, well, their personal safety. But I think every traveler should at least be aware of where their money is going, and distinguishing between official charges and bogus fees is actually quite easy.
When a country´s government establishes fees to be collected by its border officers, it also prints very official-looking signs stating the amount to be paid, as well as at least somewhat-official-looking receipts, cards, or visas (which are actual stamps that are pasted into passports) as proof of payment. Often times one has the ability to check a country´s official websites for the latest on its entry or exit fees, but some times this is not possible and we are left to figure out for ourselves whether the fee being asked of us is legitimate, or if we are simly paying the tab on a night´s boozing at the local watering hole for the border corps. 9 times out of 10 (because there must be an exception out there, though I haven´t seen it myself), the signs and receipts rule applies. If you don´t see an official sign stating clearly the fee expected, and if the border official cannot provide you with some sort of believable receipt, you are being had. And this happens ALL THE TIME.
It is of course up to your discretion how much challenge you want to put up to the guys holding both your passport and all the guns, but patience and cheerful resistance will win the day more times than not. I bring this up now because after bidding a tearful farewell to our good friends at the Belizean border post, the entire staff on the Guatemalan side tried to take us for an expensive ride. Now, we knew ahead of time that they might try a stunt, because eventually enough travelers complain for the folks at the travel book companies to do some research and name the border posts that are particularly problematic. So, when stepping up to the immigration counter the (very professional looking) officer informed us of the fees we would be required to pay, I knew he was full of crap. In the four country region of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua (known as the CA-4 zone), visitors are allowed unrestricted travel within the zone for a period of 90 days, and can only be charge upon their exit from the zone, either by plane, or across a border into an unaffiliated country. This is widely known, so it is really quite audacious for a border officer to pull this sort of thing. But just in case, I fell back to the signs and receipts rule.
I took a look around, noting of course the absence of any sign stating visa fees, and asked the officer where the visas fees were posted, officially. And he of course ceased to understand me altogether, repeating only that I must pay the amount, and could pay in dollars if I did not have enough Belizean or Guatemalan currency. I smiled and explained to him that I had researched the immigration rules of the CA-4 zone, and would be paying my fees when we flew out of Guatemala City at the end of our trip. He shook his head, and did some pointing at his computer screen as proof of the fees that must be paid. I leaned over the counter and followed his finger (which I guess he assumed I would not do) and the best I could gather from his screen was that he had just finished a losing hand of solitaire.
It was really quite hard not to laugh. Raising my eyebrows, I asked once more if he could provide any official documents certifying the collection of fees from an incoming visitor, and he gave up in frustration, passing me on to the border officer on his left. She made us wait a while before kicking off the same twisted conversation. When we refused to pay without seeing some official document, she called over her boss (who was dressed in civilian clothes, a trait I have found common among people who hold enough power to demonstrate it by not confining themselves to standard protocol). For the next few minutes we had a very polite debate, and they talked some gibberish to each other, and they asked a number of questions about how we were traveling that seemed to be aimed at finding a point on which we were not knowledgeable of the immigration laws.
Finally, as we were by this time at the head of a growing line of travelers queing up to get screwed, the big bossman told us to follow him to his office, I supposed to educate us on the law, or sort us out, or shoot us. We followed, a bit reluctantly, but after a few corners found ourselves not in his office, but a courtyard which led out to the road beyond the checkpoint. He asked a final question about whether we were traveling on by bus or taxi (as though it mattered), then simply handed us our passports and told us we were free to go. This really pissed me off. I had half a mind to go around to the front and tell everyone in line that we didn't pay a cent, but I figured we'd pushed our luck far enough for one day and they had all probably seen enough to ask a few questions of their own. Remember, when in doubt, signs and receipts... good luck.
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