This thing about gettin’ an ID card in El Salvador, it ain’t as easy as pie. You see, I heard from folks talkin’ ’bout it, and it got me thinkin’. If you ain’t from there, but you need that little card, it’s a whole to-do. They call it some fancy name, Documento Unico de Identidad, but it’s just an ID card, you know?
First off, you gotta know what this thing is. If you ain’t a citizen of El Salvador, but you wanna stay there for a good while, you need this foreigner ID card. It’s like a ticket to stayin’ put and not gettin’ into trouble. Otherwise, you can only stay for like, 90 days with some tourist card that you get at the airport. That’s not very long if you really planning on staying. You gotta pay $12 for the tourist card. That’s what I heard, anyways.
Now, I heard these El Salvador ID cards, they ain’t made in just one place. They got like, 24 different spots all over the country where they make ’em. That’s a lot of places if you ask me. Sounds like a whole lot of running around, especially if you ain’t used to the place. And if you are in the United States, you gotta wait for 3 or 4 months! That’s almost half a year!

Then, there’s this thing called a visa or a tourist card. It’s a must if you’re gonna be there. That means if you are just going for a visit, you can get this card when you land. The one-entry tourist card El Salvador will cost you 12 bucks. And that is only good for 90 days, then you gotta go. So, if you’re thinkin’ of stayin’ longer, you better get that ID card, the El Salvador National ID.
And get this, you can get somethin’ called an “esim” on your phone. Some folks told me you can download it from the phone companies there. There are 4 of them. You just go to their website, and find this thing called a QR code. You scan it with your phone, and it’s like magic. Then you put some money on it, like 4 dollars, and you get to use the internet and phone and stuff. And when it runs out, you just put more money on it. It’s that simple! This way you can stay connected with people even before you land in El Salvador. Ain’t that somethin’? If you using Revolut app, you can even send money to El Salvador. But I don’t really know about that app thing.
So, here’s the thing. To get that foreigner ID, you gotta go to one of them places where they handle it. I reckon it’s like the government office or somethin’. And you can’t just waltz in there empty-handed. You gotta bring some papers with you.
- Your passport, that’s a given.
- Two photos of yourself. Like the ones you get for a passport.
- And somethin’ that proves who you are, like your birth certificate or somethin’ official like that.
Now, they say it takes a few weeks to get this ID card. Could be longer, could be shorter. Depends on how busy they are, I guess. And you gotta pay some money, of course. Nothin’s free in this world, right?
Once you get that El Salvador ID card, you’re good to go. You can open a bank account, rent a place, all that stuff. It’s like havin’ a key to the city, almost. But it ain’t just for show. You gotta carry it with you all the time. If the police ask you for it, you better have it on you. Otherwise, you could get into some trouble.
And here’s another thing. This ID card, it ain’t forever. It expires after some time, just like a driver’s license. So you gotta renew it before it runs out. Otherwise, you’re back to square one.
It looks like this UID for El Salvador is really important. It’s like, your whole life there depends on this little card. So, if you’re thinkin’ of movin’ to El Salvador, you better get yourself one of these. It ain’t easy, but it’s worth it in the end. You can get it all figured out before you even get to El Salvador, and that will save you some trouble. Then, when you get there, you can just go and get your ID card and be on your way.
They got a website, I think it’s the government one. It will tell you all about this stuff. They always got rules and papers and all that. But it’s all there, somewhere. Just gotta look for it. They probably got all the forms and things you need to fill out. You can get it online. It will save you a lot of time, and you don’t need to run around like crazy trying to find what you need.
The El Salvador ID card thing, it’s a big deal. You need this El Salvador National ID if you gonna live there. Simple as that. Just get that done first, you don’t need that tourist thing. Tourist thing is just for short visit. You need the real ID. That’s all I know.