If you become a Bolivian citizen and get a Bolivian passport, you’ll end up with a pretty limited document that will allow you to enter without a visa to only around 80 countries, most of them located in Asia, Latin America, and Africa, and almost none in Europe or North America.
Bolivians and naturalized citizens from this country have visa-free entrance to around 80 countries, but almost none of these are from the first world, most are located in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. All countries from Western Europe and North America will require Bolivians to first present a visa.
Here, we’ll talk about the restrictions that Bolivians and naturalized citizens have when visiting other countries, how the Bolivian passport performs when freely enabling its citizens to enter other countries, also a full list of countries that offer free visa entrance for Bolivians and countries that need them to first present a visa before entering.
Bolivia currently has visa-free entrance to 80 countries
Currently, Bolivia has multiple agreements with many other countries to permit free visa entrance to its citizens, but these are mostly other Latin American countries and some Asian countries with which the current Bolivian government has a political affinity.
On the other hand, except for Ireland, no country from the first world, North America or Europe, offers free visa entrance to Bolivians or Bolivian naturalized citizens. These countries normally require Bolivians to first present a valid visa before entering their territories.
The Bolivian passport is ranked in the 68th position in regards to the freedom and nonlimitation for Bolivians to travel around the world, so this is a pretty limited passport, which is way behind passports from many other countries, including the ones from some countries located in Latin America, like Brazil, Argentina or Chile.
Bolivia’s entrance situation with every other country
Now, let’s talk in detail about the list of countries that allow Bolivians to enter either:
- With only their ID card (10 countries)
- With a passport (70 countries)
- With a valid visa (the rest of the countries)
10 countries to which Bolivian citizens can enter with just their ID card
Bolivia has celebrated some agreements with most other countries from South America, and one from Central America to let its citizens enter without even a passport and by just presenting their documents (ID documents).
The following is a list of the countries that allow Bolivian naturalized citizens to enter their territory by just presenting their ID documents.
South America:
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Colombia
- Chile
- Ecuador
- Paraguay
- Perú
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
Central America:
- Costa Rica
North America, Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Oceania:
- None
As a naturalized citizen or a Bolivian, to enter the countries listed above, you’ll only need to present your ID card and you won’t require a passport.
70 countries to which Bolivian citizens can enter with just their passport
There is another group of countries that will allow Bolivians and naturalized citizens to enter their territory by presenting a passport. As for 2023, these are around 70 countries.
Most of them are located in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania, but only 3 of them are from Europe, and none from North America.
This happens because Bolivia currently has not a very good political relationship with countries from Europe and even less with countries from North America. On the other hand, the Bolivian passport allows its citizens to enter Iran and Russia without many troubles.
North America:
- None
South America:
- French Guiana
- Surinam
Central America:
- Belize
- Costa Rica
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- México
- Bahamas
- Virgin Islands
- Dominican Republic
- French West Indies
- Haiti
- Jamaica
- St. Kitts and Nevis
- St. Lucia
- St. Vincent
- Grenadines
Europe:
- Ireland
- Russia
- Serbia
Asia:
- Bangladesh
- Cambodia
- Hong Kong
- Indonesia
- Laos
- Macau
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Nepal
- Philippines
- Singapore
- Sri Lanka
- Timor-Leste
Middle East:
- Armenia
- Bahrain
- Irán
- Jordan
- Oman
- Qatar
- Turkey
Africa:
- Benín
- Cape Verde
- Comoros Islands
- Djiboutian
- Egypt
- Gambia
- Guinea-Bissau
- Kenya
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mauritania
- Mauricio
- Mayotte
- Mozambique
- Réunion Island
- Rwanda
- Seychelles
- Somalia
- South África
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Uganda
- Zambia
Oceania:
- Cook Islands
- French Polynesia
- Micronesia
- New Caledonia
- Niue
- Palaus Islands
- Samoa
- Tuvalu
Then, if as a naturalized citizen or a Bolivian, you want to visit or enter the countries listed above, you’ll only need to present your Bolivian passport to do so.
For the rest of the countries Bolivian citizens must present a visa
Any country not listed above will need Bolivians and naturalized citizens to first present a valid visa to enter its territory. These countries include:
- Every country in North America including:
- The United States
- Canada.
- Almost all the countries in Western Europe.
- Most first-tier and developed countries, including England, France, Italy, Germany, Spain Portugal, etcetera.
- Some countries in Asia don’t easily allow Bolivians to enter their territory:
- China
- North Korea (almost impossible also for Bolivians)
As we said before, many countries from the first world don’t allow bolivians to easily answer their territory and most of them will first require a valid visa. This is due to several reasons, for example:
- Over immigration issues. Many countries suspect that Bolivians may try to enter the territory at all costs to find better opportunities, like for example the US, Spain, and some other countries in Europe.
- Political issues. The current Bolivian government, which is socialist, is not aligned with the political side of countries mostly in North America, like the US, and some countries in Europe, which affects the freedom that these countries give to Bolivians for entering their territories.
Other details about the Bolivian passport and its visa-free entrance scope
As we just showed, the Bolivian passport is pretty biased in regards to how Bolivia has conducted its relationships with other countries around the world. As of being a country from the third world, and most of the time a socialist country, Bolivia hasn’t built good relationships with countries in Europe and North America.
And this has resulted in that Bolivians and naturalized citizens are normally not very easily allowed to enter countries in these locations and they first need to qualify for a visa. The situation is even worse and more difficult for Bolivians when trying to enter the US, as it happens with many other countries from South America and the third world.
So in the end, the Bolivian passport has many restrictions for entering developed countries and the ones that have liberal political inclinations, like countries in North America and Europe. On the other hand, Bolivians can enter other countries from South America without even presenting a passport and just with their IDs.
Conclusions:
In this guide about the current visa-free entrance situation for Bolivians and naturalized citizens to other countries, you’ve seen that, as of 2023, Bolivians have both visa and passport-free entrance to 10 countries, all of the other South American countries and also Costa Rica.
You also have seen that people from Bolivia need to only present their passports to enter around 70 countries, most of them located in Central America, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa, but none of them located in North America and Western Europe. The Bolivian passport is ranked 68th in its ability to provide free visa entrance to other countries.
For the rest of the countries, you’ve seen that Bolivians and naturalized citizens need to first present a valid visa. These countries include the United States, Canada, and all the countries located in Eastern Europe, also Australia, China, and most of the first-tier countries around the world, like Israel, Japan, South Korea, etcetera.
You’ve realized that the Bolivian passport is not a good option available for getting free visa entrance for most of the countries around the world, as it only allows to do so for around 80 countries in total, against other passports that allow this for more than 170 countries, and that this situation is due to the socialist inclinations of Bolivia and also because it’s a third world country.
We hope this information has helped you, and if you want to know if it’s necessary a visa to visit Bolivia, which countries can enter Bolivia with only their IDs, only a passport, or necessary with a visa, along with other details, visit our dedicated guide in the following direction: Is a visa required to visit Bolivia? All the facts and lists.
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