How to renew your vehicle import permit in Nicaragua

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If you need more time than the initial 30 days permit that is issued to you at the border for your vehicle like we did then look no further here is what you will have to do to renew your vehicle import permit in Nicaragua. To obtain another 30 days you must visit the D.G.A. office in Managua. Scroll to the bottom of the page for gps coordinates and map to locate the office. Your vehicle does not need to be present to renew the permit but the vehicle owner listed on the title and registration must be present. You will need to bring with you:

  1. Your original import permit or most recent one, you can get up to 3 permits issued but only at one time, more on this later.
  2. Passport
  3. Drivers license
  4. Original vehicle title
  5. Vehicle registration
When you enter the D.G.A. office go to the left where there is two offices behind large glass windows. Sign in on the sheet to claim your place in line. If the wait is long go outside and eat at the tienda in the parking lot. They serve only one choice a day that rotates daily. The food is good.
When your name is called you will enter the office and explain to the clerk that you would like to extend your vehicle import permit. The biggest factor we found here for a quick approval was that they want to know you are a tourist. Use the word tourist a lot and assure them that you will be leaving Nicaragua with your vehicle at some point.
They will now issue you a invoice for the new permit and you will go next door to the bank and pay the importation fee of $1 dollar a day. You can only get up to 30 days at a time issued. So if you need more you will have to return to Managua again and repeat this process. After returning from the bank enter the D.G.A. office and go to the right. There will be a row of clerks behind a counter. The person that deals specifically with your situation will be the furthest to the right when looking at the counter. You will need to show this person all the personnel and vehicle identification documents listed above. You will be issued a receipt to return the next morning and pick up your new permit. Of course nothing can be completed in one day in Central America so go enjoy the city. When you return the next morning you will enter the D.G.A. and this time go to the desk directly on your left upon entering. You will need to show them your passport for identification. They will have your permit ready and you’re done.

*Some Notes for Consideration*

  • If you allow your import permit to expire without obtaining a new one and you are still in the country of Nicaragua you will be fined $500 U.S. dollars when you try to renew or at the border when you leave.
  • Typically you can only renew your permit at the D.G.A. office in Managua a maximum of two days before it expires. This is a problem we faced as we were in Managua 3 weeks before our permit expired and we did not want to have to travel back to Managua to renew it. We were told by the office clerks in the D.G.A. office that this is impossible and it cannot be authorized. After three hours of pleading we spoke with the director of the D.G.A. and she nodded approval for us to obtain a new permit. The new permit started the day our first one ended giving us a total of 60 days in Nicaragua.
While in Managua you can also extend your mandatory vehicle insurance. We used Seguros America for our insurance. If you know that you will be renewing your permit when you first purchase insurance at the border you can purchase more than 30 days at this time. Insurance through Seguros America is $12 a month for basic coverage. To purchase more insurance you will need:

  1. Passport of driver(s)
  2. License of driver(s)
  3. Vehicle registration
The Next Adventures website details a map of Managua with locations and gps coordinates of both the D.G.A. vehicle import permit renewal office and vehicle insurance office (click on icons on map for gps coordinates).

How to renew your vehicle import permit in Nicaragua appeared first on The Next Adventures
 
Thanks so much for this super helpful post. I'm happy to report that as of October 2015 this is still very accurate (and very easy). Yes, it's a pain that you have to go back to the DGA office two days in row but it was cake.

Day 1 - took me 25 minutes to do everything (DGA, Bank and DGA). NOTE: You are now required to provide a photo copy of your paid bank receipt to DGA. Thankfully you can get a photo copy at the Centex office right next door to the bank for 2 Cordobas. The bank and Centex share a parking lot and are actually connected.

Day 2 - took me 5 minutes at the DGA office and 40 minutes at the Seguros America office.

Below were the hours posted at both the DGA and Seguros offices.

DGA - Monday-Friday from 8:20AM-4:30PM, Closed Saturday and Sunday
Seguros America - Monday-Friday from 8:00AM-5:30PM, Saturday 8:30AM-11:30AM

NOTE: I've also posted this same reply on the original post at The Next Adventures site.