Visa requirements for Nicaraguan citizens

Nicaraguan citizens can enter all 29 Schengen states without a visa, for up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the whole area.

Of the 198 countries whose entry rules are known in both directions, Nicaragua and 98 of them let each other’s citizens in without a visa obtained in advance (visa-free, on arrival or with an ETA; an e-visa counts as a visa).

64 countries ask holders of the Nicaraguan passport for a visa beforehand, although their own citizens enter Nicaragua without one: Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Azerbaijan and 59 others.

The reverse holds for 12 countries: holders of the Nicaraguan passport get in without a visa obtained in advance, but their citizens need one for Nicaragua (Albania, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Haiti, Iran and 7 others).

41 countries ask holders of the Nicaraguan passport for a visa obtained before travel from an embassy, a consulate or a visa centre. 6 of them have an embassy or consulate on record in Nicaragua.

35 countries have no embassy or career consulate on record in Nicaragua, so the application usually goes to one of their posts in another country. Counting the post an official diplomatic list names for Nicaragua, or else the nearest one within 2,000 km, those posts are most often in Cuba (6), Colombia (2), Mexico (2) and Guatemala (2).

The United States refused 53% of visitor-visa (B1/B2) applications from citizens of Nicaragua in fiscal year 2025, by the State Department’s adjusted refusal rate. 148 of the 197 nationalities with a published rate had a lower one and 48 a higher one; the middle value was 32%.

Visa-free travel with the Nicaraguan passport

By continent, the Nicaraguan passport is visa-free in 43 countries in Europe, 20 countries in the Americas, 9 countries in Asia, 1 country in Africa and 1 country in Oceania. The longest visa-free stays for Nicaraguan citizens are allowed in El Salvador (180 days), Andorra (90 days), Albania (90 days), Argentina (90 days), Austria (90 days) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (90 days).

Visa on arrival

Nicaraguan citizens can get a visa at the airport or land border of Bangladesh, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, the Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt and 24 others.

E-Visa and electronic travel authorisation

An e-Visa, applied for online before the trip, is how Nicaraguan citizens enter Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Australia, Bahrain, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia and 40 others. Ivory Coast, Kenya, Saint Kitts and Nevis, South Korea, Suriname and the United Kingdom ask instead for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), a lighter online check than a visa.

Nicaragua’s neighbours

Honduras admits Nicaraguan citizens without a visa. For the other neighbours, the rules are: Costa Rica (visa required).

How the passport compares

Among neighbouring passports, the Costa Rican passport ranks 63rd (129 destinations) and the Honduran passport ranks 79th (115 destinations). Of the 198 passports in the data, 89 can enter visa-free, 73 get a visa on arrival and 36 need a visa from an embassy or consulate for Nicaragua.