Lessons Learned From a Border Crossing!

Sign at the border crossing from Peru to Bolivia.

We were thankful to arrive in Copacabana, Bolivia after having a mix-up at immigration on the border of Peru and Bolivia. When we got off the bus at border control we thought everything was in order with our documents, but on the Peruvian side, they would not let us leave the country.  We asked them why and they said I had overstayed my visa. I didn’t quite understand so I asked them how that could be and they informed me to look at my passport and see that when I entered the country the border patrol agent had stamped my passport and wrote in “60” days next to the stamp. I couldn’t even tell it said “60” and I thought it was the border patrol agent’s signature. They wanted me to pay a fine because I had overstayed my visa and I told them they hadn’t even asked me when I entered Peru how long of a visa I would need, typically it was 90 days, but the agents didn’t want to help me out so I had to pay a large fine which ate into a good chunk of my travel money so I was very upset. 

Read more about this border crossing experience on the Treasures of Traveling Website!

-- Luke Keeler

At the immigration border waiting for our bus load of people to pass through immigration from Peru to Bolivia.