El Salvador Freedom Visa: Application Process, Documents and Timelines

The procedure has few steps, but each one has its own trap. I describe it in the order in which I prepare a family, using the official portal, Decree 918 and the BRIDGES programme page.

Before you apply

I check three things before anyone pays the USD 999:

• the ages of the children, because only children under 18 are covered;
• whether your current country allows dual citizenship and will issue a certificate about it;
• where the BTC or USDt came from and whether you can show it with documents.

Step by step

1. Pre-check. Family, passports, origin of the crypto.
2. Registration and fee. You register on the portal and pay USD 999 in BTC or USDt.
3. Documents. You upload the file for the evaluation.
4. Approval and donation. After approval you transfer USD 999,001 in BTC or USDt.
5. Residence and naturalisation. Since 2025 participants receive permanent residence directly, then naturalisation follows with an oath. BRIDGES writes that the decision is published in the Diario Oficial.
6. Passport. DGME issues a biometric passport. The portal says it can be collected in El Salvador or at the nearest consulate or embassy.

Documents

BRIDGES lists the following under article 159 of the migration law:

• birth certificate;
• police certificates;
• copies of all used passport pages;
• marriage certificate, if the spouse is included;
• a certificate from your embassy or authorities that your country allows dual citizenship.

The reform of 30 April 2025 names criminal record certificates, an identity document and proof of programme participation for the permanent residence step.

Apostille and translation

Foreign documents need an apostille or consular legalisation and a translation into Spanish (article 162, according to BRIDGES). I start this early, because police certificates have a short validity and the apostille can take weeks in some countries.

Timelines

Stage	Timeline	Source
Approval	usually within 6 weeks	BRIDGES
Passport	within 3 months of filing	BRIDGES
Passport	no more than six weeks	Bitcoin Country site

The sources disagree, so I plan with the longer figure.

The oath

Naturalisation in El Salvador ends with an oath. BRIDGES writes that it is a declaration of adherence to the country and not a renunciation of your previous citizenship. Whether you must come in person for it is not stated clearly in the sources I read. BRIDGES checks this for each case.