Nicaragua customs
Apply for visa
Free import
• Personal effects in quantities that match your needs and the length of your trip: clothing, personal-use, hygiene and toiletry items, recreational items and medicines, one photo camera and one video camera, one portable audio recorder/player and one laptop, plus other goods clearly intended for personal use.
• Each adult traveler: 20 packs of cigarettes or 50 cigars or 500 g of manufactured tobacco, and 5 L of alcoholic beverages.
• Up to 2 kg of sweets.
• New goods other than baggage (for example gifts) worth up to USD 500 per traveler, if they are not for commercial use, are not prohibited and you have been outside Nicaragua for at least 72 hours.
• Goods above USD 500 and up to USD 2,000 in total can be cleared by paying duties and taxes at customs; they must not be in commercial quantities and are subject to import restrictions. Goods worth more than USD 2,000 must be cleared through a licensed customs broker.
• Each traveler or head of family must complete a customs declaration and put the baggage through customs control, where a random red/green light decides whether it is inspected. A false declaration is punished under the customs fraud and smuggling law.
Currency
• Cash, securities and precious metals worth USD 10,000 or more (or the equivalent in córdobas) must be declared on the customs form when you enter Nicaragua.
• If you do not declare, make a false declaration, or there are signs the money is linked to money laundering, customs can retain the whole amount and report it to the National Police.
• The US dollar is the only foreign currency that is easily exchanged in Nicaragua.
Prohibited
• Illegal drugs
• Electronic cigarettes and other electronic smoking devices, with or without nicotine; customs can confiscate them at the border
• Drones: their possession and use are prohibited
• Right-hand-drive vehicles
Restricted
• Firearms, ammunition and explosives are controlled under Law 510 on firearms, and their import is regulated or prohibited. Do not travel with them without checking with the Nicaraguan authorities first.
• Dogs and cats need an original health certificate and a vaccination card with valid vaccinations. They are inspected by the agricultural quarantine officers of the Institute of Agricultural Protection and Health (IPSA) at the point of entry, and an inspection fee is charged. Pets with expired vaccinations or signs of disease can be refused entry.
• Other live animals need an IPSA import permit.
• Food, plants, seeds and other products of animal or plant origin are checked by IPSA quarantine officers at the point of entry and may need an IPSA import permit. Items that do not meet the requirements can be held, refused or destroyed.
• Personal effects in quantities that match your needs and the length of your trip: clothing, personal-use, hygiene and toiletry items, recreational items and medicines, one photo camera and one video camera, one portable audio recorder/player and one laptop, plus other goods clearly intended for personal use.
• Each adult traveler: 20 packs of cigarettes or 50 cigars or 500 g of manufactured tobacco, and 5 L of alcoholic beverages.
• Up to 2 kg of sweets.
• New goods other than baggage (for example gifts) worth up to USD 500 per traveler, if they are not for commercial use, are not prohibited and you have been outside Nicaragua for at least 72 hours.
• Goods above USD 500 and up to USD 2,000 in total can be cleared by paying duties and taxes at customs; they must not be in commercial quantities and are subject to import restrictions. Goods worth more than USD 2,000 must be cleared through a licensed customs broker.
• Each traveler or head of family must complete a customs declaration and put the baggage through customs control, where a random red/green light decides whether it is inspected. A false declaration is punished under the customs fraud and smuggling law.
Currency
• Cash, securities and precious metals worth USD 10,000 or more (or the equivalent in córdobas) must be declared on the customs form when you enter Nicaragua.
• If you do not declare, make a false declaration, or there are signs the money is linked to money laundering, customs can retain the whole amount and report it to the National Police.
• The US dollar is the only foreign currency that is easily exchanged in Nicaragua.
Prohibited
• Illegal drugs
• Electronic cigarettes and other electronic smoking devices, with or without nicotine; customs can confiscate them at the border
• Drones: their possession and use are prohibited
• Right-hand-drive vehicles
Restricted
• Firearms, ammunition and explosives are controlled under Law 510 on firearms, and their import is regulated or prohibited. Do not travel with them without checking with the Nicaraguan authorities first.
• Dogs and cats need an original health certificate and a vaccination card with valid vaccinations. They are inspected by the agricultural quarantine officers of the Institute of Agricultural Protection and Health (IPSA) at the point of entry, and an inspection fee is charged. Pets with expired vaccinations or signs of disease can be refused entry.
• Other live animals need an IPSA import permit.
• Food, plants, seeds and other products of animal or plant origin are checked by IPSA quarantine officers at the point of entry and may need an IPSA import permit. Items that do not meet the requirements can be held, refused or destroyed.